After a numbingly cool, long and wet spring, the sun finally emerged and has graced us with near perfect summer and ripening conditions. In early June, I thought if the cool wet weather continued, we would be picking Chardonnay and Pinot noir in late October. Fortunately, the ideal weather post June 15th, along with the tremendous work of our tireless vineyard crew has allowed the vines to catch up significantly. The vineyard is in superb shape and we anticipate our 16th annual communal harvest pick to take place either October 6th or 13th. What a way to celebrate a true Thanksgiving for the harvest if we do end up harvesting on Thanksgiving Sunday! Details and sign up on this amazing celebration are at the bottom of the newsletter.
In 2017, I spent a very special 5 days in Sancerre and Loire Valley tasting and learning from the region’s top producers. I took that valuable knowledge on picking timing, fermentation and ageing when making our 2017 Sauvignon Blanc Vieux Chêne. We picked the vineyard three times to gain layers of complexity, fermented in old, neutral 500 litre Oak casks with natural/indigenious yeast and then aged it on its fine lees for an additional year. Sara d’Amato of WineAlign’s recent 92 point review that truly captures the style of the wine :
“More Loire Valley than Marlborough, this Sauvignon blanc is matured in neutral wood barrels giving the wine some added amplitude. Offering an appealing textural component with notes of lemon oil, mineral, delicate herbal notes and old wood. Very good length. Tasted September 2019”
For lovers of great Sancerre and other Old World Sauvignon Blancs, this wine will surely to put a big smile on your face. This wine is being released today through Vintages at the LCBO, on our Tasting Bar and available online.
We hope to see you at the winery in beautiful Prince Edward County this Fall. If you can’t make it, we are always happy to ship our wines to your home or office. We offer free delivery for orders over $90 in Ontario and customer friendly rates to other provinces. Mixed cases are welcome and encouraged.
Cheers,
Norm and the Norman Hardie Winery Team
Communal Pick Details
We will be having our annual communal pick on either on October 6th or 13th, weather permitting; we will keep you updated should this change. This event, which is always a highlight of our year, starts at 10:30 am sharp with a few hours in the vineyard, complete with pizza snack, and continues with a late decadent lunch at approximately 2:00pm.
If you are interested in receiving our updates about this event and joining us that day please email Erica at erica@normanhardie.com
This is a family affair, and as always, children are very welcome; however, we advise against bringing dogs, as you will have a large vet bill 24 hours after your dog has consumed a few ounces of grapes!
Picking requires many knee bends and spending lots of time close to the ground. If you feel your knees are not up for this, please still join us as we have many important tasks in the winery and field that do not require significant knee bends. For those participating in picking, you should come prepared with sunglasses/protective eyewear, comfortable farm shoes, a water bottle and your energy & enthusiasm. You are also welcome to bring work gloves and a stool to sit on.
We are looking forward to you being a part of our experience here! As is our custom, after picking we will serve a decadent late lunch of roasted pig and plenty of seasonal vegetables from our garden paired with our wines from previous vintages.