As we head into our second lockdown, our team is hard at work pruning the vines and making sure all the vineyard equipment is ready and fully operational for the Spring. I am spending a lot of time in the cellar tasting and working out which 2019 barrels will go into our 1st ever single vineyard/block bottlings (Wine Club exclusive coming soon), Cuvée des Amis and County bottlings. We have a few young lots from 2020 that are very slow fermenters (natural yeasts) and still need to be closely monitored, encouraged and given positive reinforcement… like raising children all over again, every year!
With the growing and harvest season behind me, I finally have some time to develop a Zoom series with interesting topics and themes that are educational and fun. Our 1st will be held on Friday, January 29th at 6pm, where we will taste our Cuvée “L” Chardonnay and Cuvée “L” Pinot noir from the 2012 vintage. Both of these wines have aged beautifully and will be drawn from our library stock. Our 2017 Riesling which is just coming into its own will be our opening wine to taste before we delve into the two Cuvée “L”. Cost is $220 for the 3 wines, tasting and taxes. If you know someone who would be interested in this tasting please pass along the details.
We will be donating $30 for every Cuvée “L” Zoom package to the HeadStart Trust in South Africa. This trust was started by my good friend Bruce Jack, one of South Africa’s top winemakers. Bruce will join us for the tasting to explain the dire need for help in South Africa and how efficiently the trust is making good use of the funds.
As we head deep into an extended lockdown, the saying “Buy local or bye bye local” has never been more relevant. Over the next few weeks we will be featuring some of our favourite small vendors (butchers, bakers, breweries, small food grocery shops, restaurants and even a candlestick maker) on our Instagram account @normanhardiewinery .We hope you have an opportunity to support and enjoy their magnificent offerings.
Many thanks for your support. We hope you enjoy drinking our wines at home as much as we enjoy growing and making them. Click here for the Zoom package and for touchless home delivery directly from the winery. Mixed cases welcomed. Free delivery in Ontario for orders over $90, customer friendly shipping rates for the rest of Canada and Quebec.
Cheers from PEC,
Norm and the team behind the wines
PS: Thank you to all those in the GTA from whom over the holidays I collected gently used clothing for the Wellington food bank. We filled an SUV with it’s back seats down
If we missed you or you have some gently used clothing to donate, please email erica@normanhardie.com to arrange pick up in the GTA.