Club Newsletter February 2024

It’s time to empty tanks here in the production room in order to have a little more space to keep making hard cider. We have just bottled our 2023 Strawberry and Blueberry wines. These will sit and age in the bottle until you start seeing pick your own signs on the side of the road this summer. I am proud to announce our new partnership with Giles Family Farm right over the border in Maine. We have been thinking about, for some time, diversifying where our apples are coming from. This has been for a few reasons. First we are excited to start trying new and different apples and apple blends to make our cider out of. Just like wine the individual kind of apple controls the flavor of the finished cider. I have just finished fermenting the first batch of sweet cider from Giles Family Farm and I have to tell you I couldn’t be happier with our first blend from them. The second reason is, one never knows what the weather will do in the north east. This past spring we had a late frost come through the area which ended up severely reducing apple availability in the area. Finding a new orchard is essential to ensure we always have a supply of apples to keep our tanks full with cider all winter long. Lastly I wanted to mention I just tasted the 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2023 Merlot. I was lucky enough to have an excuse to do this because our good friends, founders club members, and barrel club families the Draper and Langton’s were up visiting. While these families have been coming into the tasting room since we first opened here at the Riverwalk Resort they joined our Barrel Club this year. Which means I am making them their very own wine and they get to be a part of the process. Tim and Peter helped with the messy part this fall, crushing the grapes and getting the must into the tanks. Now whenever they come up to visit I always take the chance to open up a barrel of their wine, pull out the wine thief, and give it a taste with the families by my side. As they all quoted this Saturday, “It’s not ready yet,” and I would definitely agree with them. These wines are not even a year old yet! Here at The Club at Seven Birches Winery we aim to have our reds in oak barrels for at least a year and half and I am proud to say we are starting to age our Cabernet Sauvignon for two or more years. The wine has a ways to go, but it’s exciting to be able to experience the development of it with these wonderful families. I’ll keep you folks updated along the ride as well. From your Winemaker here at Seven Birches hope you and your loved ones find a reason to raise a glass in celebration this month.

We are gearing up for school vacation weeks! The next couple of weeks will be our busiest of the winter season, and we are all stocked up on your favorites. Make sure you tell your server if you belong to the club – we want to give you the royal treatment from the moment you walk in the door! We will be closing the RiverWalk Tasting Room on March 4th and serving exclusively out of Rhythm Studio, 7 days per week, until we can move into the West Wing of the Resort sometime in the late Spring.  We will still have plenty of wine to taste.  We will also be open through Presidents week at both locations, everyday. Our Satori, Karma, Tempranillo, and Kismet have been released to the public from our Fall Wine Club Release.  Get these bottles while they last!