Club News with Faith
Faith Cunningham, Wine Club Concierge
Happy New Year!
As we head into the depths of winter, there’s no better time to curl up on the couch with your favorite glass of wine! So, when you venture out to your local wine store for that bottle, have you ever just gone in and purchased based on the pretty label on the bottle, without really knowing anything about the wine? I have discovered a great mobile app that tells you so much about that bottle you are about to purchase; its called Vivino. You can search by specific name or you can scan a photo of that label and Vivino will tell you all about the wine. From ratings, to taste characteristics, it also gives you pairing ideas, and tells you about the region that the wine comes from. It has reviews, and even gives you comparisons to other vintages from that cellar. It’s a great tool to use for your next (non Seven Birches) wine purchase!
We are also excited to announce that in our next club release event in April, we will be conducting an educational seminar about wine labels! Don’t forget to buy your ticket early! The event will be April 8-10. Similar to our Fall event, we will have a social event on Friday evening from 7-9 PM. You will be able to pick up your itinerary then and enjoy a complimentary glass of wine of your choosing, and mingle with fellow club members. Below is a tentative schedule of the event:
FRIDAY APRIL 8TH – Welcome!
7pm – 9pm – Welcome Wine Social
- Handout welcome packets and itinerary
- Small appetizers
- Open cocktail hour (one complimentary glass of wine)
- Familiarization game
- Announcements
SATURDAY APRIL 9TH – Wine Activities
10AM-12:30PM – Wine Labels Explained
- Production Tour and Label Education
- Mini tasting during tour (new items)
12:30-1:30PM – Lunch on your own
1:30PM-4:00PM – Blind Tasting Experiment
- Blind taste test activity-understanding wine characteristics with blind tasting
- Wine trivia
4:00PM-6:00PM – Free time
5:00PM-7:00PM – Club Release Tasting
- Wine tasting of release wines
- Hors D’Oeuvres
- Cocktail hour
SUNDAY APRIL 10TH – Club Wine Time
11:00AM
- Pick up release wines at RW
- Gift bag
We have 2020 Nouveau Bottlings of:
- Sunset Red
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Merlot
- Syrah
- Pinot Noir
In addition, we also have:
- Symphony – Chenin Blanc from South Africa
- Curico – Malbec from Chile
Save the date!
2022 Spring Release Party
April 8-10, 2022 we will host our Spring Release Party. If you were at the last one, this Fall 2021, then you’ll love what we have in store for the Spring. Stay tuned for more information on the itinerary for the weekend and your chance to buy early bird tickets.
Production News with Nate
Nate Maser, Assistant Winemaker
Never a dull moment in the winery. Besides moving all of our Fall ’21 harvest reds into barrel for a long nap, we have begun to make some more products for our Rhythm Handcrafted Beverages brand. Currently underway, we have our Hard Peach Seltzer, more Blood Orange Cider, and our next Apple Wine.
Also in the works are the following meads:
- Classic – Straight Mead from Honey
- Blackberry/Strawberry
- Mixed Berry – Blackberry, Raspberry, Blueberry
Besides the Peach Seltzer, in tank now and coming out soon, we have our Hard Blueberry Seltzer, bottled and ready for labeling. And, in the works 2 new Hard Seltzers:
- Raspberry Lime
- Strawberry
Hard Ciders in the works:
- Blood Orange
- Blueberry
- Traditional
- Original
- Heirloom
Lastly, I want to take a moment to introduce the newest member of our Winemaking team, McKenna Spaulding. We could not be more thrilled to bring McKenna in to assist us with all of the various products we are making. When you have a minute, please stop by and give her a solid wave in the window and say hello.
Tasting Room News with Brian & Katie
Tasting Room Managers in Training
There is no denying that winter has made its way to Lincoln. The skiers are skiing, the snow is snowing, and the Riverwalk Tasting Room is full of new releases! Come check out our expanded menu, now featuring four whites and four reds. Cab is back, along with Sunset Red, and a stunning dry Chenin Blanc from South Africa that we call Symphony. All of it will make you sing. Mulled wine will remain on the menu through the winter, ready to warm you up from a long day on the slopes. Our merchandising manager, Brook, has been spending time making our cozy little room even cozier, so come make yourself at home while we weather the weather!
Wine Tidbits
Cryoconcentration. Sounds so sophisticated! Well, not really. Actually, it is very simple.
The word simply means that by freezing a substance, you can concentrate its sugars/flavors by removing water ice crystals. In our case, we freeze fresh apple juice using the high tech freezer that mother nature is so kind to provide over the winter. Temperatures here in the mountains can get to -35F, which helps us to freeze our fresh apple juice into a solid block outside. Once it is frozen solid, we can bring that block inside and start to thaw it out. And, if you think back to your high school chemistry class, you’ll remember that substances with dissolved solids like salt and sugar, have lower freezing points and higher boiling points. This means that the sugary part of the cider will melt sooner and faster than the water ice will melt. Think back to your favorite slushy drink. All the sugary goodness is melted first and you slurp that up with a straw, leaving behind the clear, flavorless ice crystals.
We take that sugary part of the juice and use it in our hard cider fermentations. Since the sugars are higher and more concentrated, so too will be the flavors and the alcohol levels. So, next time you are enjoying one of our traditional hard ciders, you’ll be thinking about how they were made, using mother nature and a little cryoconcentration.
