Dear Colorado Wine Club Member,

The cock pheasants are a-crowing, the Goshawks are a-nesting, and the Great Horned Owls are hatched and wooly.  Late March brings all this springiness along with spells of bloody stimulating weather.  There is little or no sign of budbreak in Grand Valley vineyards. Thank goodness, as there is still plenty of frost danger left at the end of winter.  Most growers have at least started pruning, and some have already finished.  It’s a fine line to walk.  Waiting until the last minute actually helps to slow down budbreak, which in turn helps avoid frost damage in late spring.  On the other hand, if you wait too long, you risk damaging the tender buds.  They become much more fragile and can be broken off very easily from bud swell through the first 12” of shoot growth.

Enclosed are your Wine Club bottles.  This month’s wines for the Sweet Colorado Wine Club are:

Sweetheart Red, Whitewater Hill Vineyards

If a person wanted an insider’s view of winemaking, this wine will deliver.  One of the most enviable duties of a winemaker during harvest is tasting the fermentations as the yeasts transform the very sweet grape juice into wine.  Each day as this is done, the winemaker usually is feeling pretty good about his or her line of work.  Early in a red fermentation there are flavors and aromas that are deliciously uniquely to that stage in a wine’s life.  It’s very unusual for a wine to retain that special rich, grapey fruitiness that’s tasted by so few.  To borrow a phrase, a taste is worth a thousand words.  The trouble is that because of the millions of live yeast cells in a mere mouthful of fermenting juice, it’s a bad idea to swallow, no matter how thirsty you may be.  This wine conveys that special flavor, and you can swallow all you want.  Enjoy!

Apple Blossom, Holy Cross Abbey

This winner of a silver medal at the Southwest Wine Competition is medium sweet, with a mild mouthfeel, fabulous apple flavors and a medium-long, thin finish.  It’s very drinkable – almost too drinkable!  It’s like drinking a Granny Smith apple, though not quite that tart.  Serve this wine slightly chilled with sharp white cheddar, Monty jack, pistachios, walnuts and flatbread.

As always, enjoy the wines in good health!

Sincerely,

Glenn & Natalie Foster