It’s the final stretch of the growing season here in the Grand Valley.  Verasion, the turning point in the season when red grapes start to turn color, has just finished here on our ½ acre in Palisade.  It’s time for winemakers and growers alike begin to prepare for CRUSH!  Clean up the equipment, bottle up the last wines of the summer, and get out the refractometer.  A refractometer is a hand held device that shows how sweet the grape juice is.  It helps us to decide when to pick the grapes.  Each winemaker will have a slightly different opinion about how this decision is made, and you can believe that there are a lot of different variables that are considered.

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

Blueberry Bliss, St. Kathryn Cellars

Fantastically blueberry, this wine is made from pure blueberry juice.  You get blueberries in the nose, blueberries in the mouth and blueberries in the finish.  It’s very blueberry!  It’s medium to quite sweet, with gorgeous color.  It’s one of our most popular wines at St. Kathryn Cellars.  Great for sipping in the afternoon with friends and family, and tough to beat over ice cream.

Sweet Red, Grande River Vineyards

Just like its name, this is a sweet red wine.  The label indicates this is a blend of grapes grown by Grande River Vineyards.  GRV was the starting point for our winemaker in the Colorado winemaking industry.  This wine is best chilled and given some time to breath after opening.  Loaded with dark cherry and a hint of cinnamon.  It would be wonderful with a flourless chocolate cake.

As always, enjoy the wines in good health!

Truly,

Glenn & Natalie Foster