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April 2005
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Fitzpatrick Winery & Lodge Newsletter
April showers make wild the flowers
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Greetings!
Like the picture above shows, our white-trash
billboards tell all - the special deals of the day. One
rainy day a taster comes in and said, 'Yesterday
your sandwich signs spoke of a special sale, today is
the sale over?'. If you remember the foothill fires last
summer when you could barely see, I chalked up my
boards with a very special sale 'When the smoke
clears and you can read this sign, the sale is
over'. So you can chalk it up to good luck for they'll
always be something on special when you come to
visit next.
On the sunny side... Our solar system you see as you
gaze over our deck had its once a year accounting
cycle come to a close and PG&E reconciles all the
KWHs we used versus all the KWHs our solar system
has produced and we had to write them a check for a
whopping $32 to balance the electricity used - that's
a bright note.
If it looks like I've been on vacation, my sun-
drenched face is telltale of two and a half months of
pruning which is almost done. Our nitrogen-fixing
cover crop that we planted last fall is just starting to
kick into high gear and with another couple April
showers we'll have a lush knee-high mass of beautiful
flowering greens whose destiny will enliven the soil
with hundreds of tons on fresh organic matter. And
millions of soil micro-organisms will feast on this
decaying fodder releasing again the gift of life with
nutrients for our vineyards. And the cycle of life will
carry on for yet another vintage organically.
Old timers will call this a normal rainy winter and
spring. Thank God becuase it's been four years of
under normal rainfall and if all continues we'll be in for
a treat. April showers make wild the flowers and the
show is just beginning.
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Open Enrollment Begins for another cycle of our Wine Fellowship Gold Members |
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May Day Sunday 5/1 is the next Pick-Up Party
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Gold membership makes perfectly good sense!
Our Gold members hold a special place in the history
of our winery. Some have been members since the
beginning of time and Diana and I appreciate their
unquestionable support. Gold members are the VIPs.
They enjoy a 10% overriding discount on everything
everyday. Gold members get one bottle of every wine
we make, even the rarest single barrel offerings.
Special arraingements are made to accommodate our
Gold members at the ever popular Friday Wood-Fired
Oven Pizza Nights. The benefits are many and all the
details can be found at the link below.
This next cycle of Gold Membership will cost only
$150 and include 9 new releases over the next 6
months. Then when labels are in hand for the many
great wines to follow we'll offer the next cycle to our
Gold Members. This change will benefit our Gold
members by making membership less expensive. So
now is the best time to join or upgrade from our
Green membership to Gold membership in our Wine
Fellowship program. Gold members renewing and
Green members upgrading to Gold is $125
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By The Box Club |
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One bottle a week, more if it pleases you.
One bottle a week is all I ask. I know brand loyalty is
almost unheard of nowadays but I want to make you
a deal so you can enjoy Fitzpatrick wine whenever
you choose. No more putting away that special bottle
for some unknown special moment that never quite
seems to come around.
About two weeks ago I came up with the idea if I
could get each one of you to buy 4 cases of wine
each year, that would perfectly match my annual
production. But I know that many of you are not
going to pop open a $20 bottle every time you want
some wine (for those of you who this isn't an issue,
you can move on to the next paragraph). So I came
up with the Buy the Box Club where you can enjoy
our wines at 40% off which means $12 instead of $20
or $6 instead of $10 So if that sounds good then
click on the link to get the simple details so you can
uncork the magic of our world class health-giving
wines on command.
The cornerstone of the By the Box Club is each
month three (possibly more) wines will be featured at
40% off by the box (case). For April I've selected our
2003 Sierra Dreams (with its wildflower label), 2001
Robert Cowan Zinfandel and our 2001 Estate
Grenache. And already I'm going to break my own
rules, since I quietly started this program two weeks
ago and didn't tell all of you until now (unless you've
been to the tasting room), and carry over the three
wines offered for March: our creamy rich 2003 Eire
Ban, our 2001 Cab/Shiraz and our elegant and
graceful rose Sangre de Montana. That's six great
choices and reason enough with 40% Off to Buy a
Box.
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Some Highlights for our 25th Year of Winemaking |
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Mark Your Calendars
Friday Wood-Fired Oven Pizza Nights start April 15th.
If you've never been, this is a Friday Night experience
you'll never forget. But don't expect to just drop in.
The reservation drill is simple. You can start calling
the Monday of the week you want to come to make
your reservations. We only seat 100 people and sadly
turn away even good friends each week. So please
don't make a reservation that you won't keep - your
name will be ingraved on our black list if you do. Call
us at 530-620-3248 for reservations. Ask about our
live music nights too.
The Fair Play Wine Festival is back and celebrating its
20th year. The price may seem big, but when you
peruse the list of what each winery is offering (which
impressed me) $75 will buy you a weekend to
remember. Here at Fitzpatrick's we'll be unvieling
many new wines and pairing with them Tapas from
the wood-fired oven. In addition, our great Room will
be transformed into a home theater for a multimedia
presentation of "Fitzpatrick Winery - 25 years of
winemaking in Fair Play" highlighting the making of
Fair Play's first winery.
The word is already out and reservations are being
made as we speak for our annual dinner/concert with
our good friends Tempest. On Saurday June 4th the
Celtic rock sounds of Tempest will fill the air under
the stars after a fulfilling wood-fired oven baked
dinner. They'll be two sets of music with a dessert
intermission and you'll be dancing wildly before the
night is over. $35 plus tax buys your dinner and
music. Drinks are a la carte. Call us at 530-620-3248
for reservations.
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Next Month - The Zen of Wine Buying! |
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Next month I'll share with you thoughts on the Zen of
Wine Buying - living in the now! Until then don't be
April fooled by Futures!
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Contact Information
phone:
530-620-3248
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