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Greetings!
 We are pleased and honored to announce that Shelburne Vineyard has won
"Sustainable Agriculture Farm of the Year"
Award
Awarded by the University of Vermont
This
award recognizes farms dedicated to maintaining the long-term
sustainability of farming in our state. Award selection is based on
how well the farm has demonstrated the following:
A significant commitment to environmental stewardship
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Innovative farming and/or marketing practices
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Economic viability of the farm business
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A commitment to education and community
To be awarded on Feb. 14, 2010 at NOFA annual meeting at the UVM Davis Center.
Thank you to all of our friends who have supported
us over the years!
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Events
A Vineyard Valentine: Irresistible Indulgences!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
1:00-4:00pm - Shelburne Vineyard Tasting Room
co-sponsored by Lake Champlain Chocolates
to benefit the Shelburne Food Shelf
Tasting & Pairing:
A Delicious Spring Series of Classes
April & May
Stay tuned for more on our upcoming
series of 4 classes all about tasting and pairing.
Learn the fundamentals of how to taste and pair wine, beer,
cheese and chocolate.
Dates TBD
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Blending, Matching, Pairing
With Valentine's Day just around the corner, February, seems like a natural month to be thinking about Happy Combinations.In the winery, February is all about blending.
The wines are tasted and varietals are blended until a harmonious
balance is achieved. Each varietal adds something important to the
blend. Some varietals take center stage, while others play a
supporting role. The ultimate goal is to create a pleasing blend with
balance, interest and complexity. (see winemakers notes below for more about the process of blending)Another surprisingly happy combination: wine and chocolate.
When just the right pairing is found, wine and chocolate together can
be heavenly. In preparation for our Vineyard Valentine event on Feb.
13, we spent an evening sampling Shelburne Vineyard wines and Lake Champlain Chocolates to find our favorite combinations. (the proverbial tough job, but somebody had to do it....) See our favorites below.
Wine & Chocolate Favorites
VT Grown Riesling & Organic Honey Fig TrufflesHoney in the chocolate blends beautifully
with the crisp acidity of the Riesling
La Crescent & Organic Dark Spicy Aztec
A little sweet, a little heat.
A very romantic combination
Lakeview White & Organic Milk Chocolate TrufflesBerry and peach notes in the wine
punctuate the velvety smoothness
of the milk chocolate
Meach Cove Red & Organic 70% Truffles
Vanilla and cream in the truffle
highlight exotic notes of
spice in the wine
Vidal Blanc Ice Wine & Organic 70% Dark ChocolateDark chocolate with a lovely bitter edge
is perfect with the sweet,
crisp complexity of the Vidal
Rhapsody Ice Wine & Organic 75% Dark ChocolateLike sweet pear dipped in deep, dark chocolate |
In the Winery
Winemakers Notes:  This time of year all of our wines are resting happily in our stainless
steel tanks or oak barrels. One of the most important, and arguably
difficult, tasks of winemaking is to continually taste each wine to
track its sensory profile. Our goal is to produce the highest quality
and best tasting wines we can. This requires patience, diligence, and
of course, creativity.
Enter the art of blending. Blending is the
process of combining two or more lots of juice or wine, typically wine,
to create a finished product with the desired organoleptic (sensory) properties.
It is a complex and personal endeavor with winemaker knowledge and
consumer preferences as two critical factors. A good blend will achieve
a well-balanced wine with increased complexity that highlights its
varietal character and is void of flaws.
Before any decisions are made, trial blends are mixed in the lab.
Depending on the goals of the winemaker(s), sometimes there are few and
sometimes there are many samples. Various percentages of the chosen
component wines are blended in sample bottles and subsequently
evaluated by several people. To avoid biases, it is best to do this as
a blind tasting. Notes are taken and a final decision is made. The best
part? This process starts and ends with tasting.
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Our Mission
Simply,
to make the best possible wines from Vermont and regionally grown
grapes, while using sustainable agricultural practices and maintaining
good stewardship of the land.
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