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 Spring is here and our winter break is over. We took time to work in the vineyard and travel to see family. The tasting room for Flying Fox
Vineyard is re-opening on Friday, March 27th. We will be resuming our normal schedule,
Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00am to 6:00pm. Directions are available on our website Flying Fox Vineyard.
It may surprise some of our friends and readers, but the winter vineyard work is our favorite part of the winemaking process. Pruning vines is pastoral, quiet, methodical work that is rewarding in a way that is difficult to explain. Now, in the vineyard, we have finished pruning, repairing trellis
wires, installing new irrigation in the Petit Verdot block and are waiting for
budbreak. Budbreak is the term used for the day when the tiny tips of the first leaves push out from the buds. For us that is the time of danger from frost. Grape leaves are like lettuce, they wilt with a whiff of frost. Hope for a steady increase in temperatures without any nights below 32 degrees. If the vines follow their usual
schedule, the first leaves will begin to appear right around April 1st. We are looking forward to a new start to the vineyard year. |
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 Wine News!
We are
proud to share the news that the 2006 Petit Verdot won a Gold Medal at the 2009
Virginia Governor's Cup wine competition.
The other two wines we entered, the 2006 Trio and 2006 Cabernet Franc
both received Bronze Medals.
 On March 17th
we bottled the 2008 Viognier, 2008 Rosé and the 2008 Fox White. As usual, the Viognier from Ridge Run Vineyard in Stuarts Draft, Shenandoah Valley, is one of our favorite wines. Our sister and brother-in-law, Jane and Jon Zieman have a perfect site to grow Viognier and the best news is that they are planting more vines this spring. We were able to reserve more of their crop from 2008, so we have 210 cases of Viognier available this year. So, for now at least, there will not be a two-bottle limit on purchases. We have raided our own cellar for a few
bottles of the 2006 and 2007 Viognier and have put together TWENTY packages
containing all three vintages. This is known as a "ladder" or "vertical". Gather some friends, open all three bottles, and do a blind tasting. Questions for discussion: Which one do you enjoy the most? Do the fruit flavors and aromas last for three years? Does the wine get smoother with age? As a serving suggestion, we think that our Viognier is best chilled, but not ice cold. The three-pack box is
available in the tasting room for $55 if you would like to have your own
vertical tasting of Flying Fox Vineyard Viognier.
We picked one ton of both Cabernet Franc and Merlot to put
together our 2008 Rosé this year. It is
a lovely dry wine, light salmon pink in color.
A delightful choice for the first picnics of the year. If you have been avoiding Rosé in the past because it made you think of sweet "pink wine", try our dry Rosé. Definitely not sweet, remarkably food friendly, a great alternative to red wine in the spring and summer.
The Fox White is our semi-dry version of Viognier. Wines with a little sweetness are often very popular and this year we have found enough Viognier to produce our new Fox White. Smooth with luscious fruit flavors, this wine is great, chilled, with chicken wings and jalapeno peppers on the deck. To celebrate, the Flying Fox has moved into the biplane
version of the label for 2008.
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We are excited to welcome two artists from the Staunton area to the
Flying Fox tasting room this spring. Their paintings are available for your enjoyment and for purchase.  Debbie Buckley is
a Staunton
artist who has been painting for over 20 years. She works primarily in watercolors and
pastels. Her work can be seen in the
Co-Art Gallery in Staunton at 22 West Beverley Street,
Staunton, Va. 24401 and in the White
House Garden Gallery in Corolla, North
Carolina.
Debbie also accepts commissions for paintings. You can contact Ms. Buckley at 540-886-6160.
Sylvia Gibbs
graduated in the 70's from Indiana University at South
Bend with a BA in Fine Arts and Psychology. Since
then, her peers have recognized her as an accomplished artist. In 1975 one of
her works was selected for the cover of a national magazine. She works in many media: oil, watercolor, and
casein painting; drawing; and etching and block printing. The subject matter
often determines the medium chosen. Her
paintings and prints can be seen locally at Co-Art Gallery
Staunton, Virginia. You can contact Ms. Gibbs at 540-886-4158 or through her
website www.sfgibbs.com |
 The Staunton/August Farmer's Market begins on Saturday,
April 4th. Stop by and pick
up our wine to go with the fresh, bread, meat, veggies and flowers available at the market. Our first festival of the year is the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival in Waynesboro,
on Saturday and Sunday, April 18/19th. It is held in Constitution
Park, on the banks of the South River. Hope to see all you anglers and family there. Our wines are now available in some local stores. Zin, in Staunton,
will receive their first shipment this week. The Wine Cellar and the
Pampered Palate also carry our wines. The South River Grill in
Waynesboro has several of our red wines. The Greenwood store in
Greenwood has a great selection of Virginia wines, including Flying
Fox. If you don't see what you want, don't hesitate to ask for it.
The local ABC stores also have limited supply of the 2005 Merlot at a
great price. The Merlot is sold out in the tasting room.
Our wines are now available for shipment within Virginia and to several other states. Visit our website Flying Fox Vineyard to have wines delivered to your home or office. Virginia wine also makes a lovely gift. So come on in to taste the new vintages, check out the new art exhibit and enjoy spring on our patio. Cheers, Lynn & Rich
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Contact Information
web: www.FlyingFoxVineyard.com
Telephone at Tasting Room: 434-361-1692
Address of Tasting Room: 27 Chapel Hollow Road, Afton 22920 |
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