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WINOS tickets now on sale
Warmer weather will soon be here, which means the start of our Girls Night Out series, W.I.N.O.S. (Women in Need of Shopping). If you are finding yourself in need of a little "group therapy", we've got just the ticket. Gather your girlfriends and join us for this popular night of wine, food, socializing, and shopping at Satek Winery! Dates are the first and third Fridays of each month, from May through August. Tickets are just $15 each and can be purchased online through the link below. Don't wait too long to order, though; tickets are limited and have historically sold out quickly.
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Satek Winery's upcoming off-site tastings
Meet our staff and sample our award-winning wines at the following off-site events in the upcoming months:
March 17: Featured winery tasting at S&V Liquors on Maplecrest Road in Fort Wayne from 5-8 p.m.
March 31: Wine Appreciation Dinner featuring Satek wines at Bearcreek Farms Resort in Bryant, IN, from 6-8:30 p.m. $25 per person, reservations required. Click the link for more information:
April 28: Customer Appreciation Party at Dry Dock Marina in Angola, IN, with Satek Winery on hand for wine tasting and sales. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Click the link for more information:
Dry Dock Marina
May 5: "A Taste of Spring" fundraiser benefitting downtown revitalization at Dogwood Glen Golf Course in Warren, IN, featuring wine tasting by Satek Winery and beer tasting by Mad Anthony Brewing Co. 6-9 p.m. For more information, call (260) 375-6199. |
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New Release
Almost Gone
Pinot Gris, 2010
Coming Soon
Dry Traminette, 2011
Sold Out
Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, 2010
DeChaunac, 2010 |
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Quote of the Month
"A hard drinker, being at the table, was offered grapes for dessert. 'Thank you,' said he, pushing the dish away from him, 'but I am not in the habit of taking my wine in pills.' "
- Anthelme Brillat-Savarin,
"The Physiology of Taste" |
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Visit Our Website
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Greetings!
This month heralds St. Patrick's Day, which, being of Irish heritage myself, is one of my favorite holidays (really, any excuse to gather friends for a celebration is ok in my book). But since St. Patty's is  traditionally more of a beer-drinking holiday, I'm going to dedicate this month's column
to a different type of "green": that of sustainable resources and reusing & recycling...as it relates to us wine drinkers.
We are often asked why we use natural corks, and why some wineries use synthetic corks or screw caps. Consumer perception is one reason. Historically, lower-end wines were the first to use screw caps and plastic corks, and consumers often still equate synthetic corks with lesser quality wines. Not to mention, there's really no comparison of the romance of popping the cork vs. cracking open a screw cap. More importantly to us at Satek Winery, however, is that natural corks are just that-- natural. They are harvested from the bark of the Cork Oak tree, which is a renewable resource. The hand-harvesting of the cork bark does not damage the tree, and a new layer regrows in its place. A Cork Oak tree can live 150-200 years, and can be harvested a dozen times in its lifespan.
 Once you do pop that cork, what can you do with it to make sure it doesn't just populate a landfill? I tend to save my corks and display them in decorative glass apothecary jars, clear canisters with lids, or cork cages. I have a friend who has a wonderful tradition with her corks. She has guests with whom they share a bottle of wine each sign the cork. She saves them in a glass bowl, and over the years, she is able to look back and recall the good times and good friends of whom the corks served as mementos.
I've seen lots of creative options for corks for those crafty people: assemble them into trivets (cork can withstand high temperatures), coasters, corkboards, or even into wreaths. Use them on a small stake to identify, with permanent marker, what's planted in your garden. Create unique placecard holders at your table setting by making a horizontal slice at one end and slipping in your placecard. You can even create drainage in your potted plants by filling the base of the pot with corks before adding soil (cork naturally decomposes very slowly).
If you are like me and not so crafty, but your cork collection is overflowing, there are several cork recycling programs, included a new one called the Cork Brigade. This program through TerraCycle collects used wine corks to be upcycled into usable, affordable, and eco-friendly consumer products. Participation is free and you can even download postage-paid shipping labels to send them your wine corks. To get more information about their program or to join the Cork Briagde, click on the link below.
Cork Brigade wine cork recycling
Go green wine drinkers!
Sláinte!
-Christina |
Long-awaited Corot Noir to be  released Friday
March 2nd marks the release date for our newest wine, Corot Noir, a dry red wine with deep hue and prominent fruit. Corot Noir is a relatively new varietal of grape developed at Cornell University, and it owes partial parentage to Steuben, a grape we've grown at Satek Winery for years. Corot Noir is ideal for our region because it was designed to grow well in Midwestern climates. This vintage was made exclusively from fruit grown at Big Run Vineyards in Butler, Indiana, and the wine aged 3 months in French Oak barrels. So why make a completely new wine? Shane Christ, head winemaker, says "It's time to evaluate these grapes as ways to educate the public that we can make good wines from these new varietals that rival Old World vinifera." To sample Corot Noir for yourself, stop in the winery any time we are open for free tasting, and give us your opinion! |
Pruning the vineyards: the precursor to a great crop later
With March here and April approaching, we face the most critical part of growing grapes. We need to prune the vines back to an acceptable crop size.
 | | The key to an abundant harvest is careful and selective pruning of the vineyards in early Spring. |
Each year, the vines produce up to 10 times the number of buds that we need to yield a good crop of grapes. Leave too many buds on the vine and the fruit will not ripen. Leave too few and they ripen too early and the crop is too small.
So each year we conduct the meticulous task of pruning vines back to 35 to 65 fruitful buds, depending on the variety, to keep the vines balanced. All this work ideally should be done by about May 1st when the vines start to bud out. It is always a challenge to get each vine pruned in the short season available.
This year, the mild winter will make it especially challenging. The vines are already coming out of their dormant state, and run the risk of budding out earlier than normal because they think it is later in winter than it is. Having vines bud out early means that the risk of loss to a late frost is much greater than normal.
So we have to leave more buds on than normal in March and early April, and we will have to go through the vineyard a second time later in May, to get the number of buds right for the warm winter complicated by the April and May frosts. All this extra work is required to make sure that we grow the best grapes possible in a given year to make the best wine that we can make for our customers.
-contributed by Larry Satek
If you see our staff in the vineyards over the next couple of months when you are out to visit the winery, know that they are tirelessly pruning back the vines. Feel free to stop and say hi and watch them at work. |
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To make room for new Spring arrivals in the gift shop, we are giving you a chance to snag a good deal on our current merchandise. Need a new wine rack? Perhaps a gift for a friend... or even new wine glasses for yourself! Indulge without guilt on something new with this month's coupon!