Welcome to the Bridge
Bridging all aspects of our Winery from the Vineyard, to
the Cellar, Winery Grounds, Tasting Room and beyond. Our ongoing newsletter is an ideal way to stay up to date with all aspects of the Winery
and our newest wine releases!
In this Edition: What happens when we get a lot of rain we weren't expecting? Well, let us tell you. We will also explain what happens from the time we pick the fruit to the time we get it in a bottle. Learn more about our past events and some coming up in the near future, try your hand at another round of newsletter trivia and learn about the Grand island Vineyards 2017 Cabernet Franc. We expand more about our wine clubs and tell of upcoming events you won't want to miss, including the date for the 2019 Harvest Dinner.
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by Operations Manager, Joe Salman
We all know the saying "April showers... May flowers," but this year it has been May showers and May flowers. This is exactly the current situation of the grapevines as well. Usually in mid May bloom begins, and grapevines have tiny flowers, that in the right conditions, each tiny flower will become a single grape berry and that cluster of flowers will become the grape bunch we all know and love. We just couldn't have had much worse weather during bloom I'm sorry to report.
Pounding rains and a little hail have the ability to physically remove these small tender flowers. The result is called shatter and the resultant grape bunch in the future would have a mixture of small and large berries and or just missing berries all together. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of mature grape bunches with shatter to show you, but if I am unlucky I will show you some later this year.
The main problem that grapes are most susceptible to is
Botrytis Bunch Rot during bloom and this can cause some nasty outcomes. If you have ever wondered why California produces so many amazing wines it is because we have a mild climate and the rain is usually something that only happens in the winter. Now, I also don't have a picture of this, but for an example I went to Google stock photos so you can see for yourself.
Just now at the end of the month it seems more like spring and we are working very hard to rectify the potential issues. Stay tuned and I will let you know how this all shakes out.
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Cellar News
From Barrel to Bottle - The Process of Finishing, Filtering and Sparging
We just finished our big summer bottling right before our Anniversary Party. Bottling is always a fun time because it means we're one step closer to getting our wines out to all of you to try. However, even though the wines are finished with fermentation and aging, there is still a lot of work to be done to get a wine in barrel or tank ready to go into bottle.
The first, and most fun, steps are the sensory analysis and blending trials. This is our final chance to tweak our wines before bottling. We taste through every barrel of every wine and pick which barrels we will use for each wine.
Next, everything is racked out of barrels (or tanks), to remove the wine from any lees left after the aging process, and transferred to clean tanks.
 Once everything is brought up to tank, we send all of our wines through a crossflow filter. Crossflow filtration works by moving the flow of wine across the membrane at a high velocity, continually scouring the surface, and removing all the unwanted suspended solids left after racking.
This process filters the wines to nearly sterile, yet is incredibly gentle on the wine.
Finally, we sparge the wines with inert gas. As wines age, they pick up oxygen from the air around them. As we get ready to put the wine in bottle we want to remove as much of that oxygen as possible in order to keep the wines fresh once they are aging in the bottle.
It's at this point that our wines are ready to pass through a final sterile filter on the way to the bottling line, where the bottles are filled with wine, corked, labeled, and ready to soon be released into the wild!
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Tasting Room
Great Events So Far, and More to Come!!!
By Tasting Room Manager Tess Jonson
A big thank you to all our members and guests who helped make our DIY Bottle Your Own Event a success! Once again, we were definitely impressed with all your creative artwork. We are looking forward to hosting another event just like this!
EXRTA, EXTRA read all about it! Our flagship wine is BACK!!! Join us
Father's Day, June 16th, for the very much anticipated release of our 2017 Cabernet Franc. Bring your dads, stepdads, grandpas, uncles and anyone who is special to you to join us for this special release. Like always bring a picnic and stay for the day!
SAVE THE DATE! Harvest Dinner will be September 14th, more details to come.
Click here
to RSVP or get more information on this event.
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GIV Newsletter Trivia
Can You Guess What This is Used For at the Winery?
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Wine Spotlight
2017 Grand Island Vineyards Cabernet Franc
By Winemaker David Shattuck
This month features one of our most anticipated wine releases: the 2017 Grand Island Vineyards Cabernet Franc. Ed and I are very excited for this vintage to be released to all of our wine club members and guests. This vintage was high enough quality that a portion of the Cabernet Franc went into The Premier, our new reserve club red blend.
The wine pours a beautiful violet hue. The wine opens with gripping aromas of lavender, cherry cordial, and tobacco leaf. As the wine opens powerfully evocative notes of blackberry, wet gravel, and red pepper flake invite further contemplation. The mouthfeel is svelte with lithe tannins and a pleasingly round burst of acidity. The oak notes provide a counterpoint to the varietal character by introducing flavors of smoke, toasted brioche, and baking spice to the wine. The finish is persistent and lingering with a hint of dark chocolate and herb de provence.
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Wine Club
Two Great Wine Clubs to Choose From!
GIV WINE FAMILY (3 bottles, quarterly shipments, 15% discount on GIV and Bridgehead)
Three is the magic number. Our winery is three years old now and if you haven't picked up your shipment yet for May, we have three different wines waiting for you. The GIV 2018 Symphony, GIV 2017 Pinot Noir, and BRIDGEHEAD 2018 BLANC Winemaker's White Blend are ready for you to take home so stop by our winery or contact us if you would rather us ship to you!
Towards the end of the month we will send out another reminder for those of you haven't picked up yet so please stop by Friday to Monday, 10 AM to 5 PM. If nothing else, we always have delicious wine for you to taste!
If you have any questions about your wine club or about our events please contact us via telephone, email, or visit us. We recommend that you add
RESERVE CLUB (2 bottles, biannual shipments, 20% discount Salman Family Reserve)
Reserve Club, we hope you enjoyed your special section during the Bottle Your Own Event. It's our thanks for signing up for the club! The shipment of limited wines -- the Salman Family Reserve Premier and the Salman Family Reserve Chenin Blanc-- are still available to try in our tasting room for free if you're a Reserve member. If not, it only costs $10 to try these excellent wines in our tasting room.
In the near future, we will be offering the 2017 Reserve Pinot Noir and the 2018 Reserve Chardonnay for Reserve members to taste.
If you are not already in either of these wine clubs, or to access your existing account, please sign up or log in using our
online access area
on our website. To verify your account upon sign up (via Billing Information or by Email) you can do so at our online
Account Verification
page.
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Upcoming Events
View all events, R.S.V.P. or get tickets to Grand Island Events and Tours here!
GIV After Dark - Friday, June 7th, 2019
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm - Featuring Live Music - PRICE: Free!
 Join us in GIV's tasting room, during our after hours, for live music and delicious wine! Buy your favorite by the bottle or by the glass and enjoy the talented musicians we've chosen for the night!
Starting at 5:30, the evening includes:
- An intimate setting to enjoy GRAND ISLAND VINEYARDS wine
- Live entertainment with Us4Love
- Indoor and outdoor seating and service
Click here
for more information on this event!
Father's Day Franc - Sunday, June 16th, 2019
11:00 am - 4:00 pm - Featuring Live Music - PRICE: Free!
You brought your moms for Mother's Day, now bring your dads for Father's Day! Stop by GIV for the release of the 2017 Cabernet Franc and live music.
For everyone that comes in, we're offering a free tasting of the newly released 2017 Cabernet Franc. Our new vintage of the Franc is still everything you love. Intense character but smooth from the first sip.
Live music will be playing so bring your picnic baskets and your wine thirst to enjoy a great day!
Please RSVP for large groups so we know ahead of time and can set up tables for you
Please
click here
to RSVP or
for more information on this event!
GIV After Dark - Friday, July 5th, 2019
5:30 pm - 8:30 pm - Featuring Live Music - Price: Free!
Join us in GIV's tasting room, during our after hours, for live music and delicious wine! Buy your favorite by the bottle or by the glass and enjoy the talented musicians we've chosen for the night!
Starting at 5:30, the evening includes:
- An intimate setting to enjoy GRAND ISLAND VINEYARDS wine
- Live entertainment
- Indoor and outdoor seating and service
Please click here to RSVP or for more information on this event!
 2019 Harvest Dinner - Saturday, September 14th, 2019
6:00 pm - Midnight
Save the date, more information coming soon.
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