Welcome to the Bridge - Monthly Newsletter of Grand Island Vineyards

Welcome to the Bridge - The Official GIV Newsletter

UPCOMING EVENTS

This year, we did one big bottling, and here's why!

------- Written by GIV Winemaker, Ed Seikel

We will generally do two separate bottlings each year at Grand Island Vineyards: one during the winter and a second in the summer. The winter bottling is for the current vintage white wines that need to be quickly bottled after harvest to preserve their fresh fruit character and crisp vibrancy, and the summer bottling is for our previous vintage or older red wines so they have enough time aging in barrel to properly mature.

This year, however, with how our wines in barrel were aging, we did one larger than normal bottling this winter and will not need to bottle again until next winter.

But that doesn't mean there isn't work to be done in the cellar! While we do believe it is best for the wines to be left undisturbed as much as possible once they are in barrel, it is also very important to check in on the wines a few times a year to make sure they are maintaining their quality through the aging process.

To do this, David and I will lay out all of the barrels on the crush pad and smell and taste through each one, which allows us to come up with a proper plan for each wine to ensure every wine will be the best it can be when the time comes for them to be bottled as well.

Come Taste Our New Releases!

Boy do we have a lot of new releases to taste. To make a reservation for a tasting or a tour, please click here.

The Amount of Jobs in the Vineyard in May is Crazy!

------- Written by Operations Manager, Joe Salman

During the month of May in the vineyard, the amount of different jobs is just crazy! 

Some are repetitive, but there are so many various jobs and tasks involved this month, it's just crazy. 

As the vines are still growing rapidly, the blooming flowers are turning to fruit.

Sustainable crop protection is the priority at this point with applications of organic dusting sulfur to prevent mildew from forming on vines and fruit. 

Simple things like irrigation and nutrient management start to be a factor in the farming practices as well.

We had finished all the shoot thinning this month and those workers transitioned to jobs like placing pheromone twists in the vineyards to keep a very nasty insect from reproducing. 

Mowing cover crops will continue through next month, as we start to trim over-vigorous vines and bring a mechanical de-leafing machine to open up the canopies. 

We do most of our work during the weekdays, but if you are ever out on Friday or Monday it is very possible to see all this happening from the winery.  We'd love to see you, please stop by and say hello.

Joe

Website -- Store -- Wine Clubs -- Vineyard -- Events -- Tastings -- Account Login