News

NEWS

Annual Letter - 2011

Dear Friends,

We're pleased to offer to you four fine wines this year...2010 Pinot Gris and 2008 Pinot Noir, possibly the two best wines we've ever brought to market. Also available are our 2007 Pinot Noir, rated by Robert Parker a 90 and our 2009 Riesling. Considered Oregon's best vintage, LRV 2008 Pinot Noir has everything -balance, cherry and berry fruit, layering, long finish and once in a while an earthier taste. The Pinot Gris is the bestselling wine in our tasting room at The Carlton Winemakers Studio.

This fall I had a phone call from Michel, who lives in Bellingham. He was in a hurry. It seems he borrowed his neighbor's Bobcat to move some dirt around the yard. The neighbor did not want any money. What he wanted was a bottle of Lazy River Vineyard Pinot Noir. Was it in Bellingham? Yes, I answered, Purple Smile Wines would be the place. Then Chef Elizabeth Stelling from New Jersey was in touch. She had only one bottle of Pinot Noir left, needed more and by the way, did we have a Facebook page that she could forward to her contacts. That same day the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco ordered their fourth case of 2007 this year. Madison Park Conservatory, a "hot" new restaurant in Seattle, finds returning customers asking for our Pinot Noir. We're also at Rover's, sometimes regarded as the best restaurant in Seattle. I tell you these stories because the quality of our wine was confirmed first by you our individual customers and now by the market. Thank you.

Like last year our harvest is one month late. We cannot speed Mother Nature; she's the boss. We do use proven techniques to increase the chance that our fruit will ripen. The fruit is thinned, and the leaves that shade grape clusters from the morning sun are pulled off. When fruit is thinned, the plant can devote its energy to fewer grapes. The result is not only a better chance of getting higher sugar, the flavors improve as well. Pinot Noir is widely acknowledged as the variety requiring the most wine making skill, so we take seriously our responsibilities in the vineyard to provide the very best fruit possible to winemakers.

As for the rest of our vineyard life, we have a new dog, Mario, a bundle of curly brown hair and a new breed to us, Lagotto Romagnola. He's taken up herding a young steer, who wanders into our pasture almost daily. Nests of yellow jackets infest the downed fence line, so repairs will wait until winter when the nasty insects die out. In the meantime, Mario rises to his responsibility and chases him home. Looks like we have a cattle dog.

We've enclosed an order form. I encourage you to order Pinot Gris as soon as possible. We have only 40 cases left, and our tasting room is racing through that. Ned and I look forward to seeing many of you at our Fall Open House, Friday, November 11 at 1212 42nd Avenue E., Seattle 4 pm to 8 pm.

Our very best,
Kirsten and Ned Lumpkin

P.S. We are on Facebook and Twitter! facebook.com/LazyRiverVineyard and Twitter: @LazyRiverVnyd

past news