What the hail?

July 20, 2012

As I was sitting down to write about the hot and thundery yet desirable ripening season we were having so far this year, the storm of 2012 blew in.  The sky turned the color of coal, the wind began to howl, and bit by bit, it began to fall: Hail.  Oh Holy Hail.

And not just any hail.  Golf ball to baseball sized hail.  Hail that broke windshields, left dents on the cars, and worse of all, stripped vines of leaves and fruit.  The verdict is still to be decided, but initial assessments are that we lost at least a quarter of our fruit.

Considering the conditions, it looked to be a pretty good year for ripening fruit here in the Clearwater River valley.  Crop yields looked great after 2 low-yielding years, and our current growing degree days (how we measure heat units and predict ripening schedules) far surpass those of 2011.  We keep telling ourselves that one year soon, Mother Nature will be kind.

As for the tasting room….the joys of restoring a 100 year old building!  Right now our presumed opening date is October, keep an eye out for announcements!  It will be a great place to stop for a glass of wine and bite to eat after riding the Juliaetta-Kendrick trail on a crisp, fall day.

Also watch our Facebook page for upcoming events.  September is full of festivals: Schweitzer, Sandpoint, Sunnyslope….there is still lots of wine to be drunk!  Cheers!