Take a moment to view this fantastic video produced by Shorevines & Wines. They are making a series that highlights the winemakers in the Delmarva Eastern Shore and our very own winemaker, Milan, was the first to be featured. Watching the video you get a great sense for the potential of wine in this region while getting to know Milan (and Harvest Ridge) a little better!
Perhaps you weren’t able to join us for our Memorial Day Weekend Barbeque. Perhaps you have been meaning to stop in to the winery but haven’t done so yet. Perhaps you are dying to come to the winery but live too far away. Fear not! Our new video intern, Kaitlin, was on site for the event, got some great footage and put together a sweet video that highlights the fun we have at our events. Hoping you can join us for our upcoming events, but until then, visit us “virtually.”
It’s been a great start to the warm weather months! We would first like to say that we are so grateful that we were unaffected by the tornado that came through our area on May 22. We lost power for a bit, but other than that were ok. We were especially thankful for all the concern that all our fans showed with facebook and twitter posts, phone calls, etc. >We had fantastic turn outs for our Mother’s Day events: the spa day a the winery followed by the Italian themed “Dinner in the Vineyard.” And, thanks in part to Mother Nature’s cooperation, we had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. Many people opted out of sitting in shore traffic to “Beat the Beaches” and join us at the winery. Games, music by Paul Donovan and Jim Rezac, and food by Backyard Louie’s were all a hit. We also released 3 new wines: Pinot Gris, Traminette, Chambourcin. (If you haven’t had a chance to try them, make sure to stop in soon!)
Thanks to all that came and made it a great time! And to round out the month of May, we had our first “Pick Up Party” for the Harvest Ridge Wine Club. It was a member-only event that allowed members to taste new wines, enjoy some appetizers, chat with winery staff and Milan our winemaker, and pick up their 3 bottle club packs. If you are interested in joining the Wine Club, call the tasting room at 302.343.9437 or email us at tastingroom@harvestridgewinery.com. >We’ve enjoyed getting out and about and hitting some off-site festivals and other events away from the winery. It has allowed us to meet many that have not yet been able to make it to the winery: National Harbor Fest and King Farm Fest to name a couple. We will continue to get out to local festivals throughout the rest of the summer. In June we will be at the Southern Sun and Music Festival in Prince Frederick, MD, Ocean City MD Wine in the Park, Manassas Wine and Jazz Festival, a festival at Layton’s Chance Winery in Vienna, MD, and more. Hitting a festival and want to know if we might be there too? Email us at tastingroom@harvestridgewinery.com or call us at 302.343.9437!
If you are looking for something to do in June we have several upcoming events.
– On June 5 from 6:30-8 we will have the second of our Wine Culture Classes. Nothing stuffy, nothing intimidating. Just a great chance to gather in an intimate and informal setting, sip wine, talk about it, ask questions, and have fun. $20/person and reservations are required for this event. Please call the tasting room to make your reservation. 302.343.9437
– Friday, June 6 is the first of our Food and Music Weekends! No reservations required >and cost is dependent on individual food and wine purchases. Backyard Louie’s BBQ will be back after their great showing at our Memorial Day event, and the musical guest will be Mike Weyrauch. Our food and music events will be happening during extended hours, so join us from 6-9PM on June 6th!
– Thursday, June 26 from 5-8PM we will have an Uncorked Canvas Party! $40/person will include a wine tasting and painting instruction through a painting that participants get to keep! (We believe that wine helps the creative juices flow.) Space is limited so call the tasting room to reserve your easel today! 302.343.9437
– Saturday, June 28 will be another Food and Music evening at the winery. 6-9PM, no reservations required. As we have updated information on who will be joining us that evening to provide food and entertainment, we will post it. Stay tuned.
Please note: We will now be open 12-8PM on Fridays and Saturdays!!! So come in for a happy hour after work, stay later on Saturday! (Regular 12-5 hours remain in effect for other days.)
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Seeds… (a peek at things to come)
– September 27, we will be having a HUGE event that will benefit Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children Oncology Program. Think getting dirty, think Lucille Ball, think raise money for a very worthy cause. Stay tuned for upcoming details about The Stomp!
– Coming this fall we will begin offering a premium tasting option at our winery. Our current $5 tasting will still exist, but if you are looking for the chance to try more wines, and experience more at the winery, you will want to follow our updates on this new feature.
Make sure to join us for one or ALL of the following events we have coming up next month!
Spa Day
5/10, 11AM-3PM
Celebrate Mom or the special ladies in your life; treat her to some pampering with our SPA DAY! Local specialists will be set up throughout the winery to provide you with facials, manicures, massages and so many more services! Enjoy a glass of wine and relax with friends and loved ones. No tickets required, services paid for individually.
Italian Dinner
5/10, 6PM, $30/person
Keep Mother’s Day celebration going with our reservation only Italian dinner overlooking the vineyard. Piazza Mia, out of Dover, will be providing the delicious pasta with sauce, salads, and chicken parmesan. **There is a meatless option available.** Enjoy the meal with friends and family and, of course, Harvest Ridge wine! Price includes your meal and a glass of wine. Tables seat 8-10. The last day for reservations for this event is May 4!
Memorial Day BBQ Weekend
Saturday, May 24 & Sunday May 25, 11am-5pm
Beat the Beaches with our Memorial Day BBQ Weekend! Join us for a day of live music, wine & BBQ food! Backyard Louie’s BBQ will be grilling up the delicious fare all weekend! We will be releasing a brand new wine to celebrate the holiday weekend! No entry fee, and all wines and food are pay as you go!
On April 26 we will kick of our brand new WINE CLUB!
Members of the wine club will receive 3 bottles of our wine 4 times a year. Release dates will be in February, May, August, and November.
The Club Wine Pack will include new releases and Harvest Ridge Winery favorites. Be among the first to try new wines before they are offered to the public.
Prior to wine pack pick up day, members will receive notification of special member pick up times. If those days and times are not convenient for you, you may call the tasting room to schedule your pick up time.
Club Member Perks
There is no fee to belong to the club. However we will collect credit card information upon signing up for the club for billing at the time of club wine pack releases. No credit cards will be billed without notification. If membership is cancelled before the first shipment of wine has been received, a $10 cancellation fee will be applied to your credit card.
This has been a very thrilling time for us at Harvest Ridge! On Thursday, March 27, Harvest Ridge owners, Chuck and Chris Nunan, accepted the Trailblazer award from the trustees of the Kent Economic Partnership. The Trailblazer award is presented to successful new businesses in Kent County, Delaware.
3 days after that, we received word that several of the wines we entered in the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition received medals! Our Country Bloom won a silver medal while our Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc, Peach, and Apple each won a bronze medal. Ultimately, we want to make wines that our customers enjoy and want to drink… but hearing that people tasted our wines blind and deemed them award-winning gives us warm fuzzies too!
We are so grateful for all the good things happening around the winery and are humbled when we remember that we have been open for less than a year!
You may have heard the commercial for the food truck competition this weekend. If not, take a listen:
And make sure to tune your radios to Delaware 105.9 this afternoon at 2:30PM to hear Chuck talk to Susan Monday about the competition and other exciting things happening at Harvest Ridge. You can also listen online: http://www.delaware1059.com/
First off, let’s start by saying that it is typically considered rude to use all caps when typing. It comes across as obnoxious and yelling. Let me say that I meant the title to be like that. I am YELLING!!
My husband and I received a bottle of wine from some friends when they went to Hawaii on their honeymoon. It is a white wine. Wait. Scratch that. WAS a white wine. That was in 2001. Now it is verging on orange.
Of course this begs the question: why the heck did we wait so long to drink it?? Did we not realize it wouldn’t last?
Truth be told, in 2001, we weren’t as into wine as we are now. We knew that people aged wine, so it couldn’t possibly hurt to hold it for awhile, right? Especially a bottle that came all the way from Hawaii — that was a gift from a special occasion. That coupled with several moves, misplacing the bottle for several months (I am sure 4 months in storage probably didn’t help the wine.), and a realization about 5 years ago that we have likely missed the window leaves us today with a bottle that I am afraid to open.
Take this as a cautionary tale. If you get wine as a gift, open it soon. Enjoy it. And if you think it might be one that should be aged (few wines sold today really need to be aged), hop on the internet and google the wine and the specific vintage.
Dare me to drink it??
We recently had the pleasure of having a number of wine and travel writers and bloggers visit our winery. With the help and organizational skills of Lorraine Dion and Cindy Small from Kent County Tourism, the writers were taken on the Kent County Good Libations Tour — hitting Harvest Ridge, Painted Stave Distillery, Fordham Brewing, Mispillion Brewing, and Pizzadilli Winery.
We hope they enjoyed their visit as much as we enjoyed having them!
Mary Tilgham attended and wrote a blog post about her visit to our winery on her blog “A Day Away Travel.” Check out what she had to say about Harvest Ridge: http://adayawaytravel.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/tipsy-tourist-harvest-ridge-winery/
Mary followed up her piece on Harvest Ridge with one that highlighted the Good Libations Tour and all it has to show: http://adayawaytravel.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/tipsy-tourist-good-libations-tour/
Tawanna Brown Smith wrote an article about her day with us: http://www.examiner.com/article/5-ways-to-get-tipsy-on-the-cheap-on-southern-delaware-s-good-libations-tour#sthash.uK44juNe.dpuf
And most recently, Vanessa Orr had her write up posted in the North Hills Monthly: http://www.northhillsmonthly.com/travel.html
We look forward to having more visitors come and experience Harvest Ridge as we grow, expand, and age (in a good way… like fine wine).
Have you looked at a wine menu and felt uncomfortable, at a loss, intimidated? Have you been part of a conversation where people were throwing around wine terms and you just didn’t know what they were talking about? Ever wandered around the wine store aimlessly, not sure what you wanted or even what questions to ask? Fear not, my friends, we are here to help.
Harvest Ridge will be hosting the first of several “Wine Culture Classes” to help you learn more about and become more comfortable with wine so you can enjoy it more! We’ll talk tasting techniques, compare Harvest Ridge wines from various vintages, and take your questions.
Bring your questions and be ready for a fun and informative evening!
Looking for that celebratory “POP” this holiday season? You have several options.
1. The most common sparkling wine is, of course, Champagne. Though people often use “champagne” to describe sparkling wine in general, true Champagne comes from the Champagne region in France. (Word to the wise: don’t loosely throw the term “champagne” around in front of French people. I.e. make sure you are actually referring to Champagne from Champagne… and not sparkling wine from somewhere else.)
2. Prosecco. This Italian sparkler is an inexpensive alternative to traditional Champagne. (It is made using a different, less-expensive method than Champagne, which is why it is cheaper — though still fun and delicious.)
3. Cava. This Spanish bubbly is made in the same method as Champagne (method champenoise). The secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle, as opposed to the charmat method that produces Prosecco, where the secondary fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks. However, due to labeling rules and laws, Cava can’t be labeled “Champagne.” Again, that distinction is held only by sparkling wines produced in Champagne, France. Still, if you are looking to broaden your horizons, trying a Spanish Cava can be a great way to do it!
4. Domestic Sparkling Wine. The United States has no shortage of sparkling wine producers. One of the most well-known (and perhaps easiest to fine at your local store) is Korbel, from California. (Their sparkling wines are produced the same manner as the Cava and Champagne.) But wineries all over the country produce sparkling wine– using a variety of methods.
Make sure to grab a bottle of bubbly for New Years Eve — but remember that sparkling wine need not be saved for that holiday or special occasions. It can be a great drink to pair with rich foods, or just a fun bottle to open whenever. Make up a reason to celebrate and pop open something sparkling!