Saturday it was a busy day. Eight hardy workers arrived at the crack of dawn early to take grapes off our magic hill vineyard. A flatbed trailer arrived from Central Fabricating with our wine making equipment shortly thereafter. With clever ingenuity and two helpers to bucket must from the crusher destemmer into the fermentor, we […]
Let the wine making begin Read More »
The new building is really starting to take shape, and it looks like with a bit of ingenuity we’ll be doing all the winemaking on site this year. Exciting times tempered by the many, many things to think about and do. It’s a race to get everything done for Harvest.
Harvest approaches Read More »
Harvest is early this year by more than a week. We decided to start harvesting this weekend, the weather’s been so good. But our big harvest party where we invite our friends to share in the fun will be on September 22, 23, and finishing up hopefully, the 29 & 30. The summer was so
This time of year the vines are in their prime. They grow over the top of the trellis and need to be trimmed back. Most vineyard operators will use tractor-mounted equipment to trim back acres of vines at a time, to result in picturesque perfect hedges. At Broken Stone we are in startup mode,
Hedging at Broken Stone Read More »
Construction of our processing building begins. Our beautiful middle hayfield is full of holes and mountains of dirt. The cost of a dream… but by the end of the summer it will be all put back together again and we’ll be ready for business.
Breaking Ground at Broken Stone Read More »
As Spring starts to melt the snow, you will see us out in the vineyard, slogging through the frosty mud, pre-pruning the vines. It’s the first leg of the race to get things ready for summer!
Brrr… burning the vines while pruning in February
Burning of the vines Read More »
Without weeds to pull and vines to nurture, our soils are free to reveal their true nature. And the nature of our soil, “Hillier Clay Loam”, is a hard-hearted one. The fractured stone is tough for kneeling on, but great for growing delicious winegrapes! The vines we so carefully tied down in October are now
I never realized how much farming depends on Hope. Things I’ve hoped or: I hope it rains. I hope it doesn’t rain. I hope there isn’t a frost. I hope the weather doesn’t warm up too much, too long, too early. I hope for good set. I hope the tractor starts. I hope I only
Faith, Hope and Farming Read More »
Our wine now begins what’s hopefully a miraculous transformation via the aging process. As yet, the bottles are unlabeled — fitting, given the unfinished nature of the wine within. But it’s time to find an identity. And so we turn once again to thinking about wine and winery names… A great name could reflect the place the grapes were
What’s in a Name… part 2 Read More »