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Volume #51: September 2009 |
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| Harvest Is Upon Us | |
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Last week was a busy one as we jumped feet first into the 2009 harvest season. The first pick of the year was our estate Chardonnay on
Tuesday, September 22nd. Our crop was lighter than last year, coming in at 3.43 tons with great flavors and grape acids. In past years,
we have harvested our Chardonnay vineyard twice because of the variability in the soils, sun exposure and moisture between the tops and
bottoms of the rows, but this year we were able to harvest all of the fruit in one pass. Over the past few years we have put sustained
effort into improving the drainage, adding soil amendments and fine tuning our drip irrigation system to give each individual vine the
attention it needs to produce its best fruit. In turn, we have drastically reduced the vine variability on the rocky, hillside vineyard
so we could harvest all the fruit on the same morning.
On Thursday, September 24th we kept the trend going and harvested our Madden Ranch Syrah in the Livermore Valley. The 5.71 tons of this fruit arrived at the winery for hand sorting of the clusters to remove leaves and twigs, and then to destem them before putting the grapes to tank in preparation for fermentation. This is the beginning of a long journey for this wine — it will be available for sale about 2 years from now — and we're confident our patience will be rewarded. Looking back on this past week's harvests we realized that we have harvested and produced wine from our Chardonnay vineyard and the Madden Ranch vineyard for 7 consecutive seasons, starting in 2003. Wow, time flies! The continued experience with each vineyard helps us refine each growing season and harvest leading to production of wine that truly reflects the vineyard and its location. October will be a busy month for us as well. We have over 75% of our grapes for 2009 still hanging on the vine to achieve peak ripeness. And so the excitement will continue! |
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| Breast Cancer Awareness Month | |
| October is the official National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which helps to educate all of us about the importance of regular screening, checkups and early detection. Please join us in our quest for a cure for cancer with a purchase of our 2008 Victories Rosé. This wine received a 90 point score from the Wine Enthusiast, and we currently have only 40 cases left for sale in our Tasting Room and for online orders. As with past vintages, this wine has sold fast and is 90% of the way to being completely sold out. We also have Victories Rosé gift packs in our Tasting Room which include a bottle autographed by Peggy as well as our pink Rosé for Research hat. Click here to order, or visit our Victories Rosé for Research website for more information on our campaign. | 
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| Upcoming Events | |
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Saturday, October 10th - Second Saturdays in Los Gatos – over 100 businesses throughout Los Gatos will have special offerings and
sales throughout the day. Fleming Jenkins will offer a 15% discount on any 4 bottle purchase and include a complimentary eco-friendly
reusable wine tote to carry them home. Maps will be available to help guide you through town. For more information, please visit the
Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce website.
Thursday, October 15th – 6 pm to 8 pm at Vino Locale in Palo Alto- Please join us for an opportunity to taste many of the Fleming Jenkins wines and to contribute to breast cancer research and awareness. $2 from every bottle of Fleming Jenkins wine sold that evening will be donated by Vino Locale to local breast cancer charities. For more details and to RSVP please email info@vinolocale.com or call (650) 328-0450. In addition to this event, Fleming Jenkins will be the featured winery of the month for October at this local wine bar. Saturday, October 24th - 12 noon to 3 pm at our Tasting Room – Wine Club Members can receive their latest shipment, the highly anticipated 2008 Jenkins Vineyard Chardonnay, at our Wine Club Pickup Party. This is our most limited wine and is sure to sell out quickly. For more information on joining our Wine Club, please click here. |
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| Best Regards, | |
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Greg & Peggy
and the Fleming Jenkins Team | |