Fruit set is now about complete in the Grand Valley.  The flowers flowered, the wind blew, and Presto!  We have pollinated and successfully begun growing tiny wine grapes.  There on the vine they will rest, soaking up resources for the rest of the growing season.  What’s so amazing is that they know what to do and don’t have to think about it.  They just sit there, basking in the sun, and through photosynthesis, make the sun’s energy available to the rest of the planet in a useable form – first sugar, then wine.  In these energy sensitive times, I’ve sometimes wondered what it would be like to make industrial alcohol from grapes.  We could use it to heat our homes or run our cars or supply our fuel cells.  Probably a worthless endeavor . . . who would do that if they could make delicious wine instead?

Enclosed are your Wine Club bottles.  This month’s wines for the Dry Colorado Wine Club are:

2005 Pinot Noir, Alfred Eames Cellars

We have waited a long time to actually go down and taste some of the Pinot Noir from the West Elks American Viticultural Area (AVA).  We’ve been hearing about it for some time now, and we’re not at all disappointed.  Eames Peterson has an unusual, highly functional and esthetically pleasing winery setup.  He uses open-top fermenters made of concrete block, and painted with a special food grade coating.  He also has a true cellar that maintains great temperatures without energy input of heating or cooling.  The wine is nothing short of fabulous.  It’s soft and light with bright fruity notes of grapes and Italian plums.

2006 Pinot Grigio, Canyon Wind Cellars

A perfect summer wine, the Pinot Grigio is light and dry with a unique nose.  On the palate, it’s lively with good acid balance, pineapple, apricot and green tea, followed by ripe bananas.  We featured the ’05 vintage for you last July, so it’s fitting to bring it out at this time.  They don’t make much of it, so it will sell out quickly.  Don’t forget that if you like any of the wines you get from the Wine Club, you can pick up more using your discount.  For example, that Grand Mesa Meritage blend from Plum Creek Cellars last month was a knockout.

As always, enjoy the wines in good health!

Sincerely,

Glenn & Natalie Foster