by Duane Hoff   0 comments

Our friend David Kuehner from Destination Cellars just posted a very touching story on his blog.

One of his clients enjoyed their visit to Fantesca and the wines so much, they hired an artist to paint the bottle and vineyard on their wall! Susan and I are blown away. It makes me very proud of what we do, both with making the wines, but also the effort we put into sharing the experience of the winery with our guests who visit us.

I am grateful for our Fantesca Fans support and friendship. What an honor to make wine for them!

Here's the full story.

by Duane Hoff   0 comments

I have always said that wine is one of the most natural foods in the world. If you simply gather grapes and leave them in a warm place, they will begin to ferment into wine on their own.

It makes me smile to think that as difficult as life had to be 6,000 years ago, a good day could still end with your wife, sitting by a fire, with a steak and a cup of wine!

Here is the full story.

by Duane Hoff   0 comments

Friday night, Susan and I poured Fantesca at the Family House Charity event called "Cabernet for Connoisseurs".

We were fortunate enough to meet the wonderful artist Thomas Arvid. Thomas is famous for his detailed, beautiful still lifes of wine.

Thomas was recently commissioned to do a painting of our Fantesca bottle for a collector in Denver.

Here is the work in progress:

by Duane Hoff   0 comments

There is no question that it is good to be a winery dog every day, but Pruning Day is one of the best!

The vineyard is full of new people to say "hi" to and pet you, and...they are constantly dropping sticks!

9 week old Coco slept hard once we got her home.

by Duane Hoff   0 comments

Pruning is one of those milestone events in the year. It is a low stress event since the vines are dormant and there is a large window of opportunity to get the work done. I am amazed at the skill and speed of the workers who know how to make the precise cuts that will yield just the right number of shoots all pointed in the correct manner. This is critical to the health of the vineyard and the quality of the wine.

Welcome to 2011! We will keep you posted on the vintage's progress, but you won't be able to taste it until September of 2014! Such is the patience demanded by winemaking. I suck at it.

Duane