Wineglass Cellars (509) 829-3011 Email: wgcllrs@ibm.net Fax (509) 829-6666 FALL 1999 Volume 8 We are in the middle of what looks to be the crush during which all grape varieties ripened within a two week time span! We are scrambling to buy extra fermentor bins. David is getting a full upper body workout punching caps on 30 bins twice a day! The volume of grapes is a bit short this year while the quality so far has been excellent. I'm convinced that 1999 will actually be a better vintage than the much touted 1998. I believe the long and slow ripening versus the hot blast ripening makes the better vintage. The winery is growing…we will be up to 3000 cases this year. We are still selling out of the wine we make each year thanks to all of you and your word of mouth advertising. NEW RELEASES: 1997 Reserve Merlot, Yakima Valley. This wine is showing a nice light cherry nose that is more "pie" cherries than "Bing". The wines of 1997 tend to be more tart than the previous three years. The taste of this Merlot is fruit forward with a nice cherry middle mixing with hints of oak that gives way to a very creamy long finish ending with hints of black pepper. This wine spent 15 months on oak. 1997 Elerding Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, Yakima Valley. This is our annual pre-release opportunity for our mailing list customers only. If you purchase this wine now through December 6, 1999 you will get a 25% discount. Pay only $270.00 (+ tax = $290.52) p/case. This special price is for prepaid case sales only, no other discounts apply. This wine has been in the bottle too short a time to fully realize all its potential. It is showing a big fruity middle, hints of licorice and a long finish. ALMOST TO YOUR DOOR…..our wine just in time for the holidays run will be December 4-5. We will once again be at our friend Kristen's Queen Anne condo. Give us a call, Email, or fax to place your order. You can pay by phone with a credit card or pay by check or cash when you pick up your wine. Stop in Saturday the 4th between 10:30am-4:30pm or Sunday the 5th 10:30am-1:30pm. If you need to pick up at a different time please call and we will do our best to accommodate you. NEW! ALMOST TO YOUR DOOR - PORTLAND….we plan to make this an annual event. We will be at the house of David's oldest son near the downtown core area of Portland on Saturday, November 20th. Give us a call, Email, or fax to place your order. You can pay by phone with a credit card or pay by check or cash when you pick up your wine. You can pick up your wine on Saturday between 10:30am-4:30pm. We hope to see you there. (As in Seattle you will have an opportunity to taste the new wines). If you need to pick up at a different time please call and we will do our best to accommodate you. THANKSGIVING IN WINE COUNTRY. If you come to this event we will be serving a bite of Tarragon Chicken Terrine to match with our 1997 Merlot. We will also have the 1997 Reserve Merlot available to taste. (Our mailing list customers can taste the 97 Elerding Cab Sauv simply by identifying yourself). 1999 HARVEST NOTES from DAVID This year's harvest has been either feast or famine. The wonderfully warm last six weeks was not only good for grape maturation but nice to work in T-shirts rather than heavy coats. This year's fruit promises more classic flavors and feels like the 1995 vintage. The bad news is that because the growing season started off cool with occasional frosts there wasn't as much fruit as we or the growers wanted. For example there was only slightly over three tons of Elerding Cabernet Sauvignon or about 240 cases, the same amount as 1996 vintage. The fruit was excellent as usual and promises another award winning wine. Wineglass Cellars is also committed to a new vineyard that promises our customers some great wines. Du Brul Vineyards is in a perfect place in Outlook. This vineyard not only survived the freeze in 1996 but it survived in style and produced some great wines. Our 1997 Merlots include fruit from this vineyard and Capizimo is predominately Du Brul Vineyard. If you like these wines you'll love what we have in store for you with the 1998 vintages, due out next year, and beyond. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Century 2000! The Tasting Room will be closed Dec. 1 - Feb. 12 so our family can relax and finish unpacking. It does take some of us more than a year to finish moving! Please call if you want to have orders shipped or to arrange a pick-up if you're in the area. Thanks for all your support in 1999. David, Linda, Steven, & Pat WINES AVAILABLE FOR PRE HOLIDAY PURCHASE AND PICK UP 1998 Chardonnay @ $11.95/bottle Fran's Wine @ $6.95/bottle Ralph's Red @ $9.95/bottle Capizimo @ $12.95/bottle 1997 Merlot @ 15.95/bottle Zinfandel Batch 97 @ 19.95/bottle 1997 Reserve Merlot @ 20.95/bottle 1997 Elerding Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon @ $270.00/case (details on front page) As always we give a 15% discount on a case purchase (full or mixed cases) and a 20% discount on two or more cases. (These discounts do not apply to the 1997 Elerding Cab). Our sales tax is 7.6%