Volume XIII, Number 1 -- Spring/Summer 2007

In this Issue

New Wines and More! - A personal letter from Art, Joyce and Jonathan Hunt
Meet Dorothy Sands - Our longest-standing employee is special
Three Hunt Country Wines Win Gold - at the Tasters Guild International wine competition
From the Cellar - A report from our winemaker Christopher Wirth  
The Greaseball Challenge - Suzanne Hunt drives an old truck to Costa Rica on biodiesel and meets Willie Nelson
Hunt Country's Brand New WINE CLUB - The perfect Gift Giving Plan...for family, friends or yourself!
Vineyard Dirt - by Art Hunt
Pets' Corner - the latest news of the Hunt menagerie
Spectacular Summer and Fall Events - Don't miss our great events at the winery
Order Wine Directly & Easily from Us - We can ship to an expanding number of states
Let your Preference be Known - How you can easily make a difference
Silver Stores - These select wine retailers across New York State stock our wines and more

From left: Carolyn, Jonathan, Joyce, Art & Suzanne Hunt, and Gus

New Wines and More!

Dear Friends,

A wild and wooly winter it certainly was, but the snow has finally cleared, animals are stirring, and the wonderful scents of spring fill the air.

Our daughter Carolyn and fiancé Ben have “settled” into their frenetic new life in Boston, with Carolyn studying immigration and human rights law at Northeastern, and Ben working on educational outreach for WGBH.

Suzanne has taken a little detour from her normal work at WorldWatch in Washington, DC.  She spent the month of April competing in Greaseball Challenge 2007, a charity car rally from the U.S. to Central America to promote sustainability on a shoestring using renewable fuels.   On the way, the contestants visited Willie Nelson and his lovely wife Annie – longtime passionate spokespeople for renewable resources – at their Texas ranch (see feature article).

Meanwhile, our son Jonathan is launching into spring at our “ranch” here in New York, working hard in the vineyards and preparing to introduce grease power (biodiesel) to our own farm machinery!

After a nasty fall from Misty last summer and months of rehab for torn knee ligaments, Joyce is back in the saddle again.  Both are happy to resume the tradition of their daily  ride.  See our Pet’s Corner article for lots more animal news.

We have so much wine news: delicious new varietals, all in tall handsome bottles with elegant new linen labels; great new vintages of your old Hunt Country favorites; three Gold medals at the Tasters Guild International competition; and the launch of an amazing new Wine Club. 

On April 1st, we joined forces with a new distributor for upstate New York, Colony Liquor and Wine Distributors.  Colony’s great people and state-of-the-art technology should help bring our wines to more restaurants and wine stores throughout the state.

With so many great wines to taste and new things happening at the farm and winery, we hope to see you again very soon.  In the meantime, please accept our very best wishes for a wonderful summer.  

-- Art, Joyce and Jonathan Hunt

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Meet Dorothy Sands

By Art Hunt

About 20 to 30 days per year, we clean, power up and ready the bottling line for action.  Each time, this year and every year since we began our journey making wine 25 years ago, Dorothy Sands has helped us on bottling days (below, third from left, along with Judy Kuhn, Dave Mortensen, Bev Perrin, Bud Perrin and Bob Wilder).
 
 
Now seventy-five, Dorothy inspects each bottle to make sure it has been filled to the correct height and corked properly. If so, she places a capsule on the bottle.  She works a long day and always stays chipper.
 
Dorothy knows the names of all the wild plants in the vineyards and their medicinal properties.  She also has an amazing knack for finding four-leaf clovers during breaks. 
 
Long before Joyce and I came to live on the family farm in 1973, Dorothy was helping my Uncle Norman in the vineyards.  Every spring after pruning, she would attach each fruiting cane back to the trellis with tough willow reeds.  It took skill and practice to twist each willow just right.  In mid-summer, Dorothy and other crewmembers would use straw ties to attach young green shoots to the trellis so the passing tractors didn’t damage them.  She would treat each vine like her child.
 
Dorothy’s family visited and worked on the farm, too.  In the 1990s, Dorothy and her husband Kenneth worked side-by-side on the bottling line.  In earlier years, she occasionally brought her daughter along for the day.  Once her daughter was all grown up, Dorothy surprised us from time to time with a visit from her little granddaughter.
 
It takes a lot of good people to make great wine.  One of the pleasures of a family farm is the close relationship that forms with those who help us.  Our many years with Dorothy have been particularly special.

Assistant Manager John Daugherty proudly displays our new Wine Club packageHunt Country's Brand New WINE CLUB 

We are very excited to announce what we modestly believe is the BEST wine club in the Finger Lakes!  It’s the perfect gift-giving plan, for relatives, friends or for yourself! 

  • It can be simple: we ship you 3 bottles of delicious wine every 3 months, or 
  • It can be personalized:  we can send your wine to anyone you wish* (up to 4 different recipients), when you wish, with a handmade grape gift card and your personal message in the box! 

There are two levels of participation, the Hunt Club and the Connoisseur Club.

As a Hunt Club member, we can ship a broad assortment of wines (dry to sweet) or you may select a specific preference (red only, white only, dry only or sweet only).  In addition to the wine shipments, the Hunt Club includes:

  • A complimentary invitation for two to our members-only Wine Club Summer Picnic on Saturday, July 28, 2007
  • Pre-release notification and offers for new wines
  • A complimentary Hunt Country or Foxy Lady logo apparel item
  • Extra discounts on any additional purchases made at the winery, by phone or on our website
  • The ability to change or cancel your plan any time you wish.

A value of over $300, we offer our Hunt Club for just 4 payments of $59.99, including all shipping and taxes.

Connoisseur Club members receive twelve bottles of Hunt Country’s finest, including a bottle of our signature Vidal Blanc Ice Wine, as well as a library wine from Art & Joyce Hunt’s private cellar, shipped 3 bottles at a time to anyone*, any time you wish, and:

  • All the extra benefits of the Hunt Club, plus:
  • A special early reservation period and 15% discount for 2 people for our intimate, five-course Hunt Country Winemaker’s Dinner on August 11, 2007, hosted by owners Art & Joyce Hunt, winemaker Christopher Wirth, and Chef Paul Mach (of PBS-TV’s “You’re the Chef”.)

A value of over $440, we offer the Connoisseur Club for just 4 payments of $79.99, including all shipping and taxes.

You may become a member online, or by calling us at 800.946.3289.

Click here for a printable flyer with all the details.   

* States we can ship to:  Alaska (Anchorage, Fairbanks & Juneau only), CA, CO, FL, GA, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, NH, NY, NC, OH, OR, TX, VA (eff. 6/1/07), Washington DC, and West Virginia.  Please call us for the up-to-the-minute status of any state not in this list!  The purchaser must be 21 years of age or older.  A recipient over 21 must sign for the package at the delivery address.

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Hunt Country Vineyards Winemaker Christopher Wirth

From the Cellar
by Winemaker Christopher Wirth

I couldn’t be happier about the wines coming from the cellar this winter and early spring.  Two wines are firsts for Hunt Country:  a lush Merlot, with 16 months of aging in French oak; and a crisp dry Pinot Gris, with delicate fruit flavors and floral and mineral notes.  I first fell in love with Pinot Gris during my years in Oregon.  Try our Hunt Country Pinot Gris with my favorite pairing, smoked salmon and mango salsa…to die for!  We also bottled and released an amazingly rich Cabernet Franc 2005, two delicious Rieslings (Dry and Semi-Dry) and a tropical Vignoles.
 
Art is busy sketching plans for a structure to house our outside tanks.  This would reduce our energy usage and make it much easier for me to maintain quality as the wines age. 
 
Everything is looking great for this year’s Ice Wine.  The quality of the grapes at harvest was wonderful, with a sugar content of about 41 degrees Brix (extremely sweet!) and lots of complex tropical fruit flavors.  We are carefully monitoring the progress of fermentation in the cellar, and expect to release a spectacular new 2006 vintage of our signature Vidal Blanc Ice Wine in July.
 

2007 Tasters Guild International wine competition Gold medal-winners

Three Hunt Country Wines Win Gold

Each year, we enter our wines in a number of prestigious competitions across the country.  Winning a Gold medal anytime is very satisfying, but three in one competition is a thrill, especially when we win for both white and red wines!

  • Hunt Country Seyval Blanc 2005
    A smooth dry white with delicate fruit flavors and softly oak-aged.  An amazing value at $8.99.
     
  • Hunt Country Semi-Dry Riesling 2006
    This classic Finger Lakes Riesling is soft and fresh, with hints of apricot and just a touch of sweetness.
  • Hunt Country Cabernet Franc 2005
    A truly exceptional Cab Franc.  Ruby color, robust oak, firm tannins and hints of black cherry.  Estate-bottled, just 215 cases produced, not sold in stores.

Each won Gold at the Tasters Guild International competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, April 25-28, 2007.  All three wines are in stock and may be purchased at the winery or online.

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Suzanne Hunt (center) with Annie & Willie Nelson at the Nelson's Texas ranch

The Greaseball Challenge

Suzanne Hunt and other international biofuel proponents recently competed in Greaseball Challenge 2007, a cross-continent trip in old diesel vehicles fueled by used vegetable oil.  Armed with nothing but a sense of adventure and some cheesecloth, the five teams drove 4,500 miles from Washington DC to Costa Rica to promote the use of alternative and renewable fuels.

Suzanne’s team, sponsored by Inter-American Development Bank, drove a 1981 VW diesel pickup dubbed “Greased Lightning” with 240,000 miles on the odometer. Along the way they made pit stops at restaurants like the Hard Rock Café to renew their fuel supply.  After straining and filtering the used fryer oil, the fuel goes right in the tank. The exhaust contains almost no pollutants, but it does smell a bit like french fries!

 

Suzanne serves on the board of an organization formed by Willie and Annie Nelson to promote renewable fuels, one of their passions. Since the Greaseball Challenge’s route was to pass through Texas, the competitors were invited to the Nelson ranch.  Suzanne joined Willie and Annie for one of the most memorable horse rides of her life.  The next day Willie filled their tanks with biodiesel from his BIOWILLIE fuel station and on they went toward Central America.

A Norwegian film crew rode along to document the adventures of the trip with the intention of producing a future educational program about renewable fuels.  To enjoy more details of the adventure (or to sign up for the 2008 Challenge!), see www.GreaseballChallenge.com.  For more information about bioenergy, including Suzanne’s “Greased Lightning”, see www.BioenergyWiki.net and click on “Notes from the Road”.

Ordering Wine Directly
and Easily from Us!

We’re making progress! Thanks to a US Supreme Court ruling in 2005, more states than ever now allow direct shipments from out-of-state wineries. Several more states are reevaluating their restrictive laws and regulations. 

Yes, we can ship to ... Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Virginia (effective 6/1/07), Washington DC, West Virginia.  You can call us or place orders for shipments to these states online! 

Maybe ... other states.  Pease call us at 800.946.3289 for the latest information and options!

Input 159633 in the “Coupon Code” box in your Shopping Cart and receive an extra 5% off any order received by 8/31/07.   

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Vineyard DirtHunt Country Vineyards
By Art Hunt

Mother Nature was certainly moody this past winter.  We were concerned by the balmy January weather.  The cold returned in February, and stayed cold and snowy, but, thank Heavens, temperatures stayed above –3 degrees F.  As many of you recall, we had heavy snows again in April, but temperatures remained reasonable.  We have healthy buds and look forward to a great crop of each grape variety this fall.

We are getting a myriad of spring work done, including planting seven more acres of red varieties on Green Acres, the farm next door that we manage, and an additional acre of Vignoles grapes on our own farm.

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Misty

Pets’ Corner

The winter and early spring have been busy as ever for the Hunt menagerie.  Last summer, Misty was spooked by an unseen predator – likely a bear -- while crossing the farm’s wooded gully and threw Joyce who tore two knee ligaments.  After completing a long rehab period, their evening rides have resumed and the ol’ girl (Misty, that is!) is chipper again. 
 
Jon, with Mouse and MollieBärli has been happily adopted by our office manager, Andy Marshall, after consultation with his vet suggested that Bärli was stressed by the comings and goings of so many animals and people at the winery.  He loves his new quieter life as an “only dog” with all the attention for himself.
 
Molly, the 7-month-old Great Dane of Jonathan Hunt and his girlfriend Caroline, is 90 pounds of happy rollicking puppy, with absolutely no idea how big she really is.  Mouse, their 9-pound Rat Terrier, is more focused on the possibility of a rodent escaping his watch than on his giant and still growing, younger “sister”  (see left).
 
Gus is his happy self, totally dedicated as always to his duty as Official Greeter in the parking lot.  He feels much better since starting to take a form of glucosamine for a touch of arthritis in the hips.  He even occasionally charges around the yard, chasing Mollie.

Spectacular Summer & Fall Events!

Whether you enjoy sampling the latest wine releases, relaxing to live music, tasting food and wine pairings, shopping for unusual and wonderful gifts, expanding your garden with fresh plantings, or watching fine artists create wonders before your eyes..., we have an event for you!

DATE

EVENT

SPONSOR

May 19-20, 2007 (Sat/Sun)

Keuka in Bloom

Keuka Lake Wine Trail

June 9-10, 2007 (Sat/Sun)

Barbecue at the Wineries I

Keuka Lake Wine Trail

June 16, 2007 (Sat)

Recital by Graduate Students of
Maestro Richard Auldon Clark

Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival

June 23-24, 2007 (Sat/Sun)

Barbecue at the Wineries II

Keuka Lake Wine Trail

June 23, 2007 (Sat)

Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
 Opening Concert

Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival

July 27, 2007 (Fri)

Manhattan Chamber Orchestra
Closing Concert

Finger Lakes Chamber Music Festival

August 11, 2007 (Sat)

Hunt Country
Winemaker's Dinner

Hunt Country Vineyards
(seating extremely limited)

September 15-16, 2007 (Sat/Sun)

Keuka Oktoberfest

Keuka Lake Wine Trail

September 29-30, 2007 (Sat/Sun)

18th Annual  Gourmet
Harvest Festival

Hunt Country Vineyards
(free admission!)

November 10-11, 2007 (Sat/Sun)

Keuka Holidays I

Keuka Lake Wine Trail

November 17-18, 2007 (Sat/Sun)

Keuka Holidays II

Keuka Lake Wine Trail

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Let your Preference be Known!

It is gratifying to begin to see more New York wines on retailers’ shelves and on wine lists in fine restaurants.  We at Hunt Country and our fellow New York wineries are working tirelessly to improve every aspect of our winemaking and marketing.

You can help us accelerate the pace of change.  If you do not find your favorite New York winery on a restaurant’s wine list or a wine store’s shelf, please take a deep breath and ask the manager to make it available.

Thank you for being an active supporter of New York wines!

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Silver Stores!

Hunt Country Silver Stores are a select group of wine retailers across New York State where you will find a broad range of Hunt Country and Foxy Lady wines in stock*, sales staff who are particularly knowledgeable about our wines, and periodic free tastings of both our classic varietals and newer releases. Thanks for supporting them and us!

* All our wines are normally in stock, except Cabernet Franc 2005 and Seyval Blanc VS, of which we produced so few bottlesy that they are offered only at the winery.

Greater Rochester

Pittsford · Clubhouse Liquor · 2947 Monroe Ave. · 585.461.0150

Greater Buffalo

Cheektowaga · The Wine Sellar · 3843 Union Rd. · 716.681.8150
Corfu · Kutter’s Cheese Retail Store · 857 Main Rd. · 888.700.5275 · www.KutterCheese.com
Kenmore · Prime Wines · 3445 Delaware Ave. · 716.873.6688 · www.PremierGroup.net
Orchard Park · Prestige Wine & Spirits · 3410 Amelia Dr. · 716.825.9848 · www.PremierGroup.net
Williamsville · Premium Wine & Spirits · 7980 Transit Rd. · 716.565.3020 · www.PremierGroup.net 

Finger Lakes & The Southern Tier

Canandaigua · Ryan’s Wine & Spirits · 16 Parkway Plaza · 585.394.4740
Farmington · Bombace Wine & Spirits · 6081 Rte 96 · 585.924.3290 · www.Bombace.com
Geneseo · Good Spirits · 4270 Lakeville Rd. · 585.243.0220
Ithaca · Northside Wine & Spirits · 222 Elmira Rd. · 607.273.7500 · www.NorthsideWine.com

Central New York

Fayetteville · Superior Discount Liquors · 105 Towne Dr · 315.637.8909
Cortland · Plaza Discount Liquors · 1108 State Rte 222 · 607.753.8575

Adirondacks

Keeseville · Village Liquor Shoppe · 1727 Front St. · 518.834.9640

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