Dear Friends,
I am beside myself with inspiration and joy from an amazing week and amazing Beyond Brooks yesterday. Spring is in the air and there is a lot to be grateful for.
Enjoy your Sunday!
Freezing and Losses in Europe
| We are thinking of all of the farmers in France and Italy who endured temperatures below zero and had catastrophic losses of all crops including grapes. It wasn’t centralized in one location. It hit all the main growing regions in France including Burgundy, Chablis, Bordeaux, and the Rhone. The Piedmont region of Italy also suffered losses. At least once a decade we hear of losses in France from occurrences of Mother Nature. Reports are that this freeze will be the most substantial they have ever experienced. In some cases, they are estimating losing 80-90 percent of their crop. Throughout the country, thousands of these smudge pot fires were lit trying to warm up the air to protect the vines. Some wineries employed helicopters to fly over their vineyards to keep the air circulating. But apparently, it was just too cold. Many of the farmers believe this is yet another example of climate change. |
Have You Kissed the Ground?
| During the same week of the catastrophic events in Europe, much of my work was focused on preparing for our Beyond Brooks event yesterday. Our guest was Ryland Engelhart, the co-founder of Kiss The Ground. Ryland is also the Executive Producer of the documentary Kiss The Ground. The movie is about how regenerative agriculture can heal the planet. It makes so much sense. My heart is so full that we are partners with Kiss the Ground (KTG). KTG receives our 1% For The Planet donations. As a 1% Member, you get to select where you direct your donation. It was during this selection process that I found Kiss The Ground. They are committed to education and being a media voice of the benefits of proper farming. They offer classes and farming scholarships. Our partnership continues to grow and so does their voice. The film Kiss The Ground has been a tremendous success! |
But their voice and the movement doesn’t end with producing a film. They have a shorter version of this film for schools and are working with Science teachers across the world to incorporate the film into the school curriculum. The farming company in the film is now contracted to oversee the farming of 22 million acres across the globe as a result of this film! Kiss The Ground has already met with the congressional committee on Agriculture under the new administration and they are going full speed on reforming the Farm Bill for 2023. I am excited with my work at WineAmerica to collaborate with them on this too! Our dollars donated to KTG have been put to great use:
- Sponsorship of film “Farming in Service to Life” on biodynamics.
- A Farming scholarship.
- Sponsorship of a brand new Regenerative Gardening class that will be available in May.
- Custom labeled white wine and pinot noir where 25% of all proceeds will go to Kiss The Ground.
I just signed up for their Soil Advocate Training and will be offering it to all of our Brooks team as well!
Want to be inspired? Watch Kiss The Ground on Netflix or watch our Beyond Brooks that features Ryland.
Your support of Brooks translates directly to supporting Kiss The Ground so thank you! You should be so proud!
I would love to hear from you after you have watched the film or Beyond Brooks!
More Expression Through Age
I have been singing the virtues of Riesling for weeks now. But we cannot fail to mention yet another attribute that makes Riesling so amazing…it’s ability to age! As a society, we tend to release wines too early. At Brooks, we taste everything before we release it and while many are drinking well after a year or so in bottle, wines get more complex with age. Once it is not a “current release”, without tasting it, it is hard to be certain if the wine will be in a place that you would enjoy. So, we have done the hard work for you!! I am very excited to share with you Rieslings that are stunning at this moment. Our team tasted through 6 vintages each of the Ara and Sweet P Rieslings and selected 3 vintages of each that are perfect examples of Riesling with some age that are tasting delicious.
The Ara is a dry Riesling, also known as “The Obama Wine” because it was poured at President Obama’s First State Dinner in 2009. This wine is always equally sourced from two of the oldest and our favorite sites in the Willamette Valley–Yamhill Vineyard, planted in 1984 and our Estate, planted in 1974. We have selected the following vintages:
- 2007-one of the coolest growing seasons showing lots of citrus and zippy acidity.
- 2008-an easy growing season making wines in perfect balance.
- 2009-a warmer year showcasing riper fruit but complimented with great acidity.
There are only 18 sets of these wines available.
Purchase the Ara Bundle
Medium sweet in style, we started making this wine in 2008. It was a “stuck” fermentation. As Chris continued to taste it, he really liked it. It had the right amount of sweetness but great acid to round it out. We named the wine after Pascal, “Sweet Pascal”, although at age 12, he was hardly sweet :). We asked Pascal to pick the color of the Ouroboros for the label. He said his favorite color was black or gray. I told him to try again since those are not colors….he ended up with army green. We eventually shortened the name to Sweet P, still meaning Pascal, but also reflecting the delicious sweet pea flavors in the wine. It is always 100% from our Estate vines planted in 1974. This bundle includes:
- 2008-an easy growing season making wines in perfect balance.
- 2009-a warmer year showcasing riper fruit but complimented with great acidity.
- 2010-a cooler year with excellent acid to compliment the sweetness.
There are only 48 sets of this wine available.
PURCHASE THE SWEET P LIBRARY BUNDLE
BRINGING OUR COOKING CLASSES TO YOU!
We have launched our first Virtual Cooking class with Chef Norma. We did a practice class as a team and David and I were so excited to learn a few new cooking tips and special ingredients!
You will spend about an hour with Chef Norma cooking, chatting, drinking and eating!
The package comes with:
- One bottle 2017 Muska Riesling
- One bottle 2017 Old Vine Pommard
- Oregon blue cheese
- Chef Norma’s special pinot noir ketchup
- A shopping list and instructions
- An hour cook along with Chef Norma
All of this for just $125 per person.
To keep it intimate, this event is limited to 10 spots!
MAKE BURGERS WITH CHEF NORMA!
I really hope you will watch Kiss The Ground, and if you are a gardener, I look forward to sharing the class we are sponsoring with you! Be proud that your dollars are making a difference in farming and the climate across the globe!
Share your inspiration with me [email protected] or cell 831-238-4828.
Have a great week and a relaxing Sunday!
Cheers,
Janie