Posts Tagged With: vineyard management

Eat Local;Drink Local (TM): Movement and Event by Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery

Eat Local Drink Local Draft Art

It’s official: Hawk Haven will pair with Sean’s Restaurant to emphasize the environmental and economic importance of drinking local wine. We will kick off the campaign with a weekly small-plate dinner event on premises beginning November 6th.  Pair a beautiful local meal with a local wine.

Cheers

The first “Eat Local; Drink Local” small-plate dinner will take place on November 6, 2009 from 7-10pm in the Hawk Haven tasting room. Reservations required. $50 per person. Call 609. 846. 7347. Join the movement: “Eat Local; Drink Local”

Yesterday I talked to Sean about local food.  Sean is as sunny as his little orange restaurant.

Messing around with my camera before our interview...

Sean with some local lima beans

He started the restaurant with his wife Jennifer because he loves to cook and, “My wife likes french fries.  We bought a restaurant so she could have them the way she likes them – no one else makes them.”  He’s all about high quality food – that’s why we knew he was perfect for our “Eat Local; Drink Local” campaign and event.

Sean is animated as he explains the importance of local food and wine.  “We all work together.  The more local I buy, the more it keeps everyone else in business.”  As he explained that most of his produce comes from Vineland, he reminded me that local foods just taste better – fresher.  “I’ve grown up eating out of a garden.  And the more people that start eating local food, the better everyone’s food will be.”

Fresh Corn

The “Eat Local; Drink Local” campaign is also about the environment.  Rich Saunders of BrighterPlanet.com says, “With all the focus on local food it often becomes easy to forget the climate impact of the manufacture and distribution of beverages. If you live in New York, Hawk Haven’s wines would travel 150 miles to your glass, instead of the thousands that wines from elsewhere often cover.” That is a huge carbon differential. So drink local wines – drink Hawk Haven wine!

We gave the event a trial run last night at Sean’s Restaurant.  Everything was delicious, but we might mix it up a little for the first event.  Can’t wait!

Kenna and Todd at the Eat Local; Drink Local test dinner at Sean's Restaurant

Lindsey and Cate at the Eat Local; Drink Local test dinner at Sean's Restaurant

Eat Local ~ Drink Local
Hawk Haven Vineyard and Sean’s Restaurant
6 November 2009
All Three Small Plates and Wines Included

Small Plate One
2008 Pinot Grigio

Spinach and Seared Scallop Salad dressed with Toasted Sesame and Siracha

Small Plate OneSmall Plate Two
2007 Red Table Wine

Pork brushed with Blackberry Barbecue Sauce served over Jasmine Rice and Chef’s Vegetables

Small Plate Two
Small Plate Three
2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

Rack of Lamb with Dijon Drizzle served over Roasted Garlic Mash and Chef’s Vegetables

Small Plate Three

Signing off from Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery in Cape May County, NJ – Cape May Wine Country ~ Cate


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Talks with Todd: 2009 Chardonnay Harvest

Chardonnay with Bees Todd and Lalo harvested the Chardonnay this morning.  Todd is still making fun of me for being such a whiny whimp about my bee sting, so he didn’t even bother to tell me about harvest until this morning.  Above is a picture of some Chardonnay grapes in the lug, along with a few tag-along-drunk bees.

Lalo, My Favorite Model

 Above is a picture of Lalo happily harvesting Chardonnay.

Chardonnay on Harvest Day

Chardonnay

I snuck a few tastes of the Chardonnay – delicious!  They are at 21 bricks, which Todd said is exactly what he wanted for the sugar content.  They acidity level is exactly where he wants it too.  I’m very excited; I love Chardonnay!

Signing off from Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery in Cape May County, NJ - Cape May Wine Country ~ Cate Hylas

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Talks with Todd: The Booze and the Bees

Last wednesday we harvested the Pinot Grigio.  I decided to to try my hand at harvest, but I think I was more harm than help.

My Grandpa also helped, so we were both in the parking lot by 6:30 a.m. 

Grandpa in the Hawk Haven Parking Lot Ready to Harvest

 The first step of harvest is to unload the grape lugs from the barn. Lalo and the Grape Lugs

Then we harvest!Pinot Harvest Picture

Little known fact: if there is even a small puncture in the grape, it can start to ferment on the vine, especially if harvest is late in the season and the sugar content is high.  Todd decided to pull the Pinot Grigio at a fairly high brick count, which means there was a lot of sugar to ferment in the grapes. 

 Ed Wuerker Harvesting Pinot Grigio

Grandpa Harvesting Pinot Grigio

So, when the bees buzz around and feast on grapes, they actually get drunk!  Of course, Todd told me this like it was no big deal.  I thought it was hilarious!  Until one of them stung me, which I promptly used as an excuse to get out of the  grass and the bugs and stop harvesting.

Pinot Grigio at Harvest 

Pinot and Chardonnay are my favorite grapes to look at; the pinot has such a beautiful maroon color.  Below is a picture of the offending bee…

The Offending Bee.  What a JERK!

Signing off from Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery in Cape May County, NJ – Cape May Wine Country ~ Cate Hylas

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Talks with Todd: Combatting Feathered Foes

Vineyard managers battle mother nature everyday.  Fungi, bacteria, mold and deer are all common wine-grape pests.  Come late August, early September, there’s a feathery foe: warblers.

The warblers swing presumptuously down from the sky and pluck our grapes right out of their clusters.  The brick count (a measure of sugar content) in the pinot grigio is nearly up to 20, so I can understand why grapes have become the choice bird snack.  I can barely prevent myself from picking the grapes right now – they are so good – so it’s hard to blame the birds.

To prevent against the wino-warblers (and Katies), Todd puts nets up around the vines.  Bird-brained animals can’t conceptualize of reaching through the nets, so the grapes are protected.

Netted Cabernet Sauvignon

It’s nice that there is such a simple alternative to using pesticides.  Nets – so easy!

Net Jungle

The view through the nets is absolutely breathtaking.  The nets make the vineyard feel misty and enchanted.

View of Netted Vineyard

Unnetted Cabernet Sauvignon

This is a half-netted Cabernet Sauvignon vine.  The half-net technique tricks warblers, but not me!  I ate one, and it was delicious.

Signing off from Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery in Cape May County, NJ - Cape May Wine Country ~ Cate Hylas

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Wine and Dine: Cedar Plank Salmon with Hawk Haven Red-Tailed Rose Wine and Orange Glaze

So I’m having a Julie Powell moment.  After seeing the movie Julie & Julia, I decided to try extending the blog to include cooking with Hawk Haven wine.  (Mostly I just want to bounce around my kitchen shouting  boef bourignon and bon apetit in falsetto).  I’ll try to wow my boyfriend and my grandparents with a Cedar Plank Salmon with Red-Tailed Rose and Orange Glaze tonight.  Wish me luck…

I’ll be grilling the salmon on a low flame with Cedar planks (courtesy of my Aunt Susan).   I’m not much for recipes, so I’ll just give you an idea of what I plan to do.  I can’t promise I’ll follow my own instructions, but I’ll let you know in another post what if anything I change:

Red-Tailed Rose and Orange Glaze for Cedar Plank SalmonAn image of my Aunt Susan's Salmon that I stole from her.  Thanks Aunt Susan!  Hopefully it will look something like this.

A little bit of cilantro..

A little bit of orange zest…

A few orange slices…

A few cups of orange juice…

About a cup of Hawk Haven’s Red-Tailed Rose…

Vegetable oil (maybe?)…

And Sour cream if I decide to turn the whole thing into a cream sauce…

I told you I wasn’t much for recipes… Suggestions and comments welcome!  If you have any of your own recipes that include Hawk Haven wine, please send them to me at info@hawkhavenvineyard.com, and I’ll post them on the website!

Signing off from Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery in Cape May County, NJ - Cape May Wine Country ~ Cate Hylas

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Anatomy of an Ad: Eat Local Drink Local (TM)

Everybody seems to be concerned about the little  blue planet these days.  At Hawk Haven, we are too.  I’m working on an ad/t-shirt concept that embodies our environmental sensibilities.

I try to eat local foods whenever I can.  I went to college in VT, so the “eat local” concept  is burned irreversibly into my brain.  The logic is that local food has less carbon expenditure per calorie because it traveled fewer miles from the farm to your mouth. 

Although people have internalized the “eat local” mentality, it’s very common to pair a plate-full of locally grown fruits and vegetables with a California  or even European wine.  We want people to realize there’s an environmentally friendly alternative: Hawk Haven’s, NJ grown and produced wines.

Check out the concept below.  The final image will be hand drawn and much prettier than my little concept below.  Would you wear a t-shirt with this image on it?  Do you think local wines are just as important as local foods?  Discuss… 

Eat Local Drink Local Concept Image(TM)

Signing off from Hawk Haven Vineyard and Winery in Cape May County, NJ - Cape May Wine Country ~ Cate Hylas

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