| Kōloa Rum Company Expands Distribution |
April 8, 2011
 Kōloa Rum Company announced a significant expansion of its brand distribution with the appointment of Western States Beverages as its exclusive distributor throughout the state of California and Marram Fine Wines Ltd. servicing the four Western Provinces of Canada, (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia). According to Bob Gunter, President of Kōloa Rum Company, “Our Agreements with Western States Beverages and Marram Wines provide us with an excellent opportunity to enter these two very important markets. Their focus on emerging boutique spirits brands, enthusiasm for our products and aggressive approach to targeted sales and distribution match our growth strategies precisely.”
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| Merryvale - News from the Cellars |
April 4, 2010
The latest news from the cellars:
“The 2008 Starmont Cab and Starmont Merlot are blended and awaiting a Spring bottling. Overall the wines seem approachable now with lots of up front fruit and rounded tannins. Quality in 2009 is high across the board, while sporting much lower alcohols than previous vintages. Chardonnay did quite well in 2009 and we’re really looking forward to getting some blends together.”
--Michael Cruse, Assistant Winemaker
STARMONT WINERY
“The main activity in the St. Helena cellar right now has been finishing the 2008 blends and starting to organize for bottling. Overall quality looks great, I'm not sure the difference between 2007 and 2008 will really be as big as the critics seem to think from their initial reports. Early indications of the 2009 reds are also promising, with wines characterized by supple tannins and good ripeness, but with lower alcohols than previous years.”
–Graham Wehmeier, Winemaker
MERRYVALE VINEYARDS
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| Merryvale - News from the Vineyard |
April
The latest news from the cellars:
“The 2008 Starmont Cab and Starmont Merlot are blended and awaiting a Spring bottling. Overall the wines seem approachable now with lots of up front fruit and rounded tannins. Quality in 2009 is high across the board, while sporting much lower alcohols than previous vintages. Chardonnay did quite well in 2009 and we’re really looking forward to getting some blends together.”
--Michael Cruse, Assistant Winemaker
STARMONT WINERY
“The main activity in the St. Helena cellar right now has been finishing the 2008 blends and starting to organize for bottling. Overall quality looks great, I'm not sure the difference between 2007 and 2008 will really be as big as the critics seem to think from their initial reports. Early indications of the 2009 reds are also promising, with wines characterized by supple tannins and good ripeness, but with lower alcohols than previous years.”
–Graham Wehmeier, Winemaker
MERRYVALE VINEYARDS
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| From Merryvale Vineyards |
April 4, 2010
The latest news from the vineyard:
The weather this past week has been spectacular. Temperatures have reached into the 70’s and the sun is shining! Wildflowers are blooming, and the vines are beginning to emerge from their winter dormancy.
We have seen budbreak in Chardonnay and Pinot noir, especially in Carneros and near bodies of water such as reservoirs. The forecast is for pretty nice weather for the upcoming week, so we expect significant progress in budbreak across the earlier varieties like Chardonnay and Pinot noir, and we should see a nice uniform budbreak due to the consistently warm and sunny weather. Other later varieties have buds that are extending, and the swollen buds look like popcorn (see picture); viticulturists casually refer to this as the ‘popcorn stage.’
Vineyards with good drainage have dried out, and growers are starting to mow. Mowing early will help prevent frost damage to the succulent new vine growth. Tall cover crops can impede air movement and reduce solar radiation, and thereby increase frost risk. We mow to reduce this risk. The ground is still a little bit too wet for cultivation but that will follow shortly in cultivated sites. The next main pass in the vineyard will be suckering, the removal of any undesired growing points such as along the trunk of the vine and along the cordon at non fruiting positions. This will occur when the new shoots are anywhere from 4-12” long.
Cheers to the bright beginning of 2010!
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| Market Updates |
March 20, 2010
Once again we are gearing up for a very busy Spring Season! We have just had the pleasure of hosting two of our great suppliers here in the Alberta market, and look forward to two or three more winemaker/supplier visits to the various market places over the next few weeks!
We will of course once again be participating in the California Wine Fair - Western swing in early April. Wednesday the 7th in Vancouver, Thursday the 8th in Edmonton and finally Friday the 9th in Calgary!
We are extremely pleased to be welcoming Merryvale Vineyards to Vancouver this year for the Vancouver Playhouse Wine Festival in late April. |
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