The vineyard has never looked better despite a challenging season with all the rain. Miraculously we are ending September with an almost perfect canopy and no disease in the fruit. The vineyard health is the result of the incredible hard work of our Thai field worker crew. September is the month which can make or break the vintage, assuming your fruit is in perfect condition heading into it. Similar to last September this one has been an absolute blessing with lots of sun and long, dry days. While I don’t like making predictions this vintage is looking very promising 🙂
In early September I spent 2 weeks visiting sommeliers across Denmark, Belgium and Holland. It is so encouraging and refreshing that in these markets where they can buy wine from anywhere in the world, they choose to buy our Canadian wines. Enclosed is a short video that encapsulates why we are poured in over 40 Michelin Star restaurants, and why Canadians should embrace Canadian wines more:
As we head into the beautiful fall colours, our pizza oven remains open 7 days a week. Please check our website and Instagram page (@normanhardiewinery) for our most updated hours, as they will vary depending on the weather in October. This is also a beautiful segue to thank all our incredible summer staff for their dedication and tremendous effort in creating a welcoming and amazing customer experience. I am proud to claim that we have the best hospitality staff in Prince Edward County.
The weather the next two weeks is picture perfect. With sunshine 12 of the next 14 days we will be picking frantically as we are almost at optimum ripeness. We will be holding our 21st annual volunteer communal Harvest on Sunday, October 6th (see below for details). If you’d like to join us, please email joey@normanhardie.com so we can confirm your spot and add you to our sign-up list for updates.
If you can’t make it to the County to pick up our local wines for Thanksgiving, we are always delighted to ship directly to your door. Free shipping is available for orders across Canada including Quebec. Mixed cases are welcome! Click here to order. Our local ingredients this time of year are perfect and pairing them with local wines is the most natural and delicious thing to do.
Cheers,
Norm
HARVEST INFO:
This is a family affair, and as always, children are very welcome; however, we advise against bringing dogs, as you will have a large vet bill 24 hours after your dog has consumed a few ounces of grapes! We kindly suggest you to please bring your own picnic chairs/blankets to enjoy your well-deserved post-harvest lunch comfortably. We recommend layering and dressing appropriately for cool, crisp weather, with shoes suitable for outdoor, slightly muddy work. For those participating in grape picking, please come prepared with sunglasses/protective eyewear, comfortable farm shoes, a water bottle, and your energy & enthusiasm.
Picking will start at 10:30am, and we will serve the meal in the early afternoon. There will be meal options for vegans, vegetarians, and pescatarians to enjoy. For others, we will still be roasting a 120 lb pig as is our tradition.
To confirm your spot in the communal harvest pick, please email Joey (joey@normanhardie.com) with your name, and the number of people who will be in your group. Please check your email prior to arriving. If it rains, we will need to cancel the harvest.