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Dear Norman & Traudl,
Happy Spring! It was certainly a cold winter, and
so it's with much pleasure that we shed our layers of winter woolens,
plant Traudl's vegetable gardens and delight in the emergence of the first
young leaves of the 2007 vintage in the vineyard.
One of the rites of Spring here in Santa Barbara Wine Country is the
annual Vintners' Festival, which will this year be held just
west of the Sta. Rita Hills in Lompoc. We also have some exciting news
about the vineyard and our wines...so read on!
Traudl &
Norman Huber
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A View from the Vineyard |
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Although the official calendar marks March 21st as the first day of
Spring, around here the beginning of the season is indicated by that
first, tiny "bud" of a new leaf breaking from the vine. The starkness of
the winter vineyard is suddenly alive with hints of a bright green hue, as
the vines emerge from their "long winter nap". Bud break occurred the
first week in March - not too late, not too early. Now, we just keep our
fingers crossed that there will be no late Spring frosts!
As you know, the Huber Vineyard is one of the oldest in the Sta. Rita
Hills appellation as we planted it nearly twenty years ago. It is looking
incredibly healthy and well groomed as we write this, and that can partly
be attributed to a new partnership.....
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We Are Proud to Announce... |
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We have forged a partnership with Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton, who
will take over management of the Huber Vineyard. Greg Brewer first became
involved with our vineyard many years ago, and then purchased Chardonnay
from us as one of two vineyards he chose to launch his diatom
wines. As the Brewer-Clifton wines continue to gain fame for their
representation of Sta. Rita Hills, Greg and Steve formed their own
vineyard management team, and approached us about purchasing grapes and
farming the vineyard.
Their efforts in the vineyard are already evident. We will benefit from
their expertise as we work with our winemaker, Norm Yost, to take our
wines to an even higher level, and we look forward to tasting the first
Huber Vineyard designated wines from Brewer- Clifton, who will be
crafting both a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay. And of course, the continued
releases of Greg's razor-sharp Chardonnay's under the diatom label.
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A Taste of the Vineyard |
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By the way, don't expect the Brewer-Clifton team to make a Dornfelder!
And we will also continue to make Chardonnay and Pinot Noir under the
Huber label. For a great overview of the vineyards and the quality of the
wines from the exceptional 2005 vintage, we have a limited quantity of
A Taste of the Vineyard available.
Four Huber wines are presented in a handmade wooden box created and
crafted by Norman, a woodworker of some renown. The presentation box
itself will be something that you will keep in the future to store special
artifacts or treasures, but at the moment it is filled with the gifts from
the vineyard. A 375ml bottle of each wine produced from the property in
2005 is included; unoaked Chardonnay, barrel fermented Chardonnay, Pinot
Noir and Dornfelder. Each of these bottles is sealed with a traditional,
hand dipped wax top.
Special Spring Savings - just $70.00!
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Enthusiastic Wine Enthusiast |
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Steve Heimoff of Wine Enthusiast magazine recently tasted our latest
releases, and had a few nice comments about the wines:
93
points! for our 2005 Pinot Noir. "Pinot doesnt get much riper in
cherry marmalade, black raspberry and blueberry jam, cola and pomegranate
than this and theres a rick, blackstrap molasses undercurrent. For all
that, the wine finishes briny-spicy. Has the depth and acid-tannin balance
to age gracefully through 2012."
2005 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay: "This is everything Hubers
previously released unoaked 05 Chard is, but barrel fermentation and
partial malo have made it far softer and richer."
And we previewed Steve on our soon-to-be-released 2005 Dornfelder:
"Pours purple-black, with dramatic glycerine streaks that stain the
glass. This is obviously a big, bold, intense young wine, grapy to the
point of jam in plum and blackberry flavors."
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And Now - A Time to Taste and Celebrate! |
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Spring is a time of celebration - longer days, warmer temperatures, new
vines and new wines! We hope to see you at one of the upcoming events and
raise a glass together to toast the arrival of the 2007 vintage!
The Silver Jubilee Vintners' Festival will be held on
April 21st from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. This year the Festival will head west,
and will be celebrated on the grounds of River Park in Lompoc. We'll be
introducing our 2005 Dornfelder at the Festival, so be sure to stop
by our table!
Santa Barbara County Futures at Wine Cask. We'll be returning to
the Wine Cask restaurant in Santa Barbara on April 28th, pouring our 2006
Pinot Noir, offered as a "future". Here's a snippet from the catalog:
"Bright, juicy pomegranate and plum compote sprinkled with nutmeg,
cardamom, and cinnamon delicately garnished with pretty floral
topnotes.".
Then, we are very excited to be participating in Santa Barbara en
Primeur, a barrel tasting and futures event that will this year be
held at The Brander Vineyard on May 12th. We will be pouring a very
special wine - a barrel select Dornfelder that we have christened
Charlotte's Reserve. Come to en Primeur and learn
more!
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Hope To See you Soon... |
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As you can see, there are many exciting things happening here at Huber.
Our thanks to you for supporting us over the years, and we hope to see you
in person at one of our upcoming events!
We hope to send out news
about new wines, projects from the woodshop and recipes every month or so.
If you do not wish to receive the newsletter, need to change the address
that we send it to, or wish to forward this newsletter to a friend, please
follow the links at the bottom of the page.
Norman
and Traudl
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