WHAT'S NEW AT THE PIRTLE WINERY: OCTOBER 2004

It's October 30th already, and the vines are sleeping. They performed extremely well this season and their rest is well deserved. This was their 6th season. The vineyard site was orginally a cornfield and had been heavily fertilized every year prior to the vineyard planting. For this reason we have never fertilized the grapevines. But three consecutive years of relatively heavy cropping has undoubtedly depleted the soil of much of the stuff required for healthy growth. I think this winter we must reward their efforts with some yummy (to grapevines) nutrients so that in April they will awaken feeling appreciated, loved, and eager to grow again.

Our harvest date this year was September 12th. The grapes were perfectly ripe with maximum color and sugar content.  Our pickers were great. The party for them in the wine garden that eveing is still a vivid memory.

The year we whole-cluster-pressed, without crushing, about half of our harvest. Because the grapes were so ripe the result was still a fairly dark red juice (instead of white or pink, see wine 101 - http://www.pirtlewinery.com/wine101). The resulting wine is darker than a rose' and lighter bodied than if fermented on the skins; reminiscent of French Nouveau Beaujolais (nouveau=new).

As always, the French nouveau wines, from this year's harvest , will be released November 15th.  Loaded 747's will bring them to New York, Chicago, etc., amidst great fanfare and proclamation of excellence. We will release our nouveau on the same date. However it will be labeled 'Weston Bend Red".

The white wines this season turned out very well again. They were harvested in August, whole-cluster pressed and are waiting patiently 'til spring for bottling.

Weston's Christmas Homes Tour is December 4th and 5th, so come visit us and try all our wines - we will look forward to seeing you.

Yours in wine,
Elbert & Patricia Pirtle
http://www.pirtlewinery.com
Tel: (816) 914-4720

:: RECIPE OF THE MONTH: ORANGE PECAN COOKIES ::

The loveliest lady gave me this recipe over 20 years ago. Her name is Lucile L. Jones. I have thanked her many times and here it is again, Thank You Lucile.

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1tsp. Baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 orange juice
1 tsp. vanilla

Yield about 48 cookies.

Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Cream butter in mixing bowl, gradually add sugar; continue creaming until light and fluffy. Add egg, juice and vanilla, beat well. Blend in 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 2 tablespoons orange rind with sifted ingredients. Blend in dry ingredients gradually. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

I am going to bake these cookies for some of our servicemen and women in different parts of the world - they will receive them for Christmas. These make nice cookies with hot tea and certainly with cold milk. This is the time of year for baking, so please let me know how you like these!