Contributed by Dan Wolfe, Associate Winemaker.

The sweet aroma of pressed grapes wafting in the air, with fall acorns dropping all around us makes the winery one of the best places to be this time of year. As we are crushing and pressing grapes around the crush pad at Preque Isle Wine Cellars, chipmunks are scurrying around chasing fallen acorns. Now would be an ideal time for a creekside wine picnic with some of our delicious menu items from the Isle House.

This week we pressed Niagara, Fredonia and Cayuga grapes and will have it available for sale this weekend (Learn More). Next week we’ll be pressing Vignols, Concord, Chardonnay and a few others as we check the vineyards.

Besides local grasp, we have had grapes arrive from the Finger Lakes. Next week’s pressings will also include grapes from the Finger Lakes and the West coast due to the shortage of local grapes from the winter damage. See all the grapes and juices we have made available to our home and commercial customers here.

Dan Wolfe joined PIWC in 2011 and is our Associate Winemaker. Dan started making wines from Wine kits in 2007 and the hobby quickly became an obsession. His habit then escalated to buying Fresh Grape Juice at harvest time, and he started experimenting with blending different wines. Dan has entered his wines in many local and out of town competitions, bringing home Gold medals and best of show in places like California. He is a member of the American Wine Society and judges wine competitions locally and around the state.