Contributed by Dan Wolfe, Associate Winemaker.

This week the weather has cooperated 100%. The beautiful sunny days have been increasing the sugar in the grapes and dropping the acid.

This week we pressed Fredonia, Concord, Chardonnay, Vignoles and Gewurztraminer. The weekend has been really exciting with customers from the Wine festival coming down and asking lots of questions about the home wine making process. Additionally, we have been nonstop all weekend with home winemakers and commercial customers coming to buy fresh pressed juice from us to take back with them to make their own wine.

The convenience of being able to taste our wine, buy fresh juice, and buy all of your wine making supplies in one place makes us a great destination for folks up to hundreds of miles away. On top of that, we have a very knowledgeable staff to answer all of your questions- we encourage you to ask us any questions you have so that we can improve your wine making process. We not only enjoy sharing our knowledge, but we are always learning new ideas from our customers. We always love to hear your stories and processes of making wine!

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.

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.

Our Beautiful local Niagara grapes in the crate, being prepared to be pressed into juice.

Our local harvest has arrived- last week we began pressing our beautiful local Niagara grapes into juice for our home and professional winemaking customers.

For more pictures, see our 2015 Harvest Photo Album on Facebook.

Winemakers! Although our Niagara juices is sold out, we have grapes we will be pressing into juice this week that will be available for pickup as early as next weekend. Be sure to reserve any quantities and varieties you would like to ensure we don’t sell out! Learn More.

Consider visiting our Isle House for a wine tasting so you can witness all the hustle and bustle and wonderful grape juice aromas that come with Harvest Season.

Bin of Niagara being dumped into the hopper.

Niagara grapes going into the must pump.

Niagara grapes going into the press.

Be sure to follow this blog, join our email list, or follow us on Facebook for more information on and pictures of our 2015 local harvest! Interested in our grapes and juices for winemaking? Learn more. 

Pinot Gris grapes hanging on vines under nets being protected from the birds.

Contributed by Dan Wolfe, Associate Winemaker.

This week at Presque Isle Wine Cellars, we are busy pressing Niagara, Seyval , Pinot Gris and Fredonia grapes. The aromas from the freshly pressed juice are amazing- if you’ve never visited us during harvest before, now is the time to visit!

Although our local Niagara juice is sold out, we still have plenty of Seyval and Fredonia juices that should be ready for pickup next weekend (Subject to change, see updated pick up dates). Remember that if we don’t have the local varieties you are looking for (due to the harsh winter), we have west coast grapes and juices you may be interested in. See all grapes and juices.

Next week we look forward to pressing more Fredonia, Niagara and also Cayuga grapes. Be sure to pre-order your juice now to ensure availability. You can really see harvest is in full swing with tractors, grape harvesters and trucks loaded with grape bins moving along the highways in grape country. Please use extra caution when driving around our grounds.

Pinot Gris grapes loaded on the truck ready to be brought to Presque Isle Wine Cellars for pressing.

Consider visiting our Isle House for a wine tasting and to see all the harvest action and smell the freshly pressed juice!

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.

Last Year’s Harvest- Crushing Grapes

Contributed by Dan Wolfe, Associate Winemaker.

Everyone remembers the last two very cold winters, with temperatures ranging from -17° to -30° in the vineyards. This was followed by  a very wet June and July this year. Finally the sun came out in August, finishing the summer up rather dry. These weather conditions provided by Mother Nature did not help the recovery of the crops.

In addition to the vinifera loss, the Traminette and Vidal also suffered heavy bud loss and trunk damage. The Niagara started out looking good, but suffered damage and disease as the season went on.  The vineyards I walked last week  will end up with about 50-80% of a normal crop.

The good news? Concord remain to look very healthy. Despite the local damage, Presque Isle Wine Cellars is making every effort to continue to have product available for all of our commercial and home winemakers. In addition to sourcing the best and available grapes in the area, we are bringing grapes in from the Finger Lakes and West Coast to ensure our customers will have the grapes and juices they need this season. Explore all the products we have to offer here.

What’s next? We will start pressing Niagara this week! Be sure to get in your orders for Niagara as quantities are limited.

ORDER GRAPES AND JUICES NOW

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.