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HEART & HANDSWine Company

N e w s l e t t e r2012 Vintage ReportFind out about the latest details on

the 2012 vintage, and an early

update on the harvest!

Page 2

Estate Vineyard UpdateHear all about the Estate

Vineyard, and our first-ever harvest

of Pinot Noir from the site!

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Guest ChefSalivate over the delectable food

pairing for our 2009 Barrel

Reserve Pinot from guest chef

Katie Huysman

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Greetings from Heart & Hands Wine Company!

As this goes to publication, it is hard to believe that we are about halfway through the 2012 harvest at Heart & Hands Wine Company, and what a wonderful harvest this has been! Our first estate vintage fruit has been hand picked, and is now happily fermenting in our cellar. All of the fruit is in wonderful condition, owing to the careful tending from our vineyard crew, along with a strong growing season.

We are looking forward to bringing in the rest of the fruit, fermenting, aging, and finally bringing this vintage to you! As always, we thank you for your continued support and patronage - which is truly appreciated as we progress toward making our dreams a reality.

Cheers!

Tom, Susan and Fíon

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HEART & HANDS WINE COMPANY

2012 Vintage Report – While we always eagerly anticipate the arrival of each new vintage, there is something truly special about this vintage, as it is the first time we are harvesting Pinot Noir fruit from our own estate. As frequent visitors know, this has been a long

time in the making, with countless hours of work going in to establishing the estate vineyard: clearing the land, placing

drainage tile, leveling the land, laying out the vineyard, laser planting the vines, and carefully tending the vines for 3 years. This year, it was very exciting to watch the vineyard progress through the season, and think about what the

vintage would bring to our cellar!

Living through our spring weather was truly like riding a roller coaster with plenty of early high temperatures, followed

by deep-dive blasts of chilly air. In May the weather evened-out with warm temperatures in the 80s and cool nights

that are typical of the season. On May 29th, a string of storms rolled through the area, along with microbursts, containing 90 mph winds and hail. Fortunately for us, our estate vineyard was not affected, and our other growers also

made it through the storms relatively unscathed. Growing grapes is certainly not for the faint of heart!

May 30th, 2012 - Bloom: On May 30th, we began to see bloom on the Heart & Hands

estate vineyard. Bloom is when the grapevine produces the lovely flowers which hold the

promise of this year’s harvest. The month of June was unseasonably hot – with many days in

the nineties, with some spotty rainfall in the beginning part of the month, transitioning to

very dry weather by month end.

June 21st, 2012 - Fruit Set: On the estate vineyard, we saw fruit set by June 21st – and

were pleased with the relative consistency of the berries. July was relentlessly hot and dry -

summer visitors to the Finger Lakes will likely remember the hot summer days and the bright

sun which blazed each day. There were few days with sub-ninety degree temperatures, and

several weeks without any rain. Tom had to deploy some innovative vineyard engineering –

rigging up a tank with some piping, and watering the lower block of vines on several days to

keep the vines healthy. And fortunately, in late July and early August, some storm systems

began to roll through the region, providing much needed rainfall for the vines.

July 15th 2012 - Veraison: On July 15th, we began to see veraison (when grapes turn

from green to red) on Pinot Noir clone 777. This was about 4 to 5 weeks ahead of veraison

for the average Finger Lakes vintage. Between mid-July and early August, the fruit

transitioned through veraison, and the grapes achieved the inky purple color that we love to

see on our Pinot Noir grapes. From there, it was about patiently waiting for optimal ripeness.

We are very excited about the potential of the vintage thus far!

Bloom

Fruit Set

Veraison

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HEART & HANDS WINE COMPANY

2012 Estate Vineyard: Care and Tending – While every year at Heart and Hands feels like a busy one, this year has been exceptionally busy in the vineyard. Pinot Noir is a challenging variety to grow, and requires significant care and effort to ensure the best possible harvest outcome. A long list of tasks had to be completed, and at the right time, to keep the vines healthy and in balance. Here are some of the things that we did to keep the Pinot Noir vines happy this year:

Leaf Pulling As fruit matured, we removed some leaves to expose the grapes to the sunlight. Removing leaves in the fruiting zone, improves air flow, enables light to penetrate the canopy, and allows grapes to dry out faster. This is particularly important for Pinot Noir grapes, as their tight clusters mean that the berries touch one another, making them more susceptible to diseases. By keeping the canopy open and dry we reduced disease pressure on the grapes.

SuckeringSuckers are nuisance shoots on the trunk of the vine, which, left to their own devices, take the vine’s energy away from the grapes! Sucker shoots were removed from each and every vine, either by being hand-pinched or pruned. It is painstaking work, as they are close to the ground, but the end result is worth it – the vine can focus on ripening the Pinot Noir grapes.

Shoot Thinning and Green Harvesting Fruiting canes produce additional canes which develop leaves and tendrils, which generate energy for the vine. There were more shoots than needed for a balanced vine, so we performed shoot thinning, eliminating fruiting cane shoots to keep the vine in balance.Each vine produced many clusters of grapes, but it is not beneficial for the plant to carry too heavy of a load. For this reason, we removed some clusters early in the season.

Shoot positioning As the shoots grew upward, we wanted to keep them between the three sets of trellis wire, so that they were vertically positioned, rather than flopping around, shading the fruit, and getting out of control. We manually took each shoot that was out of the zone, and positioned it in between the trellis wires.

Mowing and Hoeing At Heart & Hands, we don’t use synthetic herbicides to eliminate weeds. It would certainly be easier, but it doesn’t fit in with our philosophy of sustainability. So to keep weeds in control, we mowed between vines and used two different hoes to eliminate them. We used a tractor mounted grape hoe to uproot weeds and vegetation between rows. However, weeds do tend to pop up right next to vines, so it was also necessary to hand hoe, and hand weed to eliminate these pests.

NettingAfter veraison, Birds became very, very interested in the dark black fruit which emerged in the vineyard. This year, we installed netting which we will be used to protect the fruit each season. Our netting covered the fruiting zone, and protected the fruit from hungry birds, though some clever birds did find their way through the nets.

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After a summer and spring of care and tending, finally, our estate Pinot Noir grapes were ready for harvest! We were quite fortunate this season with a relatively dry harvest season, which allowed us to pick our Pinot Noir grapes in multiple passes, selecting only those which had achieved optimal ripeness.

The estate vineyard has 3 distinctive soil types, all with underlying limestone, but with variations. The lower block is a sandy loam soil, which yielded vines with higher vigor. The middle and upper blocks have some clay based soil, and the middle block has a serious vein of dolomite - a limestone which is slightly different than the traditional Calcium Carbonate, in that it contains Magnesium.

Our estate vineyard features 7 unique clones of Pinot Noir, selected for their unique flavor and aromatic profiles, including 2 clones which are the first commercial plantings in the Finger Lakes. We elected to plant each clone in all 3 vineyard blocks to allow for the expression of each vineyard block for

each clone. If you are doing the math, this will eventually allow us to experiment with 21 unique combinations of soil and clonal variability across our site when full yields come online!

This year we harvested fruit from the lower and middle block. Tom

performed samples on each of the clones and vineyard blocks, and determined the most optimal picking dates for each of the clones and site locations, making adjustments as weather conditions changed. Our estate vintage harvest began on August 27th, 2012 with the harvest of clone 828, and continued through September 22nd with the final harvest of the Swan, Pommard and Calera clones. We hand-picked on

7 separate days, which allowed us a great deal of flexibility in selecting only prime, perfectly ripe fruit - we are very thankful for the dry weather which made this a possibility!

Picking days began before sunrise - as we needed to roll up the protective netting to allow access to the grapes. As

we picked, we performed a field sort - leaving the Christmas clusters on the vine, and pulling off berries which clever birds hand accessed and pecked (fortunately, the nets kept most of the birds at bay!). We are extremely happy with the condition of the fruit - which was fully ripe, with

no botrytis.

Each clone was picked separately, and is now being vinified separately. At present, the first-picked estate Pinot Noir is already in barrel, some of the lots are ready for pressing, and others continue their primary fermentation! We look forward to tending to these wines in the cellar and to eventually sharing them with you!

HEART & HANDS WINE COMPANY

2012 Estate Vintage Harvest Report –

Seven different clones of Pinot Noir are planted at our Estate Vineyard. Each clone was harvested by hand when optimal ripeness was achieved

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Cellar Update – While we have been busy in the vineyard, and with harvest, we still have plenty of activity in the cellar, working on the 2011 and 2010 vintages.

Pinot Noir:

On the red Pinot Noir front, the 2010 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir has been bottled, and is now resting in the cellar for

some additional bottle aging prior to the eventual release date. Tom tasted through all of the barrels of the 2011 Pinot

Noir, and made his selections for the 2011 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir, the 2011 Pinot Noir, as well as the 2011 Single

Vineyard Pinot Noirs from Elaine’s Vineyard, Hobbit Hollow and Patrician Verona.

The 2011 Pinot Noir will likely have a late winter / early spring 2013 release date,

and the single vineyards will begin to be released in waves released with the Spring

Claddagh club shipment!

As for current and upcoming releases, our 2009 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir is now

released, and is really in a great spot right now - it is opening up beautifully. We are

nearly sold out of the 2010 Elaine’s Vineyard Pinot Noir and 2010 Hobbit Hollow

Vineyard Pinot Noir. In late November / Early December, we will release the 2011 Patrician

Verona Vineyard Pinot Noir with the Fall Claddagh Club Shipment!

Riesling:

On the Riesling front, we will be releasing a 2011 Late Harvest Riesling later this fall. This will be a very special

offering for us, given the very hand-crafted nature of this wine. To create the wine, we performed a single berry

selection on the Riesling grapes – hand-picking only the berries that were infected with botrytis. Of course, this sorting

happened on what seemed to be the coldest days of the harvest season, and we all had blue fingers at the end of the

day! We think the resulting wine is well worth the effort, rich and viscous, dripping with luscious honeyed flavors.

In late November / Early December, we will release the 2011 Patrician Verona Vineyard Riesling with the Fall

Claddagh Club Shipment!

The Beautiful Bubbles and Polarity:

The 33 cases of 2008 Blanc de Noir sparkling wine continues to rest “en tirage” (in the bottle, on the yeast) in an

undisclosed location, tucked safely away from Susan - who is eagerly anticipating its eventual disgorgement and release.

Susan is hoping for a 2013 release, but we will see what Tom decides!

The 2012 Polarity, Blanc de Noir and Brut Rosé are all presently fermenting, or nearing the end of fermentation. The

fruit looks beautiful - brix levels and flavors were in line with our expectations, and the early harvest should ensure

plenty of acidic backbone for these lovely wines!

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HEART & HANDS WINE COMPANY

Current and Upcoming Releases – We have a bounty of current releases available at present! We finally seem to be making enough wine to keep up with demand, so visitors to the winery can enjoy tasting our Pinot Noirs, Rieslings, Sparkling Wine and our lovely Polarity. Our newest release is the 2009 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir, which begins with notes of plum, figs and dried fruit, shows dark cherry notes on the mid palate, and finishes with elegant tannins.

Our current Claddagh Club Allocation features two new Single Vineyard wines, and there are several Library wines available for Claddagh Club members to add to their collections!

Current Claddagh Club Single Vineyard Selections

• 2010 Elaine’s Vineyard Pinot Noir - $30.99

• 2011 Nutt Road Vineyard Riesling - $26.99

Current Claddagh Club Library Selections:

• 2010 Hobbit Hollow Vineyard Riesling - $26.99

• 2010 Nutt Road Vineyard Riesling - $26.99

• 2010 Patrician Verona Vineyard Riesling - $26.99

Current Releases:• 2010 Pinot Noir - $20.99

• 2009 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir - $40.99

• 2011 Brut Rosé - $25.99

• 2011 Polarity - $26.99

• 2011 Riesling - $17.99

• 2011 Dry Riesling - $22.99

• 2011 Reserve Riesling - $28.99

We have a few additional wines which will be released later in the year, along with the year’s final Claddagh Club allocation! Details are as follows:

Upcoming Claddagh Club Single Vineyard Allocations -

• 2011 Patrician Vineyard Pinot Noir

• 2011 Patrician Vineyard Vineyard Riesling

The next Claddagh Club Allocation will be released in Late November / Early December 2012. Member’s specific allocations include exclusive access to single vineyard wines, as well as wines from our full wine portfolio!

Upcoming Releases:• 2011 Late Harvest Riesling – Late Fall 2012 • 2011 Pinot Noir - late Winter / Early Spring 2013

• 2012 Rieslings – late May, early June 2013

• 2012 Polarity – mid to late June 2013

• 2012 Brut Rose – late June / early July

• 2010 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir – TBD

• 2008 Blanc de Noir - TBD

Click here to order wine for shipment or pickup at the winery!

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Featured Food Pairing – We are pleased to introduce guest chef Katherine (Katie) Huysman. Katie is a fine art photographer who lives in the region, and has a wonderful food blog featuring delectable seasonal recipes, and beautiful images of the process and finished plates! Visit her site at www.countryspoon.wordpress.com. In the meantime - enjoy her wonderful creation!

Heirloom Tomato and Cheddar Galette

As Summer winds down, but the tomatoes still ripen, combine them with cheese in a pie crust and call it baked heaven.  Layers of tomatoes, cheddar cheese and herbs with a light tangy mayo vinaigrette bring a new taste to tomatoes.  This is the perfect toast to the end of summer and embracing the beginning of autumn.” ~ Katie

“The savory nature of this dish and the richness of the cheese calls out for our 2009 Barrel Reserve Pinot Noir - pour yourself a glass, and enjoy! Bon Appetit! ~ Susan

To Prepare: Every great pie starts with a good crust – flaky but strong enough to hold up to a pie server. I make my pastry dough in

a food processor. This makes for an easy clean up and a lot less flour all over the counter.  Combine the flour, salt, sugar

and pulse until combined, then add butter and pulse until pea sized crumbs form. Add chilled water 1 tablespoon at a

time and continue pulsing until the dough comes together and is moist. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic and chill in the

refrigerator for about an hour.

Slice tomatoes and let them drain on a cookie sheet.  Layer paper towels between the tomato slices to help with the

draining process. Let tomatoes sit for about 20 minutes changing out the paper towels when needed.

Preheat your oven to 425.  In a small bowl, combine apple cider vinegar, mayonnaise, salt and pepper.  Roll out pastry

dough and lay it into a pie plate. If you have excess dough that hangs over the side of the plate, that’s fine.  This makes

for a nice rustic galette-like crust once folded back up loosely. Start by placing one layer of tomato slices followed by a

light spread of the mayonnaise mixture. Top with cheddar cheese and a sprinkling of herbs and repeat these layers

several times until you almost reach the top of the pie pastry. Roughly fold over the pastry to form a rustic galette top. 

Bake on a lower oven rack for about 40 minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Cool for a half an hour before serving.

Filling Ingredients: • 5 or 6 large heirloom tomatoes - sliced• 2 c. sharp cheddar cheese – shredded• 2 T. chives – chopped• 8 to 10 basil leaves – chopped• 1 T. apple cider vinegar• 1/4 c. mayonnaise• 1 t. salt• 1/2 t. freshly cracked black pepper

Pastry Ingredients: • 2 c. all-purpose flour• 3/4 t. salt• 1/2 t. sugar• 1  1/4 sticks chilled unsalted butter cubed• 3 T. ice cold waterNote: You can also substitute a pre-madepie crust

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Prince of Pinot Reviews –On our spring trip to World of Pinot Noir, we once again met up with William "Rusty" Gaffney, M.D. – known in Pinot Noir circles as the Prince of Pinot. Gaffney is a retired opthamologist, with a near life-long passion for Pinot Noir. When he retired, he dedicated his time to writing about Pinot Noir, and his newsletter is among several outlets where he publishes his wine writing.

Gaffney loves Pinot Noir for many reasons – and its versatility with food is a clear driver: “I figured out early on that Pinot Noir was the greatest food wine on the planet. Loving gourmet delights, Pinot Noir was the natural partner for

foods from the sea (salmon, ahi), the air (quail), the water (duck) and the earth (venison). Pinot Noir is made for drinking with food and when you have the perfect match, the experience can bring you to your knees! Seductive, elegant, and earthy, Pinot Noir unites friends, food and good time into a glorious dining experience.” We couldn’t agree more!

We were able to catch up with the Prince during this year’s World of Pinot Noir event, and share some of our wines. Some of the highlights from his reviews are as follows:

2010 Heart and Hands Polarity

Whole cluster pressed with limited skin contact. Fermented in barrels with lees stirring post-fermentation. Aged 9 months in barrel. · Delicate orange color. A chameleon of a nose with aromas changing constantly, the most notable of which are strawberries, white peaches, buttered brioche, vanilla and herbs. Delicious and soft and smooth in the mouth with an array of red and white fruit flavors that challenge your perception of Pinot Noir. The fruit is beautifully framed by bright acidity and the tannins are supple, combining to add to the contemplative experience. Simply put, a great wine.

2010 Heart and Hands Pinot Noir

Composed of three vineyard sources with 54% coming from Patrician Verona Vineyard. Aged 12 months in 29% new Francois Frères French oak barrels. · Very light red color in the glass. The nose picks up interest over time in the glass, showing pleasing aromas of red berries, red cherries, spice and bramble. Light in body, but offering pleasant flavors of fresh cherries and strawberries with an undertone of savory herbs, finishing with a tangy cherry note. Good (+)

HEART & HANDS WINE COMPANY

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Winery Dog WhispersFíon spent much of the summer months in a reverse hibernation mode as hot summer days are not the best environment for a winery dog with a thick black coat. Fíon did her best to stay cool, by seeking out prime spots in the barrel room, lounging near air conditioning vents, and wading in the cool, refreshing waters of Cayuga lake. Happily, the arrival of early Autumn, and cool, crisp air means that Fíon has renewed energy and a spring in her step again!

Fíon finally discovered the vineyard cat, as well as a very well-fed groundhog. She is doing her best to catch him, but thus far, has had limited success. When a re-run of Caddyshack was on the other day, we noticed her interest in Bill Murray’s technique for eliminating these pests... we hope that she doesn’t get any clever ideas!

Visitors to the winery will notice that we now have a special bowl of treats just for Fíon - she is on her best behavior any time someone goes near the bowl!

HEART & HANDS WINE COMPANY

Claddagh Club Enjoy Our Wines Year-Round! We are wrapping up the most recent allocation of

the Claddagh Club wines, and already beginning to

thing about the next release!

The next Claddagh Club shipment will go out in late

November / early December. The “Eclectic

Collection” will include an allocation of 2011

Patrician Verona Riesling, and 2010 Patrician Verona

Pinot Noir, and one additional wine for those who are

Gold and Platinum members. The “Red Only”

allocation will feature an allocation of the 2010

Patrician Verona Pinot Noir.

Our Claddagh Club includes quarterly allocations of

Heart & Hands wines, including current vintages and

limited edition wines. Claddagh Club members receive

complimentary tastings at the winery, invitations to

club-only events, and first priority for events that are

open to the general public. In addition, members have

access to our single vineyard Pinot Noirs and Rieslings,

which are only available to Claddagh Club members.

To join, or to give a membership as a gift, please go to

our website or call the winery at (315) 889-8500

Trip Advisor Adds WineriesTrip Advisor, one of the leading travel review websites, has recently added a Winery category to their attractions in the Finger Lakes.  As many of you may already know, they allow customers to share their experiences and provide honest feedback of their adventures.  As we are a small winery with a limited advertising budget - this is a great way for us to reach new customers planning to visit our region.

Many of you are frequent tasting room visitors, and as such have a good perspective what makes Heart & Hands a unique wine tasting experience... We would greatly appreciate it if you could take a couple of minutes to share your experience(s) at Heart & Hands on our Trip Advisor page!

Click the logo below to write a review on Trip Advisor. Trip Advisor

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As we continue through the 2012 season, and look back on where we began, it is truly humbling We look over land that was once nothing but brush and mud, and now see a vineyard that is producing beautiful Pinot Noir. We spend weekends in our tasting room, pouring our wines, sharing our story, and enjoying spending time with you. We hear stories from customers who have experienced our wines at our wonderful restaurant partners. The road has certainly not been an easy one, but as we sit and reflect on the journey, there is no question.... it has absolutely been worth the effort.

This is something that would not have been possible without the support of you, our wonderful patrons! We thank you for your continued support, and we will do our utmost to continue delivering the best possible Pinot Noir and Riesling for your enjoyment!

Cheers!

Tom, Susan and Fíon

A Word of Thanks...