Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Hudson Valley Winegrowing Boot Camp

Have you ever wondered what it's like to work at a winery.  To bring the grapes from bud to bottle?  Millbrook Vineyards & Winery is offering you the opportunity to become a Tocai Friulano Specialist during the 2012 winegrowing season.

Winegrowing Boot Camp will consist of 6 Saturdays beginning April 14, 2012 with vine pruning and tying and end Saturday, March 16, 2013 with bottling your wine.  The 6 part series will be a hands-on viticurtural and winemaking series where participants will learn about the grape growing and production of  Millbrook's Tocai Friulano.

Remember - this is hands on - so no high heels ladies, sneakers are a must for being in the vineyard, along with jeans and a shirt you don't mind getting dirty.

The day will begin with a brief overview of the specific topic at hand and then you will go out in the vineyard, roll up your sleeves and get to work on your 8 assigned Tocai vines.  You will be providing your own manual labor to care for your vines under the direction of  John Graziano, Millbrook Winery's Vice President of Winemaking & Vineyard Management.

The program begins on Saturday, April 14, 2012 with the following dates and vineyard/winemaking tasks:

  • April 14, 2012       10am - Noon Vine Pruning & Tying
  • May 19,  2012      11am - 3pm  Bud Break & Tocai New Release Party
  • June 2, 2012         11am - 1pm Vertical Shoot Positioning
  • July 14, 2012        11am - 1pm  Leaf Pulling
  • October 13, 2012  9am - 4pm Grape Harvest & Harvest Party Celebration
  • March 16, 2013    11am -2pm Bottling
There is rewards after a hard day in the vineyard.  Participants will receive lunch, including a glass of wine after each seminar May - October including a seat at their annual Tocai Celebration and Harvest Party luncheon.  A final celebratory luncheon after the bottling of your wine in March, and you get to bring home a case of your wine, custom labeled for you.

The cost of the program is $750 plus tax per person. Class size is limited to 20 people.  For more information on the program call 800-662-9463 ext. 17  

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