Whitetail wine bottling

First Day of Bottling

Today was the day we’ve been waiting for, for years. Matt and I were finally going to bottle our first wine! The shirts were made, the wine was ready, the equipment was set up, now all we needed was some people to help us! The team included Matthew, Karen O’Connell, Jennifer Iovino, and myself. We…

Whitetail wine fermentation

Our First Fermentation

It’s approaching the middle of November, and most of our juice is finally here. The barrels were stored inside for about two days to allow the juice to acclimate and warm up enough for the yeast to be effective. In that short time, our Riesling barrel decided to start a natural fermentation cycle. Not exactly…

Whitetail juice delivery

Our First Juice Delivery

The day has arrived! Our first juice delivery as an officially licensed winery, and OH BOY was it one to remember… Our first run of juice comes from Mazza Vineyards, the largest producing winery in Pennsylvania. The order consisted of all the varietals that make up our Essentials Collection. Catawba, DeChaunac, Landot Noir, Riesling, Traminette,…

Paper on a desk

Getting Our License

With the vines in the ground and all of our business paperwork put together, it was time to apply for our state license. A process that started in May, and wouldn’t end until September… Just after getting the vines in the ground, in the middle of May, we applied for the state winery license. We…

Maintaining Whitetail Vineyard

Maintaining a New Vineyard

It was now June. The vines were pushing their first few buds, with the Marquette taking off exceptionally well. Things were going well, that is until we realized we were in the midst of a drought. When we first planted the vines, we had used garden hoses to water each individual plant when needed, but…

Whitetail Winery Equipment

Getting Our Indoor Equipment

What an exciting thing! The vines are in the ground. The outside is looking more and more beautiful every day. Now it’s time to focus on the inside. We did some quick preparations before our delivery from The Vintner’s Vault would come. Matt built a nice lab area using Hickory cabinets and Emerald Granite provided…