First Marriage Proposal in Our Vineyard

Photo by Ashlynn at “A Small Town Story”

June is wedding season, but it was also engagement season here at the vineyard! Austin Hochstedler wanted to create a special surprise experience for his future wife so he enlisted the help of his sister, Ashlynn, who has a photography business, along with his mother, Angie Hochstedler. After Angie contacted us with Austin’s intentions, we hoped for good weather in spite of the forecast of rain. With this rainy spring, there have been many days where a trip through the vineyard would be muddy at best and dangerously flooded at worst. Fortunately, when June 22nd came the weather cooperated and the couple received a beautiful afternoon.

The mother and sister arrived first and picked out a spot from where they could photograph the proposal. Austin and Rebekah dined nearby for lunch after which Austin texted his mother saying they were on their way. The couple appeared at the tasting bar as usual customers with Rebekah none the wiser. I asked them if they would like to taste some wine or take a vineyard tour. Rebekah jumped at the chance to take a vineyard tour which made all of our jobs easier. Off they went and we could hear squeals and laughter not long after. The family generously shared photos with us, some of which we assembled as a little slideshow for a Facebook post. (See 7-5-2019) Congratulations, Austin and Rebekah! We feel honored to know your promise to each other began here! We wish you all the best.

Pink Chia Sangria

Try this refreshing summer drink using our Patchwork Pink wine and those crazy little chia seeds!

1 bottle of Patchwork Pink wine (750ml)
2 liters of ginger ale
1 honeydew melon, 1-1/2″ chunks
1 cucumber, sliced, quartered
8 oz. chia seed beverage
coarse salt

Cut melon into chunks and place in freezer-safe bowl to freeze ahead. Mix wine and and ginger ale equal parts in pitcher, cover and chill. Cut cucumber and set aside. Prepare individual glasses (16-20 oz.) by wetting rim and dipping in salt. Add 2-4 melon chunks and 6-8 cucumber pieces to each glass. Pour wine mixture into glass to fill. Top with 1 tablespoon of chia seed beverage (not kombacha, yuk…we like MammaChia® Rasberry Passion.) A straw helps to suck up the seeds that settle to the bottom!

Rosé All Day

June 8th, 2019 – National Rosé Day

This is the day to “Drink Pink.” We will be serving up tall glasses of “Chia Pink Sangria” made with our own Patchwork Pink wine. Carry out some Patchwork bottles for later at a 50% discount – one-case limit, one day only. Normal Saturday hours: 1-7pm

Call me “old-fashioned”…

…but I prefer to read from top to bottom. More specifically, I prefer to start at the beginning of the story and not the end. Therefore my brain has rejected the concept of blogging and its end-at-the-top format. But it is 2019 and my old-fashioned preferences are in the cyber minority. Today I venture into WordPress to redesign what I considered perfectly good html pages into something they call mobile-friendly. Again another battle lost. Maybe I can learn how to salvage 7 years of online journaling designed the old-fashioned way and make them part of the new site. But for now I just need to get a homepage up!