January 1, 2006

Dear Fellow Vintners,
Well, here it is. Your first News Letter from Vines to Wines. I hope to be able to send out quarterly, or maybe at times even monthly news letters, keeping you abreast of the on-goings here at the winery. Its been a wild and crazy year for us.
Jerry Akers’ email about a center for making wine in Austin, Texas, was received just last January. In the Spring we had the wine tastings under the pergola at our old house to get things started. The first wine batches started in May, with some
bottled in June, and the rest bottled in August. The Move (and still unpacking) to the new house in Sherman Hill. Converting the basement into a winery. (Still on-going) Getting the winery operational on Sept 3rd. Picking Concord and Niagara grapes, bringing them back to the winery to stomp, and then later to press. The Sherman Hill Walking Tour in September.
The long, drawn out process of getting Amador County Zin grapes, and then a long round trip drive to Chicago.

Getting new batches of wine started with many new wine makers. Getting started on developing a web site. More info
on this later.

And lastly, but not least, all the great food that you brought over, and the fun we had making wine!

Wow! What a year!
Thank you all for helping make 2005 a special year for us, and we look forward to sharing the fun, and the wine, with you in 2006.

Happy New Year!
Jane & Eric Welch