Chaumette July News: Letter from Hank
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Letter From Hank
Summer Greetings!
 I believe we have the best berry set that we have ever had. The clusters are loose and long with wide shoulders. When I say long, I mean 12 or more inches long, and when I say wide shoulders, I mean 8 inches or more wide. It seems like every day the clusters and the individual berries get bigger. We have devoted extra time to shoot positioningthis year, so in most blocks the vines are quite orderly, meaning shoots are straight up from the horizontal cordon. In the last few days,Billy Hutson, our new Vineyard Foreman,has been devoting his days to summer hedging. Included with this newsletter is a video of the hedging machine trimming the upper 1/3 portion of the canopy of the Chardonel vines. We now have
open canopies that allow the breezes to blow through to dry leaves after a rain or heavy dew, our sprays to penetrate, and most importantly the sun to strike the clusters themselves. This is a textbook example of what we are trying to achieve withcanopy management. I am very proud of what the vineyard crew has done in this first half of the growing season. Last week we entertained our Ste. Genevieve County Commissioners, Joe Gettinger, Gary Nelson and Randy Bahr for lunch at Chaumette. We think it is important to put a face on the name Chaumette with these individuals who manage our county’s affairs. At least once a year, we like to visit with these friends in county government, as it gives us an opportunity to bring them up to date on the activities at Chaumette, while we learn more about the inner-workings of Ste. Genevieve County government. Currently, there is a push to pave as many gravel roads in the county as possible. We discussed the gravel road running between Chaumette and Cave Vineyards, Saline Creek Road / Cave Road. It appears that we are about two years away from seeing that road paved.In other news, we so enjoyed seeing
you at our Father’s Day BBQ Celebration at The Barn at Chaumette, as well as at our Annual 35 Mile Dinner, featuring a menu from Chef Adam that isentirely locally sourced!!! Thank you for voting us a favorite local winery in Sauce Magazine’s Reader’s Choice Awards for the seventh year in a row! It was quite fun to see you at
Sauce Magazine’s Annual Saucy Soiree at
The Four Seasons St. Louis this
past Sunday!
On a final note, we are thrilled to announce that we have just released our 2012 French oak-aged Chardonel Reserve and our 2012 Semi-dry Chardonel. We hope to see you this summer to taste our terrific 2012 vintage line-up!!
Stay cool, take care and see you soon!
 Hank Johnson, Owner
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Chaumette Happenings
Thanks for Your Vote:
Favorite Local Winery in
Sauce Mag’s Reader’s Choice 2013!
Thanks for voting us a Favorite Local Winery in St. Louis’ Sauce Magazine’s Reader’s Choice
Awards for the 7th year in a row!
It was terrific to see you at
The Four Seasons Hotel
on Sunday, and as always,
we appreciate your support!
Billy Hudson Promoted to Chaumette Vineyard Foreman
 We are pleased to announce the promotion of Billy Hudson to Vineyard Foreman. A native to Ste. Genevieve, Billy has been with us for almost two years, studying and practicing the various aspects of vineyard management. As Vineyard Foreman, Billy oversees the day-to-day operations and overall health of the vineyard, throughout the entire annual lifecycle of the vine, including this season’s emphasis on vineyard irrigation, pest management, nutrition management and the management of canopies, or the interrelated system of trunks, leaves, shoots, fruit and canes. He will be working closely with our Winemaker Mark Baehmann in planning and preparing for the upcoming harvest, expected in mid-September. Billy has completed his study of Vineyard Management through Mineral Area College, and he lives in Ste. Genevieve with his wife and one year old daughter.New Summer Menu
Our Grapevine Grill Restaurant
 We are always delighted to see what Executive Chef Adam Lambay has created for the season! Our new summer menus include such delectables as Baetje Farm Goat Cheese & Asparagus Gratin, Chaumette Rose preserved Flieg Farm Strawberry Spinach Salad, Meyer Farm Berkshire Pork Bahn Mi, Cherrywood-Smoked Ladd Farm Duck and Potato & Portobello Mushroom Lasagna. Chef Adam’s menus are 90% locally-sourced from April through October, and click here to review our menus. Join us soon for a delicious, regional dining experience! Reservations: 573-747-1000.Thanks for joining us for our
Annual 35-Mile Dinner and Father’s Day BBQ!
 We had such a great time at our 35 Mile Dinner with you, and thank you so much
again for joining us and our local farmer friends for a gourmet dinner of the region-ality of our cuisine and wines! What grows together, does indeed goes together!
Stay tuned, as we are planning an autumn 35 Mile Dinner as well, showcasing our region’s autumn bounty! |
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Live Entertainment
weekends at Chaumette!
Come out and enjoy some great live music this summer and autumn!
Here is our July lineup,
no cover charges as always,
July
7/13 ~ Vince Martin
7/20 ~ Gabie McGarrah
7/27 ~ Casey Reeves
Staff Spotlight:
Linda Stokely, Banquet Captain
Linda Stokely has been one of our catering department’s Banquet Captains for more than 7 years, and she helps out as a fill-in server for our Grapevine Grill Restaurant. Linda continues to lead our catering staff with her sunny disposition and commitment to making sure each and every event is seamless, providing a great winery experience for every guest.
Prior to her time at Chaumette, Linda worked in the banking industry as a teller for three years in Columbia, Missouri. She was drawn to the hospitality world, because she loves taking care of people while being able to move about and handle a variety of tasks.
Like many Chaumette staffers, two of Linda’s relatives work at Chaumette as well. Her niece Makala Johnson has been a server in the events department for the past three years, and her son Brandon Stokely just joined the Chaumette family earlier this year!Linda has been around for many bottlings and recommends our Steak n’ Frites paired with a glass of Chambourcin to everyone that visits.“I have always liked working with people and Chaumette gives me an opportunity to do so while working with my family and great friends. What else could I ask for?” ~ Linda Stokely
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Wine Club News
Hello Everyone ~
Shane here, and I hope you are having a great summer! We’ve so enjoyed the great response from you about our newly-released ’12 Vignoles we sent for the June Wine Club shipment to New Release and Dry Clubs, and we are delighted to share that we have a greater production of Vignoles this year than in years past! Please be sure to ask for it in our Tasting Room during your next visit!…
Also, please SAVE THE DATE for our Wine Club Pool Party Sunday August 18th from 3 to 5pm, at The Spa at Chaumette! All Wine Club members are invited to join us with our compliments for wine and hors d’ oeuvres poolside!
August Wine Club Selections
August is our 4th order for 2013, and we will be shipping our newly released ’12 Reserve Chardonel to New Release Club and Dry Club and our newly released ‘12 Semi-dry Chardonel to our Sweet Club. We will process and ship our August order the first week in August, and pick up orders are available in the Tasting Room as early as August 7th. Additionally, we will process Wine Club orders in September and November, with an optional order in December for Port. We’ll announce these selections in our upcoming newsletter as they are chosen.
If you need to update your payment information you may do so bysigning in to your Wine Club membership online or by contacting me directly. Please remember, we’ll hold orders for up to six months before we contact you to ship any wine orders that are being held for you.
Refer a Friend and Receive…
Thanks so much again for your
member referrals, and remember,
Looking forward to seeing you soon!
Shane Flottmann |
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