This blog is moving.

We now have a web page-- www.DancingDragonflyWinery.com !! The web page now contains this blog, and is where it will be updated.  I do plan to continue posting to the blog, at the new location.  Please look for us there.

Also, we have a Facebook page.  Look for Dancing Dragonfly Winery on Facebook.  If you do such things, please "like" us, and you'll be updated as things change.

Thanks for your interest.  I hope to see you at the winery.

Main Building

Construction for the main building is under way.  Here's a picture of what it should look like from the road.

Imagine a black metal gate opening onto a blacktop drive, leading between two fields of vines going off to the right and left, right up to that front door.  That was the vision from the beginning.  I do hope it ends up looking as cool as it does in my mind.

The final compromise on our opening date has occurred.  (If it slips further, some have opined that there may be bloodshed involved.)  Come hell or high water, May 1, 2013.

Also we are working on our website, which will allow us to start enrolling people into our Wine Circle-- our insider wine club.

Three (count 'em) big developments.

1.  We've got wine!!!

Brenda made a slideshow of our fall crush.  (Brenda is our new operations manager.  Other important people you'll see include Ken, our master winemaker, and Josie, our assistant winemaker.)

Make a picture slideshow

2.  We just got our barrels in for this year.  I know this picture is sideways, but I can't figure out how to turn it 90 degrees.  Too cool to forego, though-- notice the logo branded on the head.

3.  We will be the "Presenting Sponsor" at this year's gala for Ronald McDonald House.  See http://rmhc-um.org/news-events/events/.  If you're there, please come say hi.

It's been too long between posts.  Sorry about that.  Things have been happening...

The winery building is finished, and yesterday we moved our first 8 tanks in.  Here are some pictures.

We have spent some weeks finalizing our construction plans for the main (tasting and event) building, and are ready to break ground!!

We should have wine fermenting in a matter of weeks, and ready to taste for an anticipated opening of April 1, 2013. 

Our first bit of marketing will be in November-- We are presenting sponsors of the Ronald McDonald House event called Fam Glam.  Here's a link:  http://rmhc-um.org/news-events/events/.

I may not have mentioned before-- we also have an official logo.  Here it is:

High Gear

This year will likely be the busiest year of our winery.  Some of the things in motion now:

• We have hired a part-time senior winemaker (Ken) and a full-time junior/journeyman winemaker (Josie).  Ken is a master at (among other things) blending cold climate grapes.  Josie comes to us with extensive sparkling wine experience, so we're excited about the possibilities.
• Our new winery building is being built.  Here's the finished foundation, taken within the last 24 hours.

• Scott (with Josie's help) is busy planting about 3,000 new vines, which will hopefully start bearing wine-able fruit in two years.
• We've got polished, final logos (3 versions on the theme), thanks to our new graphics guy (Matt).  He will also help us with our website, allowing our friends to find logo-imprinted stuff.
• Our main building is being designed even now, with some exciting possibilities.

We are blessed by finding so many good people who are making helping us, and our success, part of their goals.  It's so great to find people we can count on to watch out for us.  The most major ones include:

• Brenda, our friend and manager.
• Steve Palmer, who's been absolutely essential in many, many ways.
• Chuck Kuhl, our contractor, who is a master of what he does.  (At least so far.  Don't lose your focus, Chuck.)
• PS and Puneet Vedi, our architects, who are great at dealing with a critical and demanding client (me). 

There are also a host of others, which would take too much space to name.  In addition, so many people seem genuinely interested and supportive.  Please know that we're grateful to all of you.

Look for our Wine and Opening by early 2013!

Now it's getting real.  Our machine shed is up and running.  I met this week with our architects to get going on our winery and tasting room buildings.  Below is our site plan, at least as it now is.

We are planning on having wine from the 2012 harvest, and running on all cylinders.

Update, and a Plan.

Well, the old farmhouse is gone.  A neighbor stopped by to thank us for getting rid of "the old neighborhood haunted house."  Most of the brush is gone.  We're pretty much wiping the slate clean for the property, and starting over.

We've got the core of our site plan done, and it's exciting.  A new entrance will lead directly to the tasting room, through some rows of vines.  The back of the building will look out over the fields, hopefully creating a pleasant view and a place to sip some wine outdoors.

To the left will be the aging/storage room, then the equipment barn; to the right will be a parking lot and then the winery. 

This fall, we expect to have the deer fence and the barn up, and water and power to it. 

In 2012, we'll plant remaining vines and build the remaining buildings. 

We expect we'll have wine in 2013, although some of it will be from others' grapes for the first year. 

Sometimes it seems like we'll never get there; other times it's hard to believe we've come so far.