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.