Holidays, Already???

Windswept has four Christmas Parties in the works, the first one is this week.

My goodness, that means I should have been shopping for Christmas presents already...

There is still time to make your Christmas Party a wonderful, classic event. Call us and we can help you. Windswept can provide the catering, a nice wine tasting event, hors d'oeuvres, buffet dinners, and even full winemakers' dinners with each course expertly paired with the gourmet fare.

Let us make your holidays a little brighter!

Class of 1969

The Winfield High School Class of 1969 came to Windswept Winery for part of their reunion weekend.
Good people, good food, great times.
The jukebox played, they laughed and talked, and generally had a wonderful time.
What a wonderful bunch of folks! Hope to see you all again in 5 or 10 years....

Now, if someone sends me pictures.....I'll post a couple here.

Sunflowers

Randy (my husband and co-winemaker) planted sunflowers around the south vineyard block, and they have bloomed for weeks.
The huge yellow blossoms were a sight to behold, snuggled up around the dark green of the vineyard. Several of our guests took pictures with the flowers...they were adorable.
If you have a nice picture send it, and I'll add it to the post!

Walnut Valley Festival

Windswept Winery is open daily during the Walnut Valley Festival!
Open Daily 11 am to 7 pm
Sundays 1 to 6 pm
Come and join the fun, Sept 11 through Sept 20.

Crush Time

We are busy with the crush at the Winery. Crushing pressing and making wine is one of our favorite times of year at the Winery. Wow, what a busy, fun and interesting time.
It has been a strange year for our grapes, cool, cloudy, and very wet. They are progressing slowly but at least they are ripening.
Soon the new vintages will emerge...who knows what beauties this year holds...

Alma Cheeses and Alta Vista sausages

Randy and Rebecca traveled to Alma, Kansas to bring home ultra fresh cheeses and smoked cheeses. These are delicious, and we are featuring 10 kinds of cheese, and five different sausages.
The famous Alma cheese bite size curds are here, and they are awesome. We will have these through the holiday season. Come in and build a gourmet Kansas wine, cheese and sausage basket featuring Alma Cheeses and Alta Vista sausages!

Labor Day

Appropriately enough, we have been working hard to prepare for this Labor day.
And we have the wonderful Apple wine back on the shelf. Woo Hoo! We have been out for over a year, because the apples froze in 2007. But Apples were plentiful last year and have made for a WONDERFUL vintage.
We are so happy for you Apple wine lovers, and are so thrilled to have it back in stock.
We knew it was going to make people happy when one of our sweet customers stood and waited while we got her 'the very first bottle' hurried through lovingly by hand so she could have the wine once more. Enjoy, Nora! (Is it any wonder we love our customers so much?)
And the new vintage Land Rush White debuts is this morning....come and get it! Just in time for the Walnut Valley Festival Land Rush, how appropriate! It features an actual photo of the Land Rush, thanks to the Land Rush Museum.

Stop by and stock up! And Happy Labor Day!

Benefit for the Arts and Humanities

Windswept Winery was proud to host a benefit night for the Arts and Humanities.

A delightful evening with a multi-course gourmet dinner, and of course the fabulous Windswept Winery wines were paired with the dishes.
Randy and Rebecca gave a vineyard walking tour, and personally prepared and hosted a wine tasting and question and answer on wines.
We were so happy to host the event, and it was wonderful to visit with such benefactors of the arts from the area.

Class! Cooking with Wine-Windswept Winery Style

Windswept Winery's own Randy and Rebecca Storey were invited to present a cooking with wine class at Bradburys in Winfield. Four dishes in 90 minutes...no problem. Grab the wine!
We had a fabulous time, cooking up Randy's signature Red Wine Brisket, Land Rush Chicken Marsala, a fun summer Windswept Winery Sangria, and the Leaning Tree Renaissance Sauce.
Wow, talk about good to the last drop, er, bite.
Thanks to all, and a special thanks to Laura for inviting us!

Private Six Course Vintner's Dinners

A private soirée kept us busy this month.
We prepared a six course gourmet feast for a group of business associates.
What a fun time, and what wonderful food, all expertly paired with Windswept Wines, which are included with the dinner.
If you are looking for a sumptuous, private and reasonable option for a group of at least 25, give us a call. At this dinner, all the focus is on you!
We can help you with a personalized menu to delight the discriminating palate.
The dinner, including the wine, starts at $44.99 per person, plus gratuity.

Summertime, it's busy-time

What is happening at Windswept Winery?
The Seaman/Storey Family reunion is happening next weekend...June 28, at Windswept Winery we will get together for lunch and a great visit.
The conference room is large, spacious and air-conditioned. A wonderful location and we will be happy to see everyone again.

Joe and Angel's Wedding

Joe and Angel got married at Windswept Winery
A wonderful wedding, catered by Joe's family, and wonderful wines were enjoyed inside the Panache room.

The band played out under the stars on the beautiful and elegant patio and the dancing was wonderful.

A beautiful wedding, a wonderful committment to life together, Congratulations Joe and Angel!

Cheers!

Birthday at the winery

We hosted Gingi's birthday party on April 17. What a wonderful time we had. The birthday girl had no idea that she was on the way to her surprise event, and how fun was that?!!

Happy Birthday, Gingi.

Winter Returns

A major winter storm is bearing down on us, and I need to be in the vineyard pruning. Oh, well! Late winter storms have a serious advantage of usually not lasting very long. Additionally, we could use the moisture on the grapes.
Unlike the great Easter Freeze of 2007, the grapes are not budded, although the buds are swelling. Hopefully, the damage will be minimal, and the temperatures will stay above 30F. We can only hope for a coating of ice on them, before any colder temperatures or that the snow is 'sticky' enough to give them some cover if it goes below that temperature.
Maybe, just maybe I can get some pictures, that would be fun?

Time to mull some wine and watch the white stuff fall! Cheers

March Already?

We have been knee deep in trying to prune the vineyards, and the weather is not cooperating. It has been warm during the week and cold on the weekends. Then lots of plants started to bud and blossom, including the forsythia, the hyacinth, the pear trees, and the peach trees.
I brought in a pear blossom, so I could enjoy it, because it was not going to survive the cold, because mother nature fooled them all. Last night we had 20 degrees, with the forecast that the temperature will barely claw it's way above freeze for the next few days.
This weekend is supposed to be warmer, so maybe we can work on the pruning again, then.
Maybe we can get some pictures or a 'before' and 'after' pruned vine.
Until then, bundle up, and have a wonderful glass of Windswept Winery Wine!

Valentines Dinner at the Winery is Saturday Feb 14

Wine, chocolate, Stuffed tenderloins of Beef and Pork...candles and roses. This is a wonderful experience, and there is still room. See the full menu at www.windsweptwinery.com and call the winery at 620-782-3952 to get your reservations.
What a fabulous menu, what wonderful wines. Everything you can delight in for a fabulous evening to remember! It all gets started at 7:00 pm at Windswept Winery. Just 25 minutes from Wichita, this is a wonderful culinary delight to the senses.

Sleet and ice and snow, oh my

What a difference a week makes. It was warm and sunny last week...nearly 60, and today it looks like a frozen wasteland. I can guarantee there will be no pruning of the vines today!
Just under three weeks to the Windswept Winery Valentines Evening at the Winery...a 6 course Gourmet Dinner, make your reservations now!

Valentines' Gourmet Winemakers Dinner and jump started pruning

The Wine Makers' Dinner is happening again for you this year on Valentine's Day at Windswept Winery. Featuring a 6 course Gourmet Meal paired with wonderful Windswept Winery Wines! This year, it turns out that Valentines Day is on Saturday Night, so be sure to mark your calendars and make your reservations soon for a fabulous event...this is a very limited seating event, so don't delay. When we are full, we will shut down the reservations. I will have the menu out here in the next few days. And it will be posted on the website.

Wednesday and Thursday this week were fabulous: warm, not windy, wonderful. So I headed to the vineyard, and did some assessments and began pruning one of the hardiest varieties. It is too early to prune, and I do not recommend you do this yourself. We really should wait until mid to late February. I may be sorry, but just needed to get out there. With snow and ice predicted for early next week, it may be a while before I can work on that again.

Kansas Grape Growers Annual Meeting KGGWA

This weekend, my husband, Randy, and I attended the Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Annual meeting, held in Emporia this year. Randy was President of the organization in 2008, and we had a marvelous time at the event.
Some of the highlights were: The amateur winemakers' competition; this year 72 wines were in competition. The KGGWA does award actual metal neck-hanger medals in bronze silver, and gold. John Oswald, of the KGGWA worked very hard on this event and it was very well run and very well attended. Terry Turner also provided a lot of hard work for the hard workering amateur winemakers. Contact Randy or Rebecca Storey at Windswept Winery, and plan to enter your fabulous wines in the 2009 competition...or go to www.kansasgrapesandwines.com and see the rules and forms for this year. 2009 forms will be posted there, when they are available, as well.
The conference speakers this year were a stellar bunch: Dr. Bruce Reisch from Cornell in New York, Dr. Keith Streigler from the University of Missouri, Andy Allen from the University of Missouri, and Doug Moorhead from Presque Isle in Michigan, provided some of the highlights, along with Rebecca Ford-Lampoor from Missouri, Susie Pryor, Pat Murphy (KSU) and George Blush. The Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control division also sent a host of personnel to answer questions on Winery rules and regulations. Hats off to Joanne Kuhlman and Terry Turner for a fabulous conference, and the gourmet meal that followed paired with fabulous Kansas Wines was a true treat.
This conference gave everyone new insights, and charged us up for another fabulous year in Kansas wines.

Happy New Year!

Celebrating Christmas
Our granddaughter, grandnephews and grandnieces helped us celebrate Christmas....can't help but show you the girls' precious picture... Thanks to our niece, Amber, for sending them.

Isn't it amazing how fast the New Year comes?
We have wonderful news, the long anticipated Apple Wine is now started in the Winery. It will be our first wine of 2009, and is finally underway. How exciting, and I can't wait. We are looking forward to a wonderful 2009.