Tassel Ridge Winery

Tassel Ridge Winery–December 2006

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Our Hours:

Effective November 1, 2006, we are open for tours, tasting, wine, and gift shop sales as follows:

We are closed on Monday and Tuesday except by prior arrangement.  And, we will be closed December 24-25 and January 1.

Our Location:

Tassel Ridge Winery is easy to find.  It is just south of State Highway 163 on 220th Street in Leighton.  From Ottumwa and Oskaloosa, drive northwest on 163 to 220th Street and turn left towards Leighton.  From Des Moines and Pella, turn right at 220th Street.  Drive west on 220th about 0.7 miles from the Highway and right into the Tassel Ridge Winery parking lot. 

New Wines:

Announcing Our First Fruit Wines: We are pleased to announce the availability of the first two of our Fruit Stand Fruit Wines.  These wines make great holiday gifts and are also perfect for holiday entertaining. 

Raspberry Wine

Our Raspberry Wine captures the essence, the acidity, and the lively character of raspberries. If you like raspberries, you will love this wine!  Although it is perfect for sipping after dinner, our Raspberry Wine is also sweet and flavorful enough to pair nicely with chocolate, chocolate cake, and cheese cake. Price: $11.00 per bottle. 10% case discount applies.

Blackberry Wine

Our Blackberry Wine is full of the soft jammy flavors that we associate with berries.  Lower in acidity than our Raspberry Wine, the Blackberry Wine is still sweet enough to pair nicely with sweet fruity desserts and even cheese cake. Or, sip it in front of the fire place on a cold evening!  Price: $11.00 per bottle. 10% case discount applies.    

Upcoming Wine Releases: We are ready to bottle and label our first Port-style dessert wine.  The only thing that delays us right now is the “T-Top” stopper on the bottle that is delayed in U.S. Customs.  We never expected that delays in Customs would impact our bottling.  Our dessert wines will all be bottled in tall, thin bottles that contain 375 ml of wine.  This compares to our regular bottles that contain 750 ml of wine.  The first of our dessert wines will be available within the next two weeks.

2006 Tassel Ridge Nouveau Pairs With Holiday Meals

The Nouveau (pronounced ‘new-vo’) is a red wine that is traditionally the first wine of the season to be released.  It is typically very light and fruity.  This year, our Nouveau is slightly spritzy.  This combination of attributes makes this an ideal wine for holiday celebrations and meals.  It is light enough to go with almost all traditional holiday food including turkey, ham, and mashed potatoes, while having enough structure to complement the spicier foods including stuffing and some of the accompanying vegetables.

Our Nouveau is made from roughly equal amounts of Marechal Foch and St. Croix, all of which was grown in our vineyards in Mahaska County, Iowa.  Price: $12 per bottle.  10% case discount applies. 

Tickled Pink Makes an Appealing Semi-Sweet Wine for Holiday Events

Tassel Ridge Winery’s Tickled Pink is a very versatile semi-sweet wine that complements a wide range of food while still appealing to your guests who prefer a semi-sweet wine.  Made entirely from Zinfandel, this wine has a nice acid-sugar balance and a citrus-based tartness that provides the backbone necessary to complement food. Consider mixing some Tickled Pink in your case of wine for the holidays.  Price: $10 per bottle. 10% case discount applies.

Tassel Ridge Winery Now Ships Wine to Iowa Addresses and Ten Other States:

We can now ship wine to addresses in Iowa and the following states: Alaska, Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.  We ship via UPS provided the shipment can be received by an adult.

The approximate cost for shipping two bottles of wine in Iowa is $10-15 and the cost for shipping a twelve bottle case is about $17-22.  Normal delivery time to Iowa locations is 2-3 days from date of shipment. 

The cost for shipping outside of Iowa depends on the weight and which state we are shipping to.  For example, the cost for shipping three bottles of wine to New Mexico is $13-18and the cost for shipping a twelve bottle case is $15-20.    

Are you out of your favorite Tassel Ridge Wine and can’t make it to the Winery to pick up a new supply?  We will make it easy for you to keep your wine cellar full.  Or, would you like to give someone a gift of Tassel Ridge wine and have it sent directly to them?  Give us a call.  We will get your order on its way to you or to people located in the states noted above.

So, why can’t we just ship to any state in the U.S?  Didn’t a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision “free the grapes?”  The Supreme Court decision just said that all wineries in-state and out-of-state had to be treated the same.  Some state legislatures have decided that wineries that are shipping wine to their citizens will have to register, pay a fee, put up bonds although the wineries don’t have any tax liability, collect sales and use taxes, and in some cases file regular reports.  Each state is different.  It is not practical for a small family owned winery in Iowa to file quarterly reports in 20-30 different states, particularly if the volume of wine shipped into those states is small.  So, we are starting with the states that are easiest for us to deal with and adding additional states as we hear from customers that they want us to ship wine to them.  If you’d like to ship wine to people in a specific state, let us know.  This information will help us decide where to put our compliance resources.

What’s Happening in the Cellar?

In November and December, we are working on finishing up work on some wines that made from the 2005 harvest.  These include our 2005 Frontenac and a sweet red wine.  From the 2006 harvest, we are nearly done with our Edelweiss.  We are moving other batches of wine along and are getting ready to age some with oak in the tanks.  We are bottling wine almost every week now.  In late November, we bottled our first fruit wines.  In December, we will bottle our 2005 Frontenac and one or more port-style dessert wines. We will let you know just as soon as these wines are available for sales in our tasting room.

 

Gift Ideas:

Tassel Ridge Winery Poster

The 2006 Tassel Ridge Winery Poster is a celebration of great wine photography.  It is 23 by 35.5 inches and is suitable for framing.  This colorful poster features several bottles of Tassel Ridge Winery wine in a setting that suggests a picnic with an assortment of cheeses and bread.  Warning: don’t look at this poster late in the afternoon.  You WILL get hungry!  The 2006 Tassel Ridge Winery Poster will be a great addition to the wine cellar and will also work well in the dining room. Price rolled and ready for framing is: $8.00

Calendar

The 2007 Tassel Ridge Winery calendar is now available.  It is produced in a large 10.5 by 16 inch format and includes 13 full color images of Tassel Ridge Winery, our vineyards, and our cellar.  The calendar includes some interesting facts about some of the varieties of grapes we grow in our vineyards as well as images of members of our winemaking team. Price is: $12.00. 

Wooden Gift Boxes of Wine

These gifts can include 2, 3, or 12 bottles of wine.  The 2 bottle box will include two Tassel Ridge Winery glasses.  These wine boxes make a very classy and memorable gift.  Prices depend on specific wines included but are in the $50-60 range for 2 and 3 bottle boxed gifts and $250 for the 12 bottle box. 

Wine, Food, and Friends by Karen McNeil

This outstanding new book is the perfect gift for the person who entertains with wine.  It is organized by season and then by elements of the meal with ideas for appetizers, main course, side courses, and desserts. This book is beautifully illustrated with great photos.  Price is: $24.95.

Wine Temperature Tester

Our wine temperature tester is for the wine connoisseur who wants to serve wine at exactly the right temperature.  It is pre-programmed with ideal temperatures for 19 different wines.  Price is $35.00 each.

Music to Enhance Your Wine Experience

Wine never tastes better than when it is accompanied by great music.  Select from seven different titles including: A Trip Through Tuscany, Wine County Classics, and A Wine County Christmas.  Or, consider using Vineyard Selections or Vineyard Jazz as background music for your holiday party.  Price is: $16.50 each.  

 

Gift Cards

Just in time for holiday giving, Tassel Ridge Winery announces its new gift cards.  They can be issued for any amount.  All gift cards are valid for purchase of wine and non-wine merchandise only and no cash refunds will be made.  Gift cards are sold in an attractive gift envelope.  They make a great gift for people who like wine.

Sign up a friend!

Email Brian Babcock at info@tasselridge.com to sign up a friend for our enewsletter.

Previous Issues:

November 2006: www.interpower.com/trwinery/newsletter11-06.htm
October 2006: www.interpower.com/trwinery/newsletter10-06.htm
September 2006: www.interpower.com/trwinery/newsletter9-06.htm
August 2006: www.interpower.com/trwinery/newsletter8-06.htm
July 2006: www.interpower.com/trwinery/newsletter7-06.htm