The goal of every winemaker is to produce the best wine they can each year. We have been making wine here at Hafner Vineyard for over 35 years, and we enjoy the wines we produce, so we are not trying to make dramatic changes, but we are always looking at ways to make subtle improvements. This harvest, I convinced Parke to do a labor intensive experiment - barrel fermenting Cabernet Sauvignon. We barrel ferment Chardonnay, but Cabernet is a bit more challenging. Here, I share a sneak peek at the experiment in action. 

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Every few years, I create a new watercolor for our Holiday Offering that we send to patrons in the beginning of November. Each painting depicts a different scene from the winter celebrations such as a bountiful Holiday table or a festive front door. Throughout the year, I worked on a new watercolor that is featured on this year's Holiday Offering. It is a painting that reminds me of the Holiday Season, fun, laughter and family. We hope you've received yours and enjoy it. In this blog, I share my inspiration for the winter cabin watercolor.

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I truly love the Holidays, the entire Holiday Season from Halloween to New Years. It’s not that I love the actual Holidays, but rather the joy and pleasure that the Holidays bring. Whether it is a simple lunch for 6 or Thanksgiving dinner for 24, I enjoy it all. To make each meal fun and entertaining, I make place cards with the name on the front and a secret on the back. Place cards help organize the wild crew that is my family. I thought you might enjoy a place card template to use this Holiday Season. 

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Rosé, to me, signals the advent of Spring, and after this year’s Winter rain (almost double our normal rainfall total), we are ready for Rosé. Parke and I discovered Rosé back in 1985 on a trip to Provence, France – it was the perfect apéritif after a long day of touring the French countryside. Today, our family enjoys it as both an apéritif and as a dinner wine. Key to Rosé is both its color and its aroma. That is why we use Malbec for our Rosé – Malbec juice resembles bright pink bubblegum and is fruit-driven with aromas of watermelon, raspberries and violets. 

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"Meet the Team" is our blog series that introduces each of the Hafner Vineyard team members. We answer a series of questions about ourselves and our time at Hafner Vineyard. Sarah Hafner wears many different hats as part of the HV team. Her craziest job? Wrangling cattle with her dog! Winemaker (and husband) Parke considers her to have the best wine tasting palate of the team. Find out what her favorite Hafner wine is!

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