Main Street has been working hard, so you don't have to...

We have once again finalized a deal with a vineyard in eastern Washington to provide us with wine grapes this Fall at harvest time. The grower has been "in the business" for twenty-five years, and has had much experience with the ins-and-outs of grape growing. Over the past years we have done this, he has been a huge asset when it comes to getting the grapes off the vine and into our hands with a minimum of delay or hassle. And at the peak of quality.

The deal is: he is definitely able to provide us with the following red varieties: Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. He MAY be able to get us a VERY limited amount of a few other red varieties, but we will not know until almost delivery time. If you are interested in being on a waiting list for some other varieties, please let me know. Last year we had some surprise Lemberger show up which is showing a lot of promise as a young, jammy red. Hopefully this year we can get some of the elusive Sangiovese that we have been trying to secure for the past few years. We will know more as the Summer progresses.

As of June 4, 2010, we have begun to take reservations for this year's grapes. We are expecting harvest around the middle of September, which is coming very quickly. Some of the varieties are limited in quantity, so be sure to sign up as soon as possible. First come, first served.

2010 pricing was as follows.

100 to 400 pounds	$1.35 per pound
500 to 800 pounds	$1.25 per pound
900 pounds or more	$1.15 per pound

We have a Merlot Special this year!
For every 100 pounds of Merlot that you purchase, you will receive 110 to 115 pounds of grapes. This is a 10 to 15% bonus, for free!!ß

The grapes will be delivered to the Main Street back parking lot on a day to be decided. You will be informed of the Brix (sugar) levels and acid levels for each variety you ordered. In eastern Washington, grapes can become very ripe, so sugars are often high, and acids are often low. Main Street will provide as much advice as we can on how best to ferment them, but know this: grapes grown Out There are often much less variable and "finicky" than grapes grown here in the cooler Willamette valley, so there should be less adjusting and troubleshooting than what you will find locally around Portland/Hillsboro.

Each person will have a designated time to come and pick up their order -- this will prevent chaos and a mad rush when the grapes first arrive.

There will be a 100 pound varietal minimum for each person. That means that you can order 100 pounds of Syrah and 100 pounds of Merlot, but you cannot order 50 pounds of Syrah, 50 pounds of Merlot and 50 pounds of Cabernet... 100 pounds will yield about seven gallon of initial press and a final volume of five (or more) sediment-free gallons of wine. That equals at least 26 bottles.

For grape orders of 300 pounds or more, you have the option of having the grapes pre-crushed, destemmed and sulphited in Richland the morning they are to be delivered. If you have your own crusher/destemmer, you can also have them delivered to Hillsboro whole (uncrushed) and just take them home. For orders under 300 pounds, the grapes will not be pre-crushed, but Main Street will provide free usage (a $20.00 value!) of our crusher/destemmer in the parking lot. You can just crush the grapes right into your fermenter and take them home. We will also provide free sulphiting as they are crushed.

You will be responsible for showing up on the day of delivery and picking up your grapes. Grapes are perishable and we have no way to store them for you. If you cannot be there at the scheduled time, try to have somebody come and get them for you. If you still cannot make it, call us and let us know and we can see if there are any other options, but Main Street cannot store the grapes and there can be no refunds.

That's it for now. We are very excited about this year's harvest and expect to have a lot of great grapes available to a lot of happy winemakers. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions, and check back here for updated info as we receive it... Thanks for being involved....