June 28th, 2010
We have excellent fruit set, have had good rains, and are now getting some hot days and cool nights, so conditions are ideal for a great vintage. About 70-80 folks, in town for the Gale/Ford family reunion, toured the vinegary last Saturday. Everyone tasted the vinegars, many taking some home with them - it was a big hit. Edson, lifelong resident rancher of Cherry County, patriarch of the Gale family, laughed heartily and proudly stated, "I never thought I would see anything like this in Cody". We appreciate his sentiments.
July 1st, 2010
We had a surprise visit Wednesday evening by Dr. Paul Read, Professor of Horticulture/Viticulture, and Steve Gamet, Viticulture Research Technologist, from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. They were traveling western Nebraska touring vineyards and wineries. They were very complimentary of our home vineyard and the vinegary. Dr. Read and Steve are valuable resources for grape growers and wine makers in Nebraska. They shared their latest insights with us during a late dinner enjoyed with a bottle of Cuthills Vineyards '08 Lot 1 Field Blend. We really appreciate their dedication and comittment to Nebraska viticulture, demonstrated by the long trek west from Lincoln to visit the remote vineyards and offer advice and encouragement.
Thursday morning they visited the Nollette family's Niobrara Valley Vineyard south of Nenzel, offering friendly advice, praise, and encouragement to Greg & Cindy Nollette. All of the Niobrara Valley Vineyard grapes are used in our vinegars.
May 31st, 2010
George Paul Vinegar was featured in the May issue of 'Connect', the newletter of the University of Nebraska Extension. Excerpt:
"They're exactly the type of thing we look for," said executive chef Paul Kulik of The Boiler Room Restaurant in Omaha. "These vinegars have a tremendous amount of character on their own."The Boiler Room, ranked by the Omaha World Herald as the city's top new restaurant in 2009, likes to support Nebraska grower-producers, Kulik said, "especially when they are doing interesting and cool stuff. Nebraska should be especially proud."
You can read the entire article here.
George had a great vinegar tasting at Jim's Fine Wine in Norfolk, NE last weekend. Jim remarked that "George made a fan out of everyone that tasted the vinegar."
We've been enjoying gorgeous weather in the Sandhills and everything is growing like crazy. The grapes have plentiful buds and we should start smelling their sweet blossoms shortly.
Emily and George bottled a new vintage of Temparia last week and hope to work on several other varietals this month, including the very anticipated first release of the Emilia vinegar.
March 27th, 2010
We finally got some nice weather. The snow is gone and I've been doing 'therapy' in the vineyard (pruning) - it is one of my favorite times of year. The birds are announcing their arrival, I don't need a down-filled coat to be outdoors, and it's starting to smell like spring! We have some shoot damage presumably from the fierce winter and -30 degree temperatures, but all in all the grapes seem to be in good form.
The Nollette family (Niobrara Valley Vineyards), from whom we purchase grapes for our vinegar, are planning to plant an additional 800 vines this spring. They will be putting in quite a few Petite Amie, which is one of my favorites. At last testing & tasting the Brianna vinegar was excellent. If Emily were here to confirm we might even bottle it, but we'll wait until she comes home to the hills in May, and hopefully she will agree. (Just so you know, she has the last word on whether it's ready to be bottled!)
February 23, 2010
In the vineyards, the snow is still covering many of the vines. As the large drifts settle they are causing damage to the trellis and breaking some of the cordons from the trunks. Only time will tell if the -30 degree nights inflicted bud damage where the wind was able to blow the snow clear of the vines. We’re still planning to replant the vines lost to the pesky grape cane borer last spring!
We have several vinegars in the works that are not quite ready for bottling. Our version of a traditional balsamic - our ‘Emilia’ - is generating overwhelmingly positive reviews from the chefs that have sampled it. We hope to have a limited release available by mid 2010. Also, the Raspberry, which sold out soon after its introduction, will hopefully be available again by mid-year. The Wild Plum is a work in progress -it gets better each month but still has a way to go. The Brianna, a single grape varietal with incredible tropical fruit flavors, will hopefully be ready to bottle soon. It’s good, but not yet great, and we only bottle a vinegar when we feel it has reached its full flavor potential.
February 16, 2010
We have a new varietal vinegar available!
Our Edelweiss vinegar is an intensely fruity white wine vinegar with well-balanced tartness and a bright finish.
It is a lot of folks' new favorite vinegar! Available now in our SHOP.
We are also now offering larger-sized bottles at special prices to restaurants.
Contact George by phone or email for details.
Justin Cucci, the owner and chef of the popular Denver restaurant Root Down, had this to say about our vinegar:
"George Paul Vinegar is refreshingly clean - some vinegar makers try to over complicate flavors when actually the depth that they seek can be found by using quality grown and processed ingredients whether they be apples or grapes. We use the apple cider vinegar frequently and find that it has a perfect acidity level for dressing our greens and making quality vinaigrettes. Root Down prides itself on using organic and sustainable ingredients from local purveyors and its nice to know that we can find such high quality products in such an unusual area of the nation."
You can find Root Down's Apple Cider - Walnut Vinaigrette on our recipe page!
Check out the article about GPV in the Lincoln Journal Star.
The Open House was a smashing success!
Over 200 people stopped by to taste our vinegars and enjoy the Cuthills wines. We nearly sold out of our limited 1st vintage of 50 bottles of each of our six vinegar varieties. Thanks to everyone who stopped by - it was such fun for us to show you around!
Open House - October 24th, 2009 - 1-5 pm MDT
The Johnson family invites you to come see (and taste) what we’ve been up to for the last few years. Our strawbale ‘vinegary’ turned out beautiful. Many harvests of locally grown fruits have been patiently nurtured. And now Nebraska’s only handcrafted fruit and wine vinegars, made in the traditional Old World style, are ready to be enjoyed.
Come taste our delicious vinegars, tour our unique strawbale facility, and join us for cider pressing and a wine tasting with Ed and Holly Swanson of Cuthills Vineyards.