Links Bridge Wine Club
November 10, 2020 / News
Bottling 2017 “River Rocks,” January 2019
Links Bridge Wine Club
We have just announced the December Links Bridge Wine Club selection to club members (more details below), and we’re sending this message to our general mailing list just in case some of you might want to join the club.
This post includes (1) a summary of how the club works, (2) a description of the December selection, and (3) instructions on how to join the club.
We hope to see you soon at Links Bridge Vineyards!
Best wishes, and stay well.
Bob & Joan
1. Here’s how the club generally works:
- If you join the Links Bridge Wine Club, we will provide you with four selected bottles of wine three times each year. These selections may include current wines that we think are especially good, wines reserved for club members, and/or new wines that have not yet been released.
- About a month in advance of the pickup period for a given selection, we will send you an email that describes the selection, the pickup date or period, and a deadline date for making adjustments to the selection.
- The price of each selection will be our normal retail price for the wine less a 15% discount, plus Maryland alcohol tax. For club members we will extend this discount to any additional wines you order along with the announced selection (and to wines you purchase at other times of the year).
- If you wish to substitute a different wine for one or more of the selected wines, you can let us know by the deadline date. We will make those adjustments, and then on the day after the deadline date we will charge your credit or debit card for the adjusted amount due.
- If you wish to opt out of a selection entirely, no problem—just let us know by the deadline date and we will not charge you for that selection.
- If you have not requested substitutions and have not indicated that you wish to opt out, we will charge your credit or debit card for the current selection on the day after the deadline date.
- We hope you will come by Links Bridge during the pickup period for each selection, as we enjoy your company and will often have members-only events on these dates that feature the selected wines, wines still to come, or both, and keep you informed about what’s going on at Links Bridge Vineyards.
- If you’re unable to be here during the pickup period, we’ll hold the wine for you until you can come by. Or, should you instruct us to do so, we will ship the selection to you at your expense.
- Finally, with each selection, we will also include certificates for two of our normal sit-down wine tastings that you can use yourself or transfer to a friend.
2. The December Selection
Our December selection will include one bottle each of: 2016 Cabernet Franc Bin 10, 2019 Albariño, 2019 Vidal Blanc, and 2017 River Rocks.
The pickup weekend for this selection is December 5-6 (11am-6pm). Come on by, taste some wine, and chat with us for a while. As our small granddaughters would say, it will be a good time for some “cheersing!” (If you are unable to come by during the pickup weekend, we will of course hold your selection for you until later. Or if you request us to do so, we will ship the selection to you at your expense.)
The deadline date for requesting substitutions, etc. is Saturday November 28.
Of the four wines listed, the first is an old favorite. The second and third will be released for the first time as part of the December selection. The last is also one that we have not yet released, but we will make it available before the December wine club distribution in case anyone needs a bottle or two for Thanksgiving. Taking them in that order:
2016 Cabernet Franc Bin 10 ($28). We are down to about fifteen cases of this popular red and it will disappear soon from our menu. As most of you already know, it is a medium-bodied cab franc with notes of pepper and red fruit. We hate to see this one go, but we have some good reds coming to replace it in the spring! ABV 12.5%.
2019 Albariño ($25). After the near-continuous deluge of 2018, our 2019 albariño harvest was small—but the vines put their heart and soul into making seven cases of wine. This albariño is delicate in fragrance, fruity in taste, and silky in texture, making it Joan’s favorite of all our 2019 wines. We’ve been saving it for members of the wine club, and we’re thinking of keeping some of what’s left after our club distribution for another kind of distribution: Christmas presents. (And possibly for a little personal consumption!) ABV 12.7%.
2019 Vidal Blanc ($20). Pale gold, with an aroma of honeysuckle and a taste of melon, this Vidal reminds us of lunch in a summer garden. (Joan says “Bob wrote this, so take it with a grain of salt!” But speaking of salt, casual empiricism tells us both that this wine pairs very well with Tostitos and a spicy guacamole.) This is a wine we hope you will love. ABV 13.2%
2017 River Rocks ($35). This is our first try at a sparkling wine made using the “traditional method,” and we are very excited about the result. We made the base (Vidal Blanc) in fall 2017, harvesting the grapes a bit early in order to create a bone-dry wine with relatively low alcohol and good acid. In January 2019 we added a bit of extra yeast and sugar and bottled immediately. The secondary in-bottle fermentation thus begun added additional alcohol, a lot of bubbles, and (over time) a nutty, yeasty taste to the wine. In October 2020, after aging the bottled wine on its lees for another 23 months (and coddling it considerably), we began disgorging the old yeast remains and leveling up the bottles. The final sparkling wine is dry, packed with tiny bubbles, and delicious (we think) to drink either in a celebratory toast or with a wide variety of foods. We hope you’ll like it as much as we do! ABV 13.5%
After the Links Bridge Wine Club 15% discount and Maryland’s 9% alcohol tax, the price of this selection for club members is $100.06.
As always, you may substitute other wines for those in the selection, add extra wines (also at the member discount), or both. Just email us at linksbridgevineyards@gmail.com by the deadline date, Saturday November 28, and let us know what you’d like to do.
3. How to Join the Links Bridge Wine Club
We invite you to join the wine club simply by purchasing our December selection.
To get this started, send us an email before the deadline date (Saturday, November 28) at linksbridgevineyards@gmail.com. Use WINE CLUB as the subject line. Please include in your email:
- Your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number.
- Whether you would like to make any substitutions. (For information about our other wines, look at the “Our Wines” page in our website—just click here.)
On the day following the deadline date, we will send an invoice to your email address that bills you for the December selection, adjusted for any substitutions you requested. This invoice will come to you from Square, the same well-known point-of-sale system that we use for transactions at our tasting room. You will be invited to pay this invoice online with a credit or debit card.
At the same time, Square will also present you with the option to save your card details in order to facilitate subsequent wine club transactions. We will need you to do this in order to make our wine club system work. Please note, however, that your card information will be housed securely with Square rather than at Links Bridge Vineyards.
Once you’ve purchased the December selection and placed your card information on file with Square, you are officially a Links Bridge Wine Club member. (And our communications about subsequent wine club selections will be a lot shorter!)
