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April 17, 2022 / News

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Links Bridge Wine Club May 2022 Selection

In March we bottled white wines and rosés from our 2021 harvest, and reds from 2020.  Bottling requires a lot of work and cooperation from all, and when that time rolls around everyone here drops whatever else they’re doing and pitches in.  We’d especially like to recognize the help of wine club members Skip and Hazel Stewart, who labeled, taped, and palletized cases of new wine all day long.  (There they are, just below.)

We think these new wines are pretty good, and our next (May 2022) wine club selection includes four of them.  With this in mind, we’re sending this message to everyone on our general mailing list just in case some of you might want to join the club.

If you’re already a club member, or if you’re familiar with the club but have no interest in joining, stop here!  Otherwise, read on…

This post includes (1) a summary of how the club works, (2) a description of the May selection, and (3) instructions on how to join the club.

Hope to see you soon at Links Bridge Vineyards!

Best spring wishes,
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.
• Two to three weeks 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% wine club 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.
• 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.
• On the day after the deadline date, we will charge your credit or debit card for the amount due, taking into account any substitutions you have requested.
• 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, we will ship the selection to you at your expense.

2.  The May 2022 Selection

Our May selection features four new wines bottled in March—2021 Albariño, 2021 Hillside Chardonnay, 2021 Wild Roses (a delicious rosé), and 2020 Syrah “S”.  More details below, but first:

The pickup weekend for this selection is Saturday-Sunday May 7-8 (11am-6pm).  (If you are unable to come during the pickup weekend, we will of course hold your wine selection until you are able to be here.)

The deadline date for requesting substitutions, etc. is Monday, May 2.

Here are some additional details about the May selection wines:

2021 Albariño.  Harvested September 2021 from our Riverside vineyard, fermented and aged in stainless steel for 7 months.  Crisp, clean, and aromatic with slight hints of apple and honeydew melon on the nose and palate.  Serve this one cold on a hot summer day!  Bottled March 2022.  ABV 12.8%.

2021 Hillside Chardonnay.  Harvested September 2021 from our Hillside vineyard, fermented and aged in stainless steel for 7 months.  Malolactic fermentation gives this wine a rich and mellow character, best appreciated by serving it cool (45°-55° F) but not cold.  Bottled March 2022.  ABV 12.9%.

2021 Wild Roses.  Named for the wild roses that grow around our new Chestnut Hill vineyard, this wine is a 60/40 blend of two rosés.  The first, relatively high in acid and low in alcohol, was made by co-fermenting a small crop of Chardonel and a very small crop of Cabernet Franc—both harvested somewhat hurriedly from un-netted second-year vines at Chestnut Hill that were about to be demolished by the local birds.  The second, higher in alcohol and with some residual sugar, was made from a saignée of Syrah grapes.  Together, they make a single rosé that we think will be a great summer wine.  We like it so much that we may try to make it again next year using the same procedure.  Bottled March 2022.  ABV 12.2%.

2020 Syrah “S.”  While establishing new Syrah vines at our Chestnut Hill vineyard, we decided to get a head start by practicing on Syrah grapes from Washington State.  2020 Syrah “S,” which many of you have barrel-tasted, is one of the results.  (The other is 2020 Syrah “X,” which will be part of another wine club distribution later this year.  More on that one later.)  The “S” is rich and deeply colored, redolent of dark fruits with hints of smoke and pepper.  Its good acid and grippy tannins suggest aging potential.  Bottled March 2022 (even though the label says April).  ABV 15.3%.

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.

3.  How to Join the Links Bridge Wine Club

We invite you to join the wine club simply by purchasing our May selection.

To get this started, send us an email before the deadline date (Monday, May 2) 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 or additions. (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 May 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 August 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!)