2008 Vintage Newsletter

A page has been turned with the 2008 release and we are walking on clouds with excitement. With the 2008 harvest we discovered that all the cabernet sauvignon clones in the vineyard had excelled under the perfect conditions of time, location, and weather during the 2008 growing season. They reached maturity under Barbour Vineyards’ constant care, and Tom’s constant fussing, and all possess the characteristics we were looking for to finally come together under one label, the 2008 GTS. This means that for the first time in our history we will not offer the GTS Nancy's Fancy. We can’t say for certain if this will be the case with future vintages as we’ll wait to see what the vines dictate and our winemaker decides. We are grateful for the skill and wisdom of our talented Winemaker, Thomas Brown, and our Vineyard Manager, Jim Barbour, for coaxing such quality from our small jewel of a vineyard and bringing the 2008 vintage to it’s full potential.

The excitement around what’s happening out in the vineyard has infiltrated the GTS Vineyards office as well. We have focused our attention on efficiency and streamlining the GTS Vineyards business this year and, as a result, are excited to offer the convenience of secure online ordering to our mailing list clients via our new website! We have not abandoned the paper offering completely, much to Tom’s relief, but have now given you more ways to order your GTS Vineyards’ wine. The best way to secure your 2008 GTS is to place your order online. There you will see your specific allocation available for purchase. Because our production is limited we are only able to offer you the allocation listed in your account on our website. This paper order form is simply a guideline and is not a guarantee of your allocation.

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that our new website was designed by the very talented Matt Simmons, the youngest son of our dear friends Ted and Maryanne Simmons. Many of you may know Ted as the long-time, intense, line-drive, switch-hitting catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals who was a very tough adversary for Tom during the baseball season. But we were also good friends during the off-season and our families spent many spring trainings together on the beaches of Florida. Matt was infinitely patient and creative as he designed and built our website and we feel very fortunate to have him as part of our team.

Tom & Nancy Seaver