Fill Your Own Bottle Day, and Other Significant News.
Hello everyone.
Much has been happening at Heron's Flight since my last newsletter in April. I want to share some of this, so please bear with me.
1- The next Fill Your Own Day is Sunday, July 31. From 9:30-1pm, or until the tank runs dry. Most of you are very familiar with the details. But I will summarize for those who aren't:
for this particular wine, it is some of our 2019 Sangiovese.
you need to bring a minimum of 6 bottles, but I will have new bottles and corks (for $2) if you need them. There is no upper limit- except for the total volume of wine available, of course.
as will with all things at the moment, everything is increasing in price. Certainly all of our basic winemaking costs have increased. After much discussion, I will hold the price for this day at $15/bottle. But this will be the very last FYO at this price.
If you have any questions not covered here, please email david@heronsflight.co.nz
2- We have just created a new website. We started Heron's Flight way back in 1987. Over that time, we have had several websites. This one, we think, represents who we are pretty well. If you go to the home page and then click on 'our story', I think you will see what I mean. I know that every business has their own website- there are so many out there, that it's difficult to stand out. And everyone thinks theirs is special.
But go to www.heronsflight.co.nz and have a look, at least, 'how we got our name', and see if it doesn't capture who we are.
3- Our new Tasting Room is about halfway complete. For those who came to the last FYO day in early April, you will have seen the beginnings of this. The roof goes on this week and the whole building will be completed for a grand opening over Labour Weekend this year.
The concept of the design is a homage to wine. We are getting a license to offer glasses of wine. And we will make available not just our own wine, but interesting wines from around NZ. One of the details of the building (which is attached to our winery, and open to it) includes a bar made from rammed earth. As our wines are from our vines which are manifestations of our soil, we thought this only fitting.
Wine Club: in association with our new tasting room, we are creating an opportunity for people to participate in special tastings and events, as well as receiving our wine at regular intervals without the hassle of ordering it each time you think of it. It's sort of like how to become a VIP participant in Heron's Flight.
Until we open this in October, our existing tasting room, actually in our winery, is open every weekend. And if you cannot visit, our on-line ordering system for all of our wines is pretty straightforward.
4- Family involvement.
When Mary and I started Heron's Flight, we were hoping that our two sons may want to be involved at some point. They both grew up on the vineyard, but saw how hard the work was and how much time it took. So they both went to University to do other things and establish their own lives.
Our oldest son became a captain of a large sailing superyacht, and our youngest went off to San Francisco as an architect, got married and started a family. When Covid hit, Mary told our youngest to come home and live with us. Which he did with Heather and their baby. And they have since added a second child. And they are all living with us. Our oldest is rotational, and years ago, built his own eco-cabin at the bottom of the vineyard where he lives when in NZ.
All of them are also directly involved in the Heron's Flight business. The boys help in the vines and in the winery when they can. Heather helps with the general marketing and we all help in the tasting room. They all have their own professions to follow, but they see their involvement in Heron's Flight as an important inter generational component of what Mary and I established 35 years ago.
5- Mary
After a very short illness, Mary passed away last month. In May, she was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. She passed away four weeks later, at home surrounded by her family. This was sudden and unexpected.
She was the face of Heron's Flight- as many of you know who have visited us over the years. She loved this land. When we came here in 1987, this was bare land. Not a tree nor shrub. Everything that is here now, the buildings, the vines and all the plantings, are largely due to her vision. If there is a 'fortunately' in her passing, it is that she also lived to see her family all back on the property and working together for the future of Heron's Flight.
- and to reinforce all this, I hope to see many of you Sunday week for our FYO. Sort of as a toast to Mary. There will be no toasted sammies this time, though, as there was last time- as Luke is currently on his boat sailing around Italy!
David