Our First Ciders & Heuriger Returns

For as long as it’s been our dream to make wine in Vermont, it’s been our dream to make cider in Vermont. While our farm’s rocky hillside screams to have grapevines planted on it, and we couldn’t be happier to be making killer wines from its fruit, we haven’t lost sight of our cidermaking goals. Last fall we partnered with local orchards to make our first ciders and we are thrilled to release them next weekend.

2024 Northern Spy

Single variety Northern Spy from Chapin Orchard. Fermented and aged in stainless steel with native yeast. Secondary fermentation in bottle for natural bubbles.
lemon verbena. green apple candy. sea spray.

2024 Heirloom

A blend of eight apple varieties from Cobble Knoll Orchard. Fermented and aged in stainless steel with native yeast. Secondary fermentation in bottle for natural bubbles.
spiced pear. lime leaf. coconut water.

2024 Perry

Potomac pears from Champlain Orchards fermented dry, then rested on pressed cranberries from Vermont Cranberry. Secondary fermentation in bottle for natural bubbles.
rose petal. lemon peel. fresh mint.

Growing apples and making cider (and drinking it, duh) have a long, important history in this country, especially in Vermont, and especially in Addison County. With these ciders and those to come we aim to spotlight the uniqueness of the people, the land, and the fruit, and, of course, make something delicious. We firmly believe our region can produce the best cider in the world and we’re excited to join the other excellent Vermont cidermakers in demonstrating that.

Heuriger Returns to the Tasting Room

For the month of October we will be celebrating an Austrian wine tradition known as Heuriger. Throughout the year, but especially in the fall, each winery in the villages of Austria takes a turn opening their doors for a month at a time, offering the wines from their vineyard paired with local specialties like cured meats, cheeses, and fresh veggies. 

We lived in Austria for six months in 2019, working vintage at a couple wineries about 60 miles up the Danube from Vienna. A lot of the philosophies and techniques that we practice at Lincoln Peak were learned during our time in Austria, and we left inspired by how this long history of growing grapes and making wine has affected the entire culture of the region.

We hope you’ll join us next month for our very own Heuriger featuring Austrian-inspired charcuterie boards and glasses of sturm – the freshly fermenting wines of the 2025 vintage!

Harvest 2025 Begins

This past weekend we celebrated the beginning of the harvest season with a dinner in the vineyard. We walked through the vines, tasting different varieties of grapes at different stages of ripeness. We discussed what we look for in the fruit to know when to pick, and how the flavor and texture of the berries at harvest impacts every winemaking decision we make from then on. We drank some pretty cool wines paired with four delicious courses from the geniuses at Haymaker Bun Co. It was a magical evening, one that has left us feeling energized and inspired to start harvest this week.

And start harvest we did! On Thursday we picked the first fruit of the 2025 season - our single row of Adalmiina.

This is an early variety with lower sugar and acidity, and citrusy flavors that become more tropical as it ripens. We love Adalmiina as a component in our methode champenoise sparkling wine, adding a punch of fruit and a complex, savory character. At just 582 pounds, it’s our smallest pick of the year and the perfect way to ease into the madness of harvest.

Soon the picks will be much larger, and we would love your help in getting these beautiful grapes off the vines and into the winery. Last year our community helped us pick 35,000 lbs of fruit from this little vineyard and we’re excited to do it all again!

We will be picking regularly throughout September and October, dependent on ripeness and weather. We start picking at 8am and plan to finish around noon. We provide gloves, pruners, sunscreen, and bug spray, as well as lunch and wine. All you need is sturdy footwear and positive vibes.

Interested in joining us?

Click here to learn more and sign up for our list and
we’ll let you know when we’re picking.
We can’t wait to have you!

Piquette Has Arrived!

The Ultimate Low Alcohol Wine

Naturally carbonated and weighing in at just 6% abv, these impossibly refreshing and super stashable bottles are the ideal companion for an afternoon at the river or a celebratory swig at the end of a hike. Plus check out those stunning labels featuring original art from the incredible Deana Allgaier. Join us at next week’s Friday Night Music to taste these beauties and take home a six-pack for the weekend!

What is piquette?

Also called acqua pazza in Italy or lora in ancient Rome, piquette is the French term for a low-alcohol wine made by rehydrating pressed grape skins with water. After squeezing all the juice out of the grapes, the dry pomace that’s left behind still has lots of sugar and flavor. To make piquette, this pomace is collected and soaked in water, then refermented, extracting every last bit of potential from the grapes. The result is a light-bodied, low-alcohol wine traditionally consumed by vineyard workers on their lunch break (it still is, by the way…). With a history as old as wine itself, think of it like the OG spritzer or a White Claw that’s actually interesting.

Our Piquette

We decided to make piquette because we love to drink it.
It really is the perfect drink after a long day in the vineyard, and an expressive, meaningful alternative to the otherwise mediocre low-alc category. We also love the idea of getting the most out of our grapes, honoring the vines and their contribution to our food system, akin to the values of whole-animal butchery. Because of it’s watered-down nature, it can be difficult to make piquette that isn’t too funky and still tastes like fruit. But with our cold climate providing lots of natural acidity, we believe in Vermont’s unique ability to produce clean and delicious piquette. We hope you will, too.

2024 Piquette Blanc
dried apricot. wildflower honey. sea salt.
Spontaneous fermentation. Natural bubbles. No added sulfites.
Ingredients: la crescent grape skins, water

2024 Piquette Rosé
rose petal. nectarine. sagebrush.
Spontaneous fermentation. Natural bubbles. No added sulfites.
Ingredients: marquette and la crescent grape skins, water

2024 Starlight ~ Release Notes

VINTAGE

After the warmest winter in Vermont history, the vines awoke just a bit earlier than normal but managed to avoid spring frost–a welcome correction from the devastating year prior. A very wet 2023 left plenty of water in the soil for the vines to get a quick start, growing vigorously in an otherwise warm, dry spring. Perfect weather during bloom and, perhaps, the vineyard’s determination to get back to growing grapes led to an excellent fruit set. Summer brought heat and humidity and, with it, disease pressure, making timely canopy management critical. In late August began a stretch of perfect weather with almost no rainfall until the end of September, allowing us to pick at peak ripeness all month long and into October. The 2024 vintage will be remembered for its abundance of fruit and for its wines of power and richness.

VINEYARD

100% Lower Vineyard Marquette. This is a 1.3 acre block, which is big for us, and we see lots of variation in the growth pattern of the vines depending on where they’re planted. The fruit for this wine is mostly from less vigorous vines on the south side whose fruit ripens a bit earlier and has fresh, bright flavors.

WINEMAKING

Hand picked, whole-cluster pressed, settled and racked. 6-month native primary ferment followed by full malolactic ferment. 100% stainless. Coarse ltered for clarity prior to bottling.

TASTING NOTES

Cranberry juice. White tea. Vermont strawberry.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Harvest Date(s): 9/13/24, 9/14/24
Composition: 100% Marquette
Alcohol: 12.7%
pH: 3.15
Titratable Acidity: 9.0 g/L
Residual Sugar: 0 g/L
Cases Produced: 156

Downloadable Technical Sheet

2024 Frontenac Noir ~ Release Notes

VINTAGE

After the warmest winter in Vermont history, the vines awoke just a bit earlier than normal but managed to avoid spring frost–a welcome correction from the devastating year prior. A very wet 2023 left plenty of water in the soil for the vines to get a quick start, growing vigorously in an otherwise warm, dry spring. Perfect weather during bloom and, perhaps, the vineyard’s determination to get back to growing grapes led to an excellent fruit set. Summer brought heat and humidity and, with it, disease pressure, making timely canopy management critical. In late August began a stretch of perfect weather with almost no rainfall until the end of September, allowing us to pick at peak ripeness all month long and into October. The 2024 vintage will be remembered for its abundance of fruit and for its wines of power and richness.

VINEYARD

All of our Frontenac Noir, a 0.8-acre block on the western slope of the Upper Vineyard, was picked for this wine. The vines grow healthily and happily in the free-draining soil and we work diligently to manage and focus their vigor. The fruit ripens late with signicant dimpling and huge acid and color. We blended in a splash of Marquette from the Upper Vineyard.

WINEMAKING

Hand-picked fruit. 70% destemmed with 30% whole-cluster layered in. Fermented cool with once daily pumpovers, peaking at 75°F. Aged on ne lees in stainless. A splash of Marquette was blended in for texture and sweetness. Coarse ltered for clarity prior to bottling.

TASTING NOTES

Macerated cherries. Blueberry jam. Asphalt.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Harvest Date(s): 9/21/24, 10/2/24, 10/3/24
Composition: 92% Frontenac Noir, 8% Marquette
Alcohol: 13.7%
pH: 3.43
Titratable Acidity: 8.4 g/L
Residual Sugar: 0 g/L
Cases Produced: 116

Downloadable Technical Sheet

2024 Limestone ~ Release Notes

Vintage

After the warmest winter in Vermont history, the vines awoke just a bit earlier than normal but managed to avoid spring frost–a welcome correction from the devastating year prior. A very wet 2023 left plenty of water in the soil for the vines to get a quick start, growing vigorously in an otherwise warm, dry spring. Perfect weather during bloom and, perhaps, the vineyard’s determination to get back to growing grapes led to an excellent fruit set. Summer brought heat and humidity and, with it, disease pressure, making timely canopy management critical. In late August began a stretch of perfect weather with almost no rainfall until the end of September, allowing us to pick at peak ripeness all month long and into October. The 2024 vintage will be remembered for its abundance of fruit and for its wines of power and richness.

Vineyard

The Louise Swenson comes from two contiguous blocks planted in the Upper Vineyard in 2004 and trained to high-wire. The Lower Vineyard provides the Prairie Star and La Crescent, making this wine nearly a 50/50 blend of the two soil types.

Winemaking

Louise Swenson and Prairie Star were pressed whole cluster and cofermented, followed by regular bâttonage to build texture. La Crescent was destemmed and held on skins for 24 hours prior to pressing and arrested before the end of fermentation. This wine was later blended into the Louise and Prairie Star for juiciness and a oral lift. 100% stainless.

TASTING NOTES

Cut grass. Makrut lime. Minerality.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Harvest Date(s): 9/12/24, 9/23/24, 9/24/24
Composition: 48% Louise Swenson, 29% La Crescent, 23% Prairie Star
Alcohol: 11.6%
pH: 3.17
Titratable Acidity: 9.2 g/L
Residual Sugar: 5.1 g/L
Cases Produced: 56

Downloadable Technical Sheet

2024 La Crescent ~ Release Notes

VINTAGE

After the warmest winter in Vermont history, the vines awoke just a bit earlier than normal but managed to avoid spring frost–a welcome correction from the devastating year prior. A very wet 2023 left plenty of water in the soil for the vines to get a quick start, growing vigorously in an otherwise warm, dry spring. Perfect weather during bloom and, perhaps, the vineyard’s determination to get back to growing grapes led to an excellent fruit set. Summer brought heat and humidity and, with it, disease pressure, making timely canopy management critical. In late August began a stretch of perfect weather with almost no rainfall until the end of September, allowing us to pick at peak ripeness all month long and into October. The 2024 vintage will be remembered for its abundance of fruit and for its wines of power and richness.

VINEYARD

100% Lower Vineyard La Crescent. Planted in 2004 on 8’ x 13’ spacing and trained on Geneva Double Curtain, these are big vines with plenty of room to grow. And with the silty clays so typical of the Champlain Valley providing plenty of water and nutrients, oh boy, do they grow

WINEMAKING

The fruit we picked on the rst day was destemmed and held on its skins in the winery before being drained and pressed about 24 hours later. This juice was combined with the second day’s harvest, which was immediately pressed whole cluster. Fermented cold and slow, and arrested by chilling when we liked the balance. 100% stainless.

TASTING NOTES

Orange pith. White ower. Peach rings

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Harvest Date(s): 9/23/24, 9/24/24
Composition: 100% La Crescent
Alcohol: 13.7%
pH: 3.24
Titratable Acidity: 10.0 g/L
Residual Sugar: 19.1 g/L
Cases Produced: 101

Downloadable Technical Sheet

2024 Black Sparrow ~ Release Notes

VINTAGE

After the warmest winter in Vermont history, the vines awoke just a bit earlier than normal but managed to avoid spring frost–a welcome correction from the devastating year prior. A very wet 2023 left plenty of water in the soil for the vines to get a quick start, growing vigorously in an otherwise warm, dry spring. Perfect weather during bloom and, perhaps, the vineyard’s determination to get back to growing grapes led to an excellent fruit set. Summer brought heat and humidity and, with it, disease pressure, making timely canopy management critical. In late August began a stretch of perfect weather with almost no rainfall until the end of September, allowing us to pick at peak ripeness all month long and into October. The 2024 vintage will be remembered for its abundance of fruit and for its wines of power and richness.

VINEYARD

Earlier pick La Crescent from the Lower Vineyard, specically the east side of the block. These vines are less vigorous so the fruit has more sun exposure and tends to ripen a bit earlier than elsewhere. Like the rest of the block, planted in 2004 in the silty clay of the Lower Vineyard and trained to Geneva Double Curtain.

WINEMAKING

Whole cluster pressed and fermented cold and slow before being arrested to retain as much fruity, oral character as possible. 100% stainless.

TASTING NOTES

Pineapple gummy bears. Lemon curd. Orange blossom.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

Harvest Date(s): 9/16/24
Composition: 100% La Crescent
Alcohol: 11.5%
pH: 3.25
Titratable Acidity: 7.7 g/L
Residual Sugar: 27 g/L
Cases Produced: 50

Downloadable Technical Sheet

Our Farming Philosophy

A focus on sustainability and ecology through regenerative agriculture

Spring in Vermont is a time of life-giving warmth and color—a clear, compelling reminder of the importance of natural beauty on the human condition. Spring is also a time to act. To act upon lessons learned from the previous season, upon new farming plans formulated in the winter, and toward long term goals for the vineyard and the environment as a whole.

As stewards of this land, we place great emphasis on strengthening the natural world, using our knowledge and vitality to preserve its beauty and resilience. The tenants of regenerative agriculture are central to our practices in the vineyard, especially those that protect the soil and encourage biodiversity.

“The major distinguishing factor of the regenerative farming philosophy is the emphasis on restoration, which translates to a hyper-focus on topsoil and cover crops. By increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing the ecosystem, and supporting biosequestration, the regenerative farm strengthens the health of its own soil and increases the earth’s resilience to climate change.”

You’ll hear lots more about our farming philosophy in the future, but check out what we’re doing in the vineyard this spring to work toward our goals.

Last week we added three new members to our vineyard crew! Pruson, Foxy, and Wobbles are two month old Shropshire lambs from our neighbors at Werner Tree Farm. They’ll be hanging out with us this spring, grazing the vineyard floor, aerating the soil, and leaving behind some fertilizer.

Shropshires, once the most widespread sheep breed in Vermont, fell out of favor in the mid-20th century but are now making a comeback because of their use in regenerative agriculture. Their unique distaste for new shoots growing on woody plants makes them perfect for rotational grazing in both vineyards and tree farms, allowing farmers to maintain beneficial cover crops without the disruptive and damaging use of herbicide or tillage.

We also managed to get three new bat houses installed in the vineyard with a goal to grow our bat colony on the farm. Grape berry moth is a very real threat to our crop every year, and most farmers spray insecticide to help control populations and limit damage. Bats eat massive amounts of insects and we’re hoping that if we give them a nice place to sleep, they’ll help us protect our crop without using insecticides.

Ecological farming FTW!