Hey ya’ll!  Because we’re right smack in the middle of harvest and I’m now a month into my harvest internship at our winery, I think I’ll dedicate this blog post to what I’ve learned thus far from my time spent “working harvest”. To give context, yes, I’ve worked though...

And just like that, we’re about to kick off harvest.  When I last posted in June, bud break (the start of the vineyard growing season) was only a month behind us and we were just entering the full summer swing.  Our tasting rooms were bustling with summer visitors and our...

    Hi ya’all!  Happy summer!  The last time I posted in April, we were just kicking off the year – releasing new wines, ramping up wholesale, getting the tasting rooms MDW-ready and conducting some good ol’ R&D for canned wine.  Welp, a lot has happened in 2 months. On...

  Hey guys! Wow… and just like that it’s been another 2 months since I last posted. It’s APRIL already!? This is my 4th year at Lieb and I can tell you that the first 3 months of this year flew by faster than any previous year. It’s like I...

  Whew.  Just like that, a month and a half has passed since my last blog post.  They say time flies when you’re having fun.  That’s certainly been the case.  Well, having fun and getting sh*t done! In past posts, I’ve referred to Feb and Mar as “bottling season.”  This...

Lieb Behind The Scenes – December 2016: Looking Back & Ahead to 2017 Last blog post of the year for me, and I’m feeling … boy, a lot of things. Our business was up 16% overall this year. For a company that’s 2 years into a re-brand and operating in...

  Lieb Behind the Scenes - November 2016 Ahh fall on Oregon Road. Shorter, quieter days. Stunning deep red sunsets. Cool, crisp winds coming off of the sound. Team Lieb dressed in our unofficial fall uniform – boots, jeans and flannels – pouring a whole lotta Cabernet Franc. While I...

  Lieb Behind The Scenes – October 2016: 2016 Harvest Report As of this week, we’re 85% of the way through harvest.  We’ve picked all fruit needed for our Lieb Cellars and Bridge Lane white wine and rosé programs, and for the reds, only Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot...

Harvest!!  If you’ve been checking our social media, you know harvest officially began last Thursday.  Despite being a week behind last year, this year’s start date is actually more normal compared to our average.  As I’ve explained in the past, grapes that are going to be used to make sparkling...

  Ah, high summer.  Long, hot, sunny days.  Tasting rooms full of happy vacationers.  Rosé flying out of the warehouse.  While it feels like the summer season has just kicked off, the looming reality for us at Lieb is that harvest (our unofficial start of fall) is less than 2...

Photo Credit: Long Island Wine Council Last week marked the official start of summer.  The vines are soaking up the sun and growing like weeds, with fruit set (the emergence of baby grape clusters) only a few days off and harvest only 3 months away.  Wholesale sales to wine shops...

The.  Season.  Is.  Here.  True, each sales channel in our business has a unique seasonality to it.  Wholesale is busiest for us during the summer months and leading up to the holidays.  Wine club ramps up each quarter, when we have a selection going out to members.  Internet sales are...

Lieb Behind the Scenes – April 2016 While my blog posts normally focus on what’s happening here at Lieb, I’m deviating from protocol this month to report on my experience “behind the scenes” in California last month.  I’m still reeling from the week and everything I learned and can’t help...

Lieb Behind the Scenes – March 2016 Hello spring!  While officially still a few weeks away, for us, it’s here.  We’re close to completing winter pruning in the vineyards.  Rosé is bottled and being shipped out to our wholesale markets by the pallet full.  Weekend tasting room traffic is picking...

  Lieb Behind the Scenes – February 2016 It’s 50 degrees today and I hear Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow this morning so I’m officially in spring mode. Adios boots and scarves, hello loafers and sunglasses. Spring mode means I’ll also soon be resuming my daily vineyard walks,...

Lieb Behind the Scenes – December 2015   With 50 degree temps outside, it’s hard to believe that the year is coming to a close. Then again, the telltale signs are all around.  Foliage has fallen from the vines as they begin to go dormant.  Our tasting room elves have...

  Lieb Behind the Scenes – November 2015 LAST DAY OF HARVEST. I just got back from the vineyard, where I helped our farm crew pick 5 tons of Petit Verdot to finish out our 2015 harvest season. Done and done! Over the past 2 ½ months, we harvested 215...

Fall!! The signs are all around us. The invigoratingly crisp air, droves of pumpkin pickers, the smell of freshly baked cider donuts, tractors carrying loads of just harvested apples and wine grapes. True, you may have to battle traffic and crowds, but if you’re lucky enough to find an open...

  Lieb Behind the Scenes – September 2015 HARVEST!! Harvest officially began last Tuesday. Despite the slow start to the growing season, high temps in August quickly caught us up and propelled sugar levels (brix) in several of our grapes to optimal ripeness a full week earlier than last year....

Lieb Behind the Scenes – August 2015 Man, it’s hot. Average temps on Long Island so far this summer are 3 degrees above normal and average rainfall is 2 inches below normal. Drought conditions can cause stress on the vines, but luckily we’re able to avoid that scenario by keeping...