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The Toad Hollow Gazette
Since 1983
"All the News That's Hoppinin' in The Hollow"
September 1998, Issue 9
1998 - It's been a very good year (at least, so far). We have a goodly amount of
1997 Sonoma County Chardonnay (Francine's Selection), and everyone seems to like it.
At long last there will be Toad Hollow Chardonnay year round. Our kick-off April
Fool's Day party at Mistral was a rollicking affair. The Eye
of the Toad Dry Pinot Noir Rosé continues to gain momentum. Seems the
public is becoming more educated and appreciative of the fact that good wine comes in more
than two colors. And most recently (June 1998), we released our 1997 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. This
is our first effort, and have we got a treat for you! We are very pleased to let you
know that this wine won a gold medal at the recent San Francisco International Wine
Competition. We knew we had a good one, but it's always nice to garner some formal
recognition. The other gold medal winners were 1995's and 1996, while ours is a mere
baby (1997). And we're also pleased to call your attention to the fact that our
price is much lower than the others -- another great wine at a reasonable price. The
Toad Hollow motto lives on! We're still planning to release a 1997 Zinfandel in late Fall (the finance gods
permitting -- oh how the cash flow goes). For a change of pace, Todd has worked with
artist Maureen Erickson to create a label quite different from our norm. The wine
will be called Cacophony (actually describes the Toad, not the wine, but
Todd likes the sound of this word), and rather than our usual 2-color pen and ink labels,
this one is many colored and a bit crazy. Brenda Eno will continue to do our
customary labels. In addition, watch for our 1997 Russian River Valley Reserve
Merlot due for early 1999 release.
In case you're wondering about the Le Faux Frog
wines (our French, second label), the Merlot has been sold out for some time now, and we
only have a few hundred cases of the Chardonnay remaining. At this point in time, we
are not sure when we will do another vintage of the French wines. While the response
has been very positive (and why not?! -- good wine, very reasonably priced), as long as we
can produce enough Sonoma County wines at reasonable prices, then that is the direction we
will continue to head. We feel our focus must be on our Sonoma County wines.
Our growth has been phenomenal (in five years, we have gone from 300 cases of Chardonnay
to over 30,000 cases of several different wines) ...but we must be cautious since we know
growing pains can sometimes prove deadly.
The summer(!?) of 1998 -- a very interesting season, to say the least. While
other states are sweltering and dry for weeks on end, we run the gamut. We've been
seeing unseasonably cool temperatures (60's and 70's) -- some days the fog never leaves us
and the sun does not shine and we barely reach 70 -- and then we have our mini-heat waves
where it is 105 degrees for several days in a row. The grapes don't know which end
is up -- they long for cool nights and warm days (kind of like Curlilocks and the three
toads -- not too hot, not too cold, but just right) -- but they'll just have to take
whatever Mother Nature dishes out. We only hope that there are no early rains.
Last year was a very early harvest (end of August), but we're several weeks behind
at this juncture. We had some heavy rain in June which did damage, but if we can
hang on (actually, if the grapes can hang on) until mid/late October, we should still have
a good size and quality crop. Last year's harvest was a record breaker; this year
we're hoping for a decent one.
Todd's travels since the beginning of the year have been constant, but will be slowing
down considerably after the summer. He will be in Indiana and New York in September,
and we will both be in Wisconsin and Michigan in October.
This has been a very big year for us. We increased production dramatically, added
new wines to our repertoire, and brought the Toad Hollow wines to many new markets (AR,
AL, DE, GA, HI, IN, IA, MS, NV, NM, OK, PA, SC, TN, VT, VA, WV). On a sad note, we
lost our good friend and co-worker Penni Voit. She is sorely missed. We thank
each of you who helped make her last months more pleasant. On a more positive note,
we have welcomed Erik Thorson into the Toad Hollow family. I'm sure many of you have
either spoken with him or met him. He's become a very integral part of the Toad
Hollow operation. Todd and I also celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary.
Hank turned 1, Todd turned 60, and I turned 50. We also moved our home to
Healdsburg. Our business travels have been extensive, and we've participated in many
wonderful events, made lots of new friends, and had the pleasure of seeing many old
friends. We try very hard to keep in touch with our friends and supporters through
phone calls and letters, but sometimes we fall short -- oh, for a few more hours in the
day. Please know that we love you all and appreciate your help in making Toad Hollow
such a success.
Quote for the day
"I note the derogatory rumors concerning the use of alcoholic
stimulants and lavish living. It is the penalty of greatness." -- W. C. Fields
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