Dear Frogtown Citizen:

Calendar of Events

Enclosed with this shipment you will find a 2013 Frogtown Events Calendar. There are many Citizens Only Exclusive Events. Please choose those Events you would like to attend and mark your calendars. We ask that you make reservations to attend each Citizens Only Exclusive Event at least one week before the Event. While it is our intention to have Citizens attend all their desired Citizens Only Exclusive Events, some Events, like Harvest Day with Craig, could be subscribed beyond our ability to accommodate all those wanting to attend, so please don’t wait to the last moment to sign up. Cydney will send e-mails to our Citizens before each Citizens Only Exclusive Event reminding you of the upcoming Event.

Citizen Soirées

Last year we had excellent attendance at our Citizen Soirées. This year, as you will read below, we shall have alternative venues to hold Citizen Only Events. The new venues should provide a better environment for these Exclusive Events.

Harvest Day with Craig

Harvest’s Day with Craig is scheduled for the weekend of September 21 and 22, 2013.

I checked with Mother Nature and she assured me Frogtown vineyards will have lots of ripe succulent fruit available for harvest on this weekend and the weather will be partly cloudy with temperatures in the low 70’s with no chance of rain.

To assist in accommodating all Citizens who want to participate in harvest, the format this year is a little different. We will be harvesting on September 21st and 22nd. At the time of registering for the Event, you will indicate you preference of harvest days. The Harvest Dinner will be on Saturday, September 21st. All Citizens harvesting on either the 21st or the 22nd shall attend the Harvest Dinner on Saturday evening.

Although overnight accommodations are not required, we strongly advise all of our Citizens to take advantage of such accommodations to ensure a great weekend. Because of the time of year Citizens should make reservations for housing as soon as possible. A two night required stay should be expected at quality establishments. Whether you will harvest on Saturday, September 21st or on Sunday, September 22nd, an overnight on the 21st after the Harvest Dinner is highly recommended. Cydney will provide you with some choices on housing in the near future.

The program for the 21st is as follows:

• Arrive at 7:30 am or later. A light Continental Breakfast will be served.
• At 8:30 am we shall promptly commence harvest; which shall conclude between 11:30 and 12 Noon.
• At 12 Noon we break for lunch.
• At 1:30 pm we shall commence processing the fruit harvested and I will hold seminars about the protocols and what is achieved during processing.
• At 4:00 pm processing activities shall cease and you should have plenty of time to go to your rooms to freshen up for the Harvest Dinner.

The program for the 22nd is as follows:

• Arrive at 7:30 am or later. A light Continental Breakfast will be served.
• At 8:30 we shall promptly commence harvest; which shall conclude between 11:30 and 12 Noon.
• At 12 Noon we break for lunch.
• At 1:30 pm we shall commence processing the fruit harvested and I will hold seminars about the protocols and what is achieved during processing.
• At 4:00 pm processing activities shall cease and the days activities concluded.

Frogtown shall charge each participating Citizen’s account $135.00 per person attending Harvest Day.

Vineyard Update

Winter in the vineyard is a relatively peaceful, quiet time. The primary activities involve winter pruning, incorporating required amendments into the soils, row plowing (to introduce oxygen to the root zones and improve root growth in the spring), and preparing those areas that will be replanted with vines this spring.

Weather patterns have been rainy and rather warm. We would like to have considerably cooler temperatures at this time of the year to assist us in reducing the harmful insect population and over-wintering molds and mildews on the woody surfaces of the vines.

New Construction

We are in the process of constructing a new Wedding Ceremony Pavilion between vineyard rows in our lower B Block vineyard next to the lake. This Pavilion will enhance greatly the wedding experience at Frogtown for those brides wanting to have their wedding ceremony “in the vines.” The Pavilion overlooks the lake (and fountain) and a magnificent up-hill view of our D Block vineyard and a panoramic view of Yonah, Pink, and Wauka Mountains to the east.

Also under construction is an enclosure of a portion of our vineyard patio area (the covered patio to the right as you enter our driveway). This will provide a temperature-controlled environment for tastings. This enhancement will increase the enjoyment of wine tastings at Frogtown on Saturday’s when we close our main hospitality facility to wine tastings and food service as a result of a wedding.

I plan on utilizing the Wedding Ceremony Pavilion and the enhanced enclosed patio area as a venue for our Wine Club Citizen Only Exclusive Events, including specifically Soirées. This should result in Frogtown providing a Citizen Only Exclusive Event in a more controlled environment without the problem of non-Citizens “crashing” a Citizen Only Exclusive Event.

I also want to utilize the enclosed vineyard patio area as a venue for Citizens to join me in exclusive tastings and discussions of Frogtown wines, including, recently bottled, recently released, recently Medal awarded, and even library wines that will be “released” only to Citizens. I enjoy tremendously conducting these tastings and discussions with our Wine Club Citizens on a one to one basis. Having these tastings and discussions in our main hospitality area on a busy Saturday has been problematic. You will not find these special tastings and discussions in our 2013 Calendar; so look for announcements of these gatherings in our e-mails to you, our Citizens.

Formation of the Georgia Fine Wine Alliance…………..Frogtown’s Withdrawal from WAG

Over the 13 years Frogtown was a member of the Wine Growers Association of Georgia (“WAG”), Cydney and I grew increasingly concerned about the direction and objectives of this private trade association. As of the beginning of this year Frogtown is no longer a member of WAG.

Our first major concerned arose when WAG refusal to support Frogtown in requiring its members to only bottle wine under a Georgia label if the wine contains 100% Georgia gapes.

Our concerns increased as a result of the permissive attitude and willingness by WAG to operate this trade association on a primarily “inclusive” basis, seeking new members and permitting existing member to be a part of this association regardless of wine quality issues. This permissive attitude included allowing WAG members who were initially vineyard only members to call themselves a “winery” even when such members do not own any winemaking equipment or a physical winery building. Such members either purchase wine from other WAG members or processed “their grapes” into wine at other member wineries.

Believing it is in Frogtown’s best interest to align our vineyard and winery with like-minded quality oriented Georgia wineries; Frogtown and Wolf Mountain have formed the Georgia Fine Wine Alliance. Enclosed in this shipment is a brochure describing our new Alliance with Wolf Mountain.

In reviewing the enclosed 2013 Frogtown Events Calendar, you will notice joint wine dinners scheduled at Wolf Mountain (on April 13, 2013) and at Frogtown (on August 17, 2013). There shall be other events and marketing efforts involving the Georgia Fine Wine Alliance in the future. We are excited about our new Alliance with Wolf Mountain. Frogtown looks forward to supporting Wolf Mountain’s winemaking endeavors, including selling a substantial portion of our Chardonnay and Viognier and other grapes to Wolf Mountain each year.

Select Discussion of the Cabernet Franc Grape and Wine Included in This Shipment.

Included in this shipment to our All Red and Mixed Citizens is a bottle of our 2009 Kritzer Family Reserve Cabernet Franc. This is our first ever Reserve of a Cabernet Franc labeled wine.

Back in 2009, after the bottling of the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006 Merlot, 2006 Cabernet Franc, and 2006 Tannat, I was “debating with myself” whether to designate the Cabernet Franc or the Merlot as the Reserve wine for 2006. Since a Reserve Bottling is rare at Frogtown, I only wanted one Reserve labeled wine in 2006. All of these wines were wonderful, including the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Tannat. Instead of designating the Cabernet Franc, I decided to designate the 2006 Merlot as the Family Reserve. The rest is history. The 2006 Merlot is simply the best bottling of red wine Frogtown has ever achieved to date. It was the right decision. The 2006 Merlot evolved into a better wine than the 2006 Cabernet Franc, although both wines, and the Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat received multiple Gold Medals in California.

I knew Frogtown had a very special 2009 Cabernet Franc immediately after fermentation. During the 2009 growing season, I was concerned that the Cabernet Franc vines were not ripening fruit as quickly as our other red wine grapes. At harvest, however, and in fermentation the color or these Cabernet Franc grapes were outstanding. We used two different yeasts with these Cabernet Franc grapes, both fermented in our two 1,000-gallon open top temperature controlled fermenting tanks. The wines produced from these two yeasts were only slightly distinguishable from one another. I used a blend from these two yeast fermentations in creating the 2009 Cabernet Franc Family Reserve.

The 2009 Reserve Cabernet Franc is without question Frogtown’s best bottling of a varietal Cabernet Franc to date. Made from 100% Cabernet Franc grapes, this medium to full-bodied wine is intriguing in its lack of any vegetal flavors and its elegance and finesse with complex black fruit flavors of cassis, blackberry and blueberry throughout the palate with some raspberry and concluding in a long enticing finish, with slight nuance of tobacco. It is this presence of tobacco that is present in so many premium Bordeaux varietal wines that I just love and strive to achieve. This Reserve wine possesses just the right about of oak to enhance the fruit in this wine and provide some vanilla and toasty cocoa bean nuances.

Let’s discuss Cabernet Franc, the grape. Quite frankly and truthfully, I planted Cabernet Franc at Frogtown in 1999 with not a great deal of thought or knowledge about the grape. Cabernet Franc appealed to me because (i) it is a classic Bordeaux red grape, (ii) it is more planted on the East Coast than Cabernet Sauvignon, having substantial varietal recognition in the East, and (iii) I thought Cabernet Franc grown under Frogtown vineyard’s long-growing conditions would result in (A) Cabernet Franc fruit containing more ripe flavors than that produced in other East Coast viticultural areas and (B) the wines made from such riper Cabernet Franc grapes would not contain the substantial vegetal, steely flavors present in most East Coast Cabernet Franc wines.

Well numbers (i) and (ii) above continue to be accurate in 2013 and number (iii) has proven to be correct.

Having grown Cabernet Franc and Merlot for 14 years at Frogtown, I am suspicious and not certain why Cabernet Franc is so popular on the East Coast. The Merlot grape grows very well in the East Coast and ripens in a shorter time in the vineyard with good to very good color and substantially less vegetal flavors than Cabernet Franc. So why is Cabernet Franc the preferred East Coast Bordeaux varietal? I have come to the conclusion the answer to this question lies within the accepted and expected sensory perception of East Coast Cabernet Franc wines. Presence of a very recognizable vegetal component in Cabernet Franc, particularly East Coast grown Cabernet Franc wine, IS acceptable and probably EXPECTED. Vegetal Merlot is simply not acceptable or expected even on the East Coast. Also, the lighter color of a Cabernet Franc wine, as compared to a quality Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon wine, again is acceptable and possibly expected on the East Coast. So if you were an East Coast grape grower, why not plant Cabernet Franc when the resulting wines are not severely punished for being light and vegetal? Clearly, the answer to this question is an East Coast grower would be foolish NOT to plant Cabernet Franc grapes.

At Frogtown, if our Cabernet Franc grapes consistently produced the relatively light, vegetal wines present in many other East Coast Cabernet Franc wines, I would have yanked the vines out of the vineyard and planted more Merlot.

The key to Frogtown’s success with the Cabernet Franc grape is that we fully ripen Cabernet Franc grapes! Our Cabernet Franc grapes produce Cabernet Franc wines with an elegance and finesse about them that translates into materially enhancing Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, and Touriga Nacional based wines. Our varietal labeled bottling’s of Cabernet Franc produce dark Cabernet Franc wines with a peppery perfume and aroma of blueberry, raspberry, cassis, and tobacco and sometimes even a violet aroma.

If there is an issue with Cabernet Franc grown at Frogtown it is one of color. In some vintages the color of our fully ripe Cabernet Franc wines are lighter than what I want. But even when our Cabernet Franc wines have this lighter color, such wines do not exhibit the expected characteristic vegetal flavors and aromas of Cabernet Franc, particularly Cabernet Franc from the East Coast.

So what does Frogtown do in a vintage when our Cabernet Franc is lighter than what I demand from this grape?

• We do not produce a varietal labeled Cabernet Franc from such vintage.
• We blend a relatively small amount more of Tannat and/or Touriga into the Proprietary Blends containing this vintage of Cabernet Franc. What are those blends? Frogtown Touche, Frogtown Shotgun, and Frogtown Personality. The extra amount of Tannat and Touriga Nacional adds the extra amount of color needed to offset the lighter Cabernet Franc in these blended wines. Wow, by a winemaker’s “slight of hand” Frogtown gets all of the benefit these wine blends receive from the character of Cabernet Franc in such vintage without a resulting lighter wine than expected just by “tweaking” the amount of Tannat and/or Touriga Nacional.

OK, if Craig adds just a little more Tannat or Touriga Nacional to the referenced Frogtown Proprietary Blends in years of lighter Cabernet Franc, why can’t Craig add a little Tannat or Touriga Nacional to the Frogtown Cabernet Franc for purposes of adding color and make a varietal bottling of Cabernet Franc? Can’t a winemaker blend up to 25% of a different grape or grapes into Cabernet Franc and still label the wine Cabernet Franc? Good questions.

Yes, a varietal Cabernet Franc could contain 75% or more of Cabernet Franc and 25% or less of Tannat. But what would a blend of Cabernet Franc and Tannat taste like? In my experience 3% of Tannat blended with 97% Cabernet Franc could clearly be called Cabernet Franc on the label but it would not be a Frogtown Cabernet Franc wine. The wine will not taste like Cabernet Franc labeled wines we have made in the past! So, I pass. I rather not make a Cabernet Franc labeled wine; them make a Cabernet Franc wine that is dissimilar to other Cabernet Franc wines previously made at Frogtown.

As an aside: I have experience California grown Cabernet Franc wines that were very dark wines, but clearly contained vegetal aroma and flavor, and I have experienced French Cabernet Franc wines called Chinon that were relatively light wines, but contained no appreciable amount of vegetal aroma and flavor (Chinon wines can contained very minor amounts of Rosé made from Cabernet Franc grapes, and even white wine usually made from Chenin Blanc grapes).

As an additional aside: DNA testing has established that Cabernet Sauvignon is a genetic hybrid of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. Wait a moment. Cabernet Franc is generally a lighter wine than Cabernet Sauvignon. How can a lighter red grape parent crossed with a white wine grape parent produce a more intense, darker color, and need we forget, the King of red wine grapes? If you think you have the answer, please e-mail me. It simply is not logical.

Wines Included in this Shipment.

All Red Citizens

All Red Citizens will receive a bottle of the 2009 Kritzer Cabernet Franc Family Reserve referred to above, a bottle of the 2008 Frogtown Bravado Super Tuscan, and another Super Tuscan wine, the 2009 Frogtown Audacity. While the 2009 Frogtown Audacity is only approximately 7 months in the bottle, you will clearly recognize this Audacity as a worthily successor to the wonderful 2008 Frogtown Audacity. You will also experience how different the 2008 Frogtown Bravado, Super Tuscan, containing Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Tannat is from the 2009 Frogtown Audacity, Super Tuscan, containing Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon.

The regular retail cost of these wines, without sales tax is $98.97. All red Citizens will receive a discount of 24.23% (rather than 20%) to reduce the Citizen cost of these wines to $75.00 before sales tax. The addition of sales tax results in a cost for pick-up of $80.25 and the addition of $12.00 shipping results in a cost for these wines shipped of $92.25.

Red and White

All Mixed Red and White Citizens are receiving a bottle of our 2009 Kritzer Cabernet Franc Family Reserve referred to above, a bottle of the 2009 Frogtown Audacity referred to above, and a bottle of the 2011 Frogtown Sauvignon Blanc. As compared to other Frogtown Sauvignon Blanc bottled in the past, the 2011 Frogtown Sauvignon Blanc contains 15% Sauvignon Gris grapes. The addition of the Sauvignon Gris grapes to this Sauvignon Blanc labeled wine results in a more structured, flavorful white wine than a wine with just 2011 Sauvignon Blanc grapes. This 2011 vintage should be a Sauvignon Blanc wine that improves in the bottle for up to three years.

The regular retail cost of these wines, without sales tax is $96.97. Mixed Citizens will receive a discount of 22.66% (rather than 20%) to reduce the Citizen cost of these wines to $75.00 before sales tax. The addition of sales tax results in a cost for pick-up of $80.25 and the addition of $12.00 shipping results in a cost for these wines shipped of $92.25.

All White Citizens

All White Citizens are receiving a bottle of our 2011 Frogtown Sauvignon Blanc, a bottle of the 2011 Frogtown Sauvignon Gris, and a bottle of the 2009 Frogtown Chardonnay.

The 2011 Frogtown Sauvignon Gris contains 15% Sauvignon Blanc grapes (a reverse of what was blended when making the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc described above). If you compared our 2010 Frogtown Sauvignon Gris with the 2011 Frogtown Sauvignon Gris, you will discover how the addition of the Sauvignon Blanc makes the 2011 Sauvignon Gris more elegant, complex, and a less in you face, full bodied white wine. At this time, I would have to see how the 2011 Sauvignon Blanc develops with the addition of the Sauvignon Gris grapes to make a judgment as to whether or not I will continue to blend Sauvignon Gris into our Sauvignon Blanc labeled wines; I am comfortably convinced that I like what the addition of the Sauvignon Blanc does to the 2011 Frogtown Sauvignon Gris wine and will most likely continue blending Sauvignon Blanc into our Sauvignon Gris labeled wines.

The regular retail cost of these wines, without sales tax is $64.97. All White Citizens will receive a discount of 20% to reduce the Citizen cost of these wines to $51.98 before sales tax. The addition of sales tax results in a cost for pick-up of $55.61 and the addition of $12.00 shipping results in a cost of these wines shipped of $65.61.

Please make a concerted effort to take advantage of all that Frogtown offers its Wine Club Citizens through the 2013 Year, including Citizens Only Exclusive Events.

With Best Wishes to all our Citizens, Craig

Dear Frogtown Citizen:

Most importantly all of us at Frogtown wish you a very enjoyable Christmas and a most healthy, productive, and happy New Year!

Vineyard Update

We have enjoyed some real cold days, with temperatures in the lower teens early in the morning heading into winter of 2011.  As long as we do not experience single digit temperatures over an extended close period of time, the cold helps with killing unwanted insects and fungus “over-wintering” in the vineyard.  I have also experienced more fruitful buds following cold winters.

I think the winter views of the vineyard are wonderful.  Without the leaves and fruit, winter offers the views of the symmetry of the vineyard and the rows and rows of posts and trellises otherwise hidden by the leaves during the growing season.

Winery Update

Wow, we have had a very productive post-harvest period of wine making.  I have mentioned too many of our Citizens it is our desire to produce relatively small bottlings of very intensely hand crafted wines primarily intended for our Citizens.  When you review the list of wines we have made during this post-harvest period to date you will notice a number of Frogtown wines never made or only limitedly made in the past.  Frogtown is well on its way to delivering a most rewarding wine club experience with these especially hand crafted wines.

In addition to the East Coast West Coast First Compulsion and the 2008 Frogtown Sangiovese delivered with the Shipment we have bottled the 2008 Norton.

For those of you who have tasted the 2008 Norton in barrel and have inquired about Norton wines at Frogtown this past year, I said I thought the 2008 AND 2009 vintages of Norton were going to be worthy successors to the California Gold Medal Winning 2006 Frogtown Norton.  There is no doubt 2008 and 2009 vintages of Frogtown Norton will please our discriminating customers.

For the first time ever, in 2008 I did not de-classify any Norton barrels from a vintage. This fact, coupled with the large 2008 Norton harvest has resulted in 500 cases of 2008 Norton.  This is almost three times the previous largest bottling of Norton at Frogtown.  I am very excited about this Norton vintage.  Added to the classic supple layers of fruit present in Frogtown Norton, the 2008 vintage has the highest levels of tannin ever in a Frogtown Norton.  I blended some 2008 Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon into this Norton.

As you will discover when you drink the 2008 Sangiovese; and as you experienced with our first 2008 vintage wine, the inaugural vintage of Audacity, 2008 is a GREAT vintage.

The 2008 Norton will be “released” to our Citizens in the February 2011 wine shipment.

As of this date, our post-harvest wine making activities, have resulted in the  following additional Frogtown wines to be bottled over the next few months:

2009 Frogtown Vineaux Blanc
2009 Frogtown Inclination
2009 Frogtown Sauvignon Blanc
2009 Frogtown Marsanne
2009 Frogtown Roussanne
2009 Frogtown Barrel Fermented Chardonnay
2008 Frogtown MRV
2008 Touché
2008 Bravado
Shotgun, Second Reload
Frogtown Disclosure Chardonnay
Frogtown Disclosure Malbec

OK, what is this new wine label “Disclosure”?  I have decided to only bottle Convergence as a West Coast East Coast wine andCompulsion as an East Coast West Coast wine and to offer these wines as a distributed wine by Empire Distributing to restaurants and package stores.

I have been really excited with the blending of Frogtown wine with California wine and registered with the Federal Trademark office the “Disclosure” label.

Our son Michael continued his wonderful label designs by putting a frog under a microscope as the image which will appear on Disclosure labeled wines.   Most significantly Disclosure wines will disclose to our customers that we have in fact used fruit or wine grown outside of the state of Georgia in making these wines.  All Disclosure wines will be sold under an “American” appellation label and NOT A GEORGIA LABEL.

Frogtown Bravado is an additional “Super Tuscan” wine (Audacity was our first Super Tuscan) containing Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat.  We are making Bravado specifically for the distribution segment of our business.  It will be very value priced at $19.99 per bottle.

GET TO KNOW FROGTOWN

Printed immediately below is a “concise” description which we have displayed in our tasting room.  I want to specificallyshare this description with our Citizens, as there was much thought on my part in putting together this two-page description of what we do at Frogtown.

GET TO KNOW FROGTOWN

Nestled in the North Georgia Mountains, equal distance between Dahlonega and Cleveland, Georgia, Frogtown vineyards and winery encompass 44 acres of planted vines at elevations from 1675 feet to 1825 feet above sea level. The contours of Frogtown’s hill side vineyards represent some of the steepest slopes of all viticultural areas in the eastern part of the United States.  Along with our hilly terrain, Frogtown’s sandy clay loam soil, trellis design, and directional aspect of vine rows, create a most unique viticultural environment for our wine growing activities.

On Frogtown’s 44 acres of vineyards 25 different wine grape varieties are planted.  The red varieties Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, Tannat, Touriga Nacional, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Nebbiolo, Chambourcin, and Norton, and the white varieties Chardonnay, Viognier, Marsanne, Roussanne, Sauvignon Blanc, Sauvignon Gris, Seyval, Petit Manseng, Vidal, Muscat, and Picpoul are grown at the Dahlonega vineyards.  At Frogtown’s Helen Vineyards established in 2010, the Italian white wine grapes Vernaccia and Greco di Tufo and the Italian red wine grape Teroldego are being cultivated.

In total there are 23,000 grape vines in Frogtown’s North Georgia vineyards capable of producing up to 180 tons of premium wine grapes each year.  This tonnage equates to over ten thousand cases of Estate Grown wine per year!

Frogtown winery is a unique underground state-of-the-art horizontal gravity flow facility on three different elevation levels.

Frogtown tasting room at the winery is open year-round providing tastings daily from 11:30am to 5:30pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  Tastings commence at 11:30AM on Friday and Saturday and end at 6:00pm.  On Sundays, tastings start at 12:30pm and end at 5:30pm.  Frogtown also provides a “Panini Bar” on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Frogtown hosts wine dinners and Sunday brunches throughout the year.  Please check the Frogtown web site (www.frogtownwine.com, for dates and menus).   In addition to the tasting room at the winery, tastings and wine sales will be available at Frogtown’s Helen Georgia Tasting and Wine Sales Facility, opening in late 2010 or early 2011.  Scheduled to be open in 2011, Frogtown is establishing a tasting room in South Georgia, one mile North of Interstate 75, Exit 29, on 50 acres of land running over 3,000 feet contiguous and along the northerly lanes of I-75 that are clearly visible from I-75.

Frogtown’s hospitality and winemaking facility, using old-world hand crafted mortise and tenon timber frame joinery, overlooks a three acre lake.  This facility is a perfect venue for weddings, rehearsal dinners, and corporate events.

There are numerous wine offerings from Frogtown.  With the sole exception of dessert wines under the Frogtown label, all Frogtown labeled wines are made under the strict “French Rules” and are completely dry wines. By adopting the French rules in winemaking, Frogtown does not add back ANY sugar to its wines. Unlike France, in the United States it is not illegal to add sugar to “dry” wines.  Many California wineries add small amounts of sugar (one or two grams per liter) to make their wines more supple, easier to drink.  This small amount of sugar is below the threshold for most people to perceive sweetness in wine. While this practice adds smooth textures to the wine, it also makes wine less food friendly; as even one gram of sugar per liter coats each molecule of wine with a thin sugar veneer.

Because it is not illegal in the United States to add sugar, Frogtown also produces a second label, Thirteenth Colony, under which “off-dry” wines are offered and a sweet wine label, Talking Rock.  Under the wine label Southern Charm, Frogtown will be producing “premium” Muscadine wines to be featured at the South Georgia Tasting Room, along with all of the other wines produced by Frogtown.

Frogtown is committed to grow and produce wines which compete with other premium and ultra premium wines grown and produced anywhere in the world. We do not just say we make competitive premium wines.  We prove this characterization of our wines by submitting Frogtown labeled wines to the rigours of competing against the best wines produced anywhere in the world, at the most prestigious and challenging competitions in the United States.  We have been fortunate in receiving medals from California competitions during the last five years that we believe make Frogtown, if not the most, certainly one of the most awarded Eastern Wineries in California competitions for dry white and red wines.

Most significantly, Frogtown is dedicated to truth-in-labeling of all wines.  All Frogtown wines labeled under a Georgia Appellation Label by Frogtown MEANS 100% Georgia fruit. Presently, not only is all wine labeled under the Frogtown, Thirteenth Colony, and Talking Rock labels 100% Georgia, such wines are made from estate vineyards established by Frogtown.  We have been awarded almost 90% of all medals awarded to Georgia wineries in California competitions.

The federal govenment and the State of Georgia allow the blending of up to an astounding 25% of non-domicilliary wine (i.e. California wine or grapes) into Georgia labeled wine without disclosing such fact on the label of the wine bottle. Many East Coast wineries, including wineries in Georgia, systematically blend California wine, juice, or concentrate into their state labeled wines without disclosing such fact on the label of such wine.  Such practice pays absolutely no attention to the ethical issues such winemaking practices create.

The Federal Government by allowing this winemaking practice simply encourages, in our opinion, fradulent and deceptive labeling practices thoughout the East Coast.

Frogtown, in an effort to educate the wine consuming public, has created wines labeled under a label designation of either an East Coast West Coast Wine, a West Coast East Coast Wine, or Disclosure.  Such wines are made from grapes grown at Frogtown and in California.  Frogtown places such wine in an AMERICAN appellation label, not a Georgia appellation label. The first of such wines, Convergence, won a major GOLD medal.  Frogtown has proven proper ethical labeling can be accomplished so the wine tasting public is aware of what is in the wine such persons purchase.

In the 2008 Wine Report Publication, Frogtown was listed as the 6th most up and coming winery outside of the States of California, Washington, and Oregon.

For those Citizens who are receiving all red wines or white and red wines, the following inaugural release of our East Coast West Coast red wine is included in your shipment:

FIRST COMPULSION – This is the East Coast West Coast answer to the West Coast East Coast Convergence. Compulsion is made from 50% Frogtown 2008 Merlot, 10% Frogtown 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon, and 40% 2008 Russian River Petit Verdot.

This is a big wine, but not as big a wine as the First Convergence, which is much more like a California wine (as it should be with 67% California Cabernet and Malbec).  Our Frogtown Merlot and Cabernet very much “dominate” this wine, delivering an elegant deep and full-bodied red wine to be enjoyed with bold meat dishes.  Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $27.99.

While enjoyable now, this wine will develop in the bottle over the next two years.

For those Citizens who are receiving all red wines, the following two additional red wines are included in your shipment:

2008 FROGTOWN SANGIOVESE – As I have said in the past, 2008 was another year of superior Sangiovese.  This “Brunello Clone” Sangiovese is, in my opinion the best Sangiovese made to date by Frogtown.  I do want to mention, however, we are making a Kritzer Family Reserve Sangiovese from our 2009 vintage Sangiovese.  This should take nothing away from this wonderful Sangiovese which is more full-bodied and flavorful than our past Sangiovese labeled wines.

Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $18.99.  We have not increased the price of our Sangiovese varietal labeled wine since its release with the 2001 vintage.

2006 FROGTOWN TANNAT– this wine is hitting on “all cylinders.”  A  lovely, deep, powerful Tannat wine.   Enjoy with hearty meat dishes.

Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $29.99.

For those Citizens who are receiving red and white wines, in addition to the First Compulsion and 2006 Tannat, we are including in this shipment the following:

2008 FROGTOWN SAUVIGNON BLANC – Resembling a classic Sancerre wine from France, our Sauvignon Blanc is most satisfying to me as the Sauvignon Blanc grape is one of my favorite white wine grapes.

Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $18.99.

For those Citizens who are receiving all white wines, in addition to the 2008 Frogtown Sauvignon Blanc described immediately above, we are including in this shipment the following two wines:

2008 FROGTOWN VIOGNIER– I think I should be honest and say that Viognier, next to Sauvignon Blanc is my favorite white wine grape.  I take much pride and careful attention to the special wine making protocols Frogtown has developed in making Viognier in stainless steel and oak barrels.  When made in stainless steel, shortly after fermentation is complete, we barrel down this steel Viognier to receive the benefit of 8 to 10 months of oak aging.

Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $24.99.

2008 FROGTOWN MRV – I have been pleased with the reception this wine has received in the tasting room and in distribution.  This is truly a unique wine, as only a few wineries have access to all three of the Rhone Valley whites (Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier).  A  full-bodied white wine which can be paired with acidic foods from salads and pasta to lemon seafood dishes.

Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $21.99.

Best to all,

Craig

Dear Frogtown Citizen:

Vineyard Update.

To date we have harvested 95.7 tons of wine grapes. All of the white wine grapes have been harvested except for Roussanne. On Saturday, September 25, with the harvest of Tannat, we completed the harvest of all of our Tannat, Touriga, Norton, Merlot, Malbec, Petit Verdot, and Sangiovese. We still have on the vine approximately 40% of our Cabernet Franc and 80% of our Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The total tonnage harvested to date is 95.7 tons. I estimate we have 5 tons of Cabernet Franc, 15 tons of Cabernet Sauvignon, and 2.5 tons of Roussanne left to harvest. If my estimate is fairly accurate, 2010 harvest will result in about 120 tons of wine grapes.

For most of the spring and early summer, we received afternoon showers frequently. I was not pleased. On August 22, 2010, after receiving 4 inches of rain on August 21st, the weather changed materially for the better. From the 22nd of August until the 25th of September, we received ONLY about an inch of rain during this 33 day period (most of it on September 11). From September 17th until September 25th we harvested most of our red grapes.

This change in weather, coupled with extensive thinning of our crop throughout the year resulted in Frogtown achieving the highest Brix level ever for our red grapes. Brix is the measure of soluble solids (sugar represents over 95% of such solids). Merlot measured 25.4 Brix, Sangiovese 23.9 Brix, Petit Verdot 24.8 Brix, Malbec 24.2 Brix, Norton 25.2 Brix, Touriga 25.5 Brix, and Tannat 25.3 Brix. It takes approximately 22.5 Brix to produce wine having a 12.5% alcohol level. While the French do not desire to make wine having an alcohol content higher than 12.5%, new world premium wine makers customarily desire alcohol levels from 13% to 14%. With the sugar levels achieved this year, we reach the 13% to 14% level without the need to chaptalize (adding sugar to grape juice before fermentation for the sole purpose of increasing the resulting alcohol level in the finished wine). In most wine making regions of the world adding sugar BEFORE fermentation is not prohibited.

Today, it is September 28th and the weather is beautiful. It rained a total of 3.25 inches on the 26th and 27th of September. The weatherman promises rainless days for the next 10 days so we will just let the remaining fruit hang until the level of maturity is what we want.

Winery Update.

As soon as harvest is completed, I plan on bottling a number of club wines, including (i) a varietal 2008 Touché, (ii) a West Coast East Coast Malbec, (iii) a West Coast East Coast Chardonnay, and (iii) a varietal 2009 Petit Verdot. We will also complete and bottle most of our 2008 red wines and our 2009 white wines. On November 12, 2010, we will release Compulsion, the East Coast West Coast answer to Convergence.

Gold in California and Finger Lakes Wine Competitions. For the first time ever we received three GOLD medals for RED wine in California. Shot Gun, First Reload won Gold at San Diego International, the 2006 Frogtown Touché and the 2006 Frogtown Norton won Gold at Long Beach Gran Cru competition. Also, significantly, 2008 Audacity won Silver at the San Francisco International Competition. The 2008 Chardonnay won Silver at Long Beach and a Bronze at San Francisco. It is a significant achievement for any winery to receive a medal in California for Chardonnay (the land of Chardonnay).

As an Attachment to this e-mail you will find a list of major competition medals received this year. We still have the Jefferson Cup competition, an invited competition, scheduled for November of this year.

September 11th Harvest Day for Citizens

Experience Harvest with Craig was a rewarding day for me, as I was able to spend a whole day with a number of our Citizens, harvesting, wine tasting at the bar (with my full commentary on each of our wines presently on the tasting lists), barrel tasting in the wine cellar, and finally at dinner. Thank you Citizens that participated in this event which resulted in a $350.00 contribution to Children of the
Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund in memory of our fellow Americans who lost their lives during the horrific events on September 11th in New York City.

On-line access for our Citizens.

For those Citizens who have not established your on-line access
to our website www.frogtownwine.com please use the following directions:

You can use our website to update your Citizens information, to order wine or to view our Calendar of Events.

To log in to your account, visit “Shop” on the home page at the end of the red banner. There is a box on the lower right hand side that says: “WINE CLUB LOGIN”. Go down to where it says Secure Login and click there. Now you will need to login. Log in using your Citizens number. If you don’t know your Citizens number you can use the box entitled HELP on the left to recover your information or you can email Cydney atcydney@frogtownwine.com and she will send it to you.

The password is frogtown.

You will then be logged in to the secure wine shop where you can modify your profile, view your previous orders and order wine OF COURSE!!!

To check on upcoming events click on “Calendar” in the red banner. You can view all upcoming events.

As Citizens, please make sure to check our calendar, from time to time, for events specifically intended for Citizens.

We have just scheduled a Citizens “Cellar Rat” day at Frogtown on November 13th in conjunction with our Dinner on that night. Please check the calendar to find out more information about Cellar Rat day.

For those Citizens who are receiving all red wines or white and red wines, the following two red wines are included in your shipment:

2006 FROGTOWN SANGIOVESE – As I indicated above under the vineyard update, we have another year of superior Sangiovese. This makes four years in a row (excluding 2007 when we lost all of our Sangiovese to a frost) that we have harvested what I consider very good to superior Sangiovese. Cydney has reminded me on a number of occasions how I struggled with growing Sangiovese in the first four years of the vineyard. There is no substitute for the experience you gain growing vinifera on the Dahlonega plateau. I am just elated that we have Sangiovese in our vineyards. We selected the “Brunello Clone” Sangiovese de Grosso in choosing our vines in 1999. Little did I know this is probably the most difficult Clone of Sangiovese to grow in humid conditions. A distinct feature of the Brunello Clone is the large berry and clusters it produces. We have weighed Sangiovese clusters that were over a pound. In Tuscany, as in Dahlonega, the weather conditions and canopy management must give Sangiovese the utmost sun penetration and yields must be strictly regulated depending on the climactic conditions of the growing year.

The 2006 Frogtown Sangiovese has improved in the bottle by gaining weight and complexity. This 2006 Sangiovese is 90% Sangiovese and 10% Cabernet Franc. Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $18.99

2005 FROGTOWN PROPAGANDA –2005 Frogtown Propaganda contains 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Not much I can say to those of you who have enjoyed a bottle of this wine in the past. I rate this Vintage of Propaganda as the third best red wine ever produced by Frogtown (I rate the 2004 Kritzer Family Reserve Cabernet our number one rated release and the 2002 Frogtown Propaganda as our number two rated release). If you have a different opinion, I would love for you to share your opinion with me. Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $33.99 – the original release price.

I have some additional cases of 2005 Propaganda for sale now solely for our Citizens.

For those Citizens who are receiving all red wines, we are including in this shipment the following:

2006 FROGTOWN TOUCHE – getting the Gold Medal this year for our 2006 Frogtown Touché was very rewarding. For the price of this bottle, which has not increased since the first Touché was made in 2001, Touché has been and hopefully will continue to be the best buy at Frogtown. I take special care in blending this wine. I have more “trial” blends with Touché each year than any other wine we make. The inclusion of four different grapes in this wine assists tremendously in my ability to make a recognizable “Touché” each year. Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $21.99

For those Citizens who are receiving red and white wines, we are including in this shipment the following:

2008 FROGTOWN STEEL CHARDONNAY – Before harvest, Empire Distributors, called and asked me to include our Steel Chardonnay as one of our distributed wines. I could not be more pleased, as I was contemplating whether or not I should continue to make two separate Chardonnays. So “Steel” is saved by the Distributor. We have fermented a Steel Chardonnay this year and will continue to do so each year thereafter. This French Chablis-like wine is cold fermented resulting in a remarkably rich and round white wine notwithstanding the absence of oak and malolatic fermentation. Un-oaked Chardonnays are more food friendly than the more ubiquitous barrel fermented Chardonnays.
Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $19.99.

For those Citizens who are receiving all white wines, in addition to the 2008 Frogtown Steel Chardonnay described immediately above, we are including in this shipment the following two wines:

2008 FROGTOWN CHARDONNAY – this is a special bottle of Chardonnay. It is the BEST barrel fermented Chardonnay bottled to date. My tasting notes on this wine read as follows: Fermented in 100% new oak (70% French and 30% tight grain North Central American) this Chardonnay is complex, rich and layered. The front palette and nose consists of citrus flavors with hints of apple and pear. The mid palette adds soft nuances of melon and fig and well integrated rich creamy oak flavors. This great Chardonnay has a long round supple finish with clinging acidity that adds to the enjoyment of chicken, fish, cheese, pasta, and salad pairings. Major Silver medal at Long Beach, CA Gran Cru 2010 Wine Competition and Bronze medal at the 2010 San Francisco International Wine Competition. Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $24.99.

2008 FROGTOWN VINEAUX BLANC – Similar to entering a Chardonnay in a California completion is the entering of a Seyval based wine in the Finger Lakes Wine Competition, a major East Coast Competition. Seyval is virtually not grown in the West. However, on the East Coast Seyval is grown in every viticultural area. Up against a substantial amount of Seyval wines, winning a Gold Medal, as our 2008 Vineaux Blanc did, at the Finger Lakes competition is also very gratifying. My tasting notes on this wine read as follows: Seyval Blanc and Viognier are fermented in Steel andOak barrels. This bright crisp white wine is a refreshing combination of pineapple, citrus with a touch of toast. A small portion of the wine is put through malolatic fermentation. Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $14.99

DINNING AT THE FOUR SEASON’S PARK 75 RESTAURANT – A week ago, Cydney and I enjoyed a bottle of 2006 Frogtown Touché at the Four Seasons Hotel on 14th Street in Atlanta. This hotel is Atlanta’s only five-star, five-diamond luxury hotel. We feel very fortunate to have our Touché and Vineaux Blanc on the wine menu. The food was excellent and compared to restaurants we have dined at recently in Atlanta, New York, and Las Vegas, very reasonable. Please give this restaurant a visit and enjoy dining in a restaurant with great food and atmosphere with a bottle of Frogtown wine.

Best to all,

Craig

Dear Frogtown Citizen:

Vineyard Update.

Winter of 2009-2010 has been the coldest winter resulting in the most delayed bud break in the eleven years we have grow grapes on the Dahlonega Plateau. As I indicated in my February 2010 Notes this can be “good” or “bad” depending how the cold has affected the vines.

I am relieved to report I see only the good results so far this spring of this very cold winter. In fact the condition of the vines this spring reminds me of the early years in establishing the vineyard. Perhaps the cold took its toll on the lingering fungal diseases and bad insects over-wintering in the vineyard. The vines appear “relieved” from such diseases and insects allowing their full expression of renewal this spring!

As I write these Notes the vine are completing their flower/fruit set development stage with good results. We have experienced very manageable amounts of rain and substantial amounts of sun with below normal temperatures. All good signs.

Helen Tasting Room.

For those of you who have recently seen our tasting room site in Helen you should have noticed our progress. We have cleared trees from this very steep inclined property and commenced constructing our tasting room.

We are using all trees cleared from the site either in the form of posts and beams to be incorporated in the Helen Tasting Room or processed into fire wood which we use extensively to combat Spring frosts. A lot of cut timber has been placed on the vineyard property waiting for processing at a later date.

My plans were to plant the native American Norton vines at the Helen vineyard. Norton vines are much easier to grow and maintain than vinifera (the premium grape vine variety grown principally at the Dahlonega vineyard). What benefits Norton delivers in the vineyard is “taken back” in the winery, as Norton wines are more difficult to make into premium Frogtown wines.

After the Helen property was cleared, it was too hard to resist growing vinifera vines on two premium grape growing areas. With the prospects of planting vinifera in Helen, I decided to continue the development of interesting and different wines to be offered to our Citizens on an almost exclusive basis. This trend of offering new and different wines to wine club members and in tasting rooms has been led by vintners in the Paso Robles and Santa Barbara areas in California

Frogtown was at the head of this trend in past years when we planted the little known and cultivated Petit Manseng (white wine grape grown in the same region of France that grows Tannat), Picpoul (high acid white wine grape grown in the Rhone Valley region of France), Muscato (Italian white wine grape usually made in a dessert or sparkling wine style), and Petit Verdot (a French Bordeaux grape which is rapidly decreasing in importance in this region of France)

I have chosen the Italian varieties Teroldego, Greco di Tufo, and Vernaccia for planting in Helen. We also decided to plant in a portion of the remaining available area at the Dahlonega vineyard a very small trial of the noble Italian red grape Nebbiolo. Oh yes, this means Frogtown is now growing 25 different wine grape varieties.

Teroldego is a very deep colored red wine grape grown in the Italian region known for growing Pinot Gris. Teroldego wines somewhat resemble Zinfandel wines with less spice.
Creco di Tufo and Vernaccia are Italian white wine grapes that make rather full-bodied wines. I am excited to plant additional white wine grapes that can be made into full round white wines.
Nebbiolo is the red wine grape grown in the Piedmont region of Italy. I have only planted a small amount of Nebbiolo due to its wide-spread reputation of being very difficult to grow in other regions of Italy, let alone in “new-world” wine growing regions.

I will keep y’all posted on our experience with these grapes. We are probably four years away from selling any wines made from these grapes.

Gold in San Diego and Finger Lakes Wine Competitions.

Frogtown enjoyed wonderful results from its first two wine competitions of 2010.

We submitted nine wines to the Finger Lakes Competition (a major competition with over seventy percent of the competition wines coming from California). We received medals for ALL wines submitted; a nine for nine batting average (one Gold, four Silver, and four Bonze medals). THE MOST NOTABLE AWARDED WINE WAS OUR 2008 VINEAUX BLANC WHICH RECEIVED A GOLD MEDAL AT FINGER LAKES.

We entered this year’s San Diego International Wine Competition for the first time. We are most pleased to announce that our Shotgun, First Reload, received a GOLD Medal and our 2006 Tannat received a SILVER Medal at this competition!!!

Receiving a gold medal at a California competition for an East Coast red wine is most gratifying and speaks volumes for the ability to ripen red wine grapes at our Dahlonega vineyard. We are including in this shipment to red only and red and white Citizens a bottle of the award-winning Shotgun.
On-line access for our Citizens.

We are aware that some Citizens have had difficulty establishing and logging on to the Frogtown web site.

Here’s how to use our website www.frogtownwine.com.

You can use our website to update your Citizens information, to order wine or to view our Calendar of Events.

To log in to your account, visit “Shop” on the home page at the end of the red banner. There is a box on the lower right hand side that says: “WINE CLUB LOGIN”. Go down to where it says Secure Login and click there.

Now you will need to login.

Log in using your Citizens number. If you don’t know your Citizens number you can use the box entitled HELP on the left to recover your information or you can email Cydney at cydney@frogtownwine.com and she will send it to you.

The password is frogtown.

You will then be logged in to the secure wine shop where you can modify your profile, view your previous orders and order wine OF COURSE!!!

To check on upcoming events click on “Calendar” in the red banner. You can view all upcoming events. Note that when Outdoor Tasting Room Open is posted, that means the main Winery is closed for a private event, but the outdoor patio tasting room is open. If you are picking up a wine club shipment on one of those days, just come to the side door to the right of the building and we will help you.

As Citizens, please make sure to check our calendar, from time to time, for events specifically intended for Citizens. Bastille Day is coming up in July (we celebrate Bastille Day (July 14th) on a day closest to the actual date. This year we will celebrate you, our Citizens, on Sunday, July 11th with a Brunch followed by barrel tastings for those Citizen’s attending Brunch.

On September 11th we are offering a very special event to our Citizens. For those Citizens attending the Harvest Dinner on Saturday, 9/11, we are offering Experience Harvest with Craig.

Over the years many of you have inquired about observing a harvest at Frogtown. This is now your opportunity to pick grapes and see the harvested grapes being processed.

If sufficient tonnage is harvested, I also plan on offering this wine made from these grapes exclusively to our Citizens on a “future offer basis” which shall also be specially labeled commemorating the inaugural “Experience Harvest with Craig Event.” I will sign all bottles.

Please give us your commitment to attend this harvest event as early as possible. Depending upon your response, we may need to limit the number of Citizens attending. This is a Citizens only event, so please understand we cannot accept non-Citizens at the Harvest, but the Harvest Dinner will be open to non-Citizens, again depending upon your response to this event.

It is most important to Cydney and me that no Citizen is hurt during this event. Harvesting grapes is not without risk. Walking over uneven ground, cuts, insect stings and bites are a few ways a person harvesting grapes can get hurt. We will make special accommodations for those of you who do not want to experience harvest to its fullest extent but still desire to observe the harvesting of grapes and wine making.

Copies of all Notes from the Winemaker.

Sometimes Citizens pick-up their Wine Club shipments without receiving a copy of my current Notes from the Winemaker. Like all authors, I think a lot about what I write and do not want any Citizen (heaven forbid) missing the opportunity of reading my Notes. Soon you will be able to access present and past Notes from the Winemaker by clicking on a separate button on our web site!

For those Citizens who are receiving all red wines or white and red wines, the following two wines (rather than three wine) are included in your shipment (unless you e-mailed Cydney otherwise):

2006 FROGTOWN FAMILY RESERVE MERLOT. Wow, only the SECOND FAMILY RESERVE from the first six Frogtown vintages! This is a BIG Merlot with loads of black (blackberry, blueberry, and cassis) fruit, uniquely found in Frogtown Merlot, coupled with hints of chocolate and tobacco. This Merlot is a wonderful example of our wine-making style of mouth feel with supple, yet firm, complex tannin structure. While very drinkable now, this wine will improve in the bottle over the next year and deliver fresh Frogtown Merlot flavors and mouth feel for many years thereafter – $48.99 bottle.

FROGTOWN SHOTGUN, FIRST RELOAD. A two-vintage blend of 2005 and 2006Tannat (40%), 2006 Cabernet Franc (20%), and 2006 Touriga National (40%), Shotgun is a BIG, bold, yet supple, red wine. Bright fruity flavors develop on the pallet to an intense, chewy ripe finish, making this wine both age-worthy and enjoyable now. GOLD MEDAL WINNER AT THE SAN DIEGO INTERNATIONAL WINE COMPETITION – $24.95 per bottle.

For those Citizens who are receiving all white wines, we are including in this shipment the following wines:

2008 FROGTOWN VINEAUX BLANC – $14.99 per bottle. Seyval Blanc and Viognier are fermented in Steel and Oak barrels. This bright crisp white wine is a refreshing combination of pineapple, citrus with a touch of toast. A small portion of the wine is put through malolatic fermentation. As state above, winner of a GOLD medal at this year’s Finger Lakes Wine Competition!

2006 FROGTOWN INCLINATION – $18.99 per bottle. Chardonnay, Viognier, and Vidal are fermented in French oak barrels to deliver ripe flavors of citrus, apple and toast. This very distinctive full-bodied white wine blend is only made by Frogtown and enjoys the recognition as one our most awarded and best-selling white wines.

2008 FROGTOWN VIOGNIER – $24.99 per bottle. Our 100% Viognier is a rich, luxurious white wine. Frogtown takes much care and pride in growing classic Viognier grapes which impart flavors of flowers, honey, peach, melon, and kiwi fruit integrated in a well-balanced full-bodied white wine that is wonderful with fresh fruits, cheese, and spicy foods. A perfect wine to pair with sushi.

Best to all,

Craig

Dear Frogtown Citizen:

Vineyard Update.

It has been a very cold, cold, winter. Frogtown is experiencing the coldest winter in the eleven years of grape growing on the Dahlonega Plateau.

If the temperature does not get lower than 10 Degrees Fahrenheit, it would be unusual to have material bud necrosis or vine death. We had a few days when the temperature was less than 10 Degrees in the early morning. As the morning progressed, the temperature rose into the 20’s or 30’s. This pattern of single digit to rising temperatures should not cause a problem. As we prune, we are examining the buds to determine if any necrosis is present. Only after the vines bud out in late March or early April will we know for sure if we escaped material cold weather damage this winter.
On the positive side, the cold temperatures also kill lingering fungus, bacteria, viruses, and harmful insects (their lava or grubs).

Pruning is almost complete as I write these Notes.

Helen Tasting Room.

We are a few weeks away from breaking ground on Frogtown’s Helen Georgia Tasting Room. Cydney and I are excited about the expansion or our North Georgia wine tasting activities. We have designed the outside of this tasting room to resemble the single pitched roofs over the winery portion of our Dahlonega facility. The Tasting Room will be built into a hill on the property and have the appearance of a wine cave in the interior. The Helen Tasting Room will be another Frogtown facility incorporating interesting architectural features in a modern motif with a sprinkling of antique furniture and rugs.

2009 Vintage Wines. I continue to be very pleased with the wines from our 2009 harvest.

As many of you know from our conversations at the winery, I made a farming decision to reduce by 50% the fruit on our vines by cutting clusters off the vines to the ground early in the 2009 growing season. This decision proved to be “just what the vintage required,” as 90% of our grapes ripened and were harvested before September 16, 2009. From the 16th through the 25th of September, we experienced 22 inches of rain in a non-stop downpour. The September 16th to the 25th period is usually when we harvest a large portion of our red fruit! While the 2009 harvest came up almost 50 tons shy, we will trade quality for tonnage (quantity) all the time. Look for a wonderful and powerful 2009 Sangiovese. I am contemplating putting this Sangiovese in a Reserve bottle to sell for around $25.00. It is the best Sangiovese we ever harvested at Frogtown!

Dessert Wines.

Unless we make a dessert wine, all Frogtown labeled wines are fermented completely dry. This fermentation protocol is the law in the Bordeaux Region of France. Violating this protocol will result in the loss of the privilege of making wine in this Region of France.

In 2004, we made our first Cachet wine. Cachet is made from 100% Vidal grapes. Vidal is the “ice wine” grape grown in Ontario, Canada, and the Finger Lakes region of New York.
The federal labeling rules require a wine producer to state in its label approval application that the grapes froze on the vine in order to qualify for labeling a wine an ice wine. I believe hell would freeze before a Georgia producer could harvest frozen grapes in Georgia that have not been spoiled by rot. Since Frogtown believes in absolute truth in labeling, Cachet is not referred to as an “ice wine” on its label. We make Cachet as if it were an ice wine by a freezing process employed after the grapes are harvested. This after harvest freezing process serves the same function of harvesting the frozen grapes (i.e. the concentration of sugars and flavors).

I had thought extensively about producing a red dessert wine in an “ice wine” style. In 2008, we put Tannat grapes through fermentation protocols enabling the concentration of sugars and flavors in a manner similar to the protocols we use with our Vidal grapes in creating Cachet. I was very satisfied with the results.

The 2008 Grandeur, the federally trademarked name we gave to this wine, has been extremely well-received. While the process is long and painful, this red dessert wine delivers a most satisfying dessert wine experience. Like all premium dessert wines, Grandeur is sweet on the beginning and mid pallet, with a remarkable dry wine finish. Frogtown Grandeur is value priced at $22.99 for a 375ml bottle of dessert wine. See the description below for more information on how Frogtown Grandeur is made.

For those Citizens who are receiving all red wines, the following wines are included in your shipment:
2006 Frogtown Touché. We are giving our Citizens a “sneak preview” of the 2006 Touché. We still have about 30 cases of the gold medal winning 2005 Touché to sell before we release the 2006 Touché. We are in no hurry to release the 2006 vintage of Touché. With the exception of the 2006 Touché, all Frogtown 2006 reds have been released. All of the ultra premium 2006 reds (Family Reserve Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat, and Touché), were cellared for at least 30 months in a combination of new and used oak.

I thought the 2005 Touché was the best Touché made when I bottled this wine in 2008. With the imprimatur of being awarded a Gold Medal, Best-in-Class Designation from the Atlantic Seaboard 2008 Competition, the 2005 Touché did not let me down. With this in mind, I think the 2006 Touché is even better than the gold award-winning 2005 Touché. Competition results this year shall determine if professional wine judges at major competitions agree with my assessment. Retail price (has not changes since the inaugural 2001 Touché Vintage) – $21.99 per bottle

2006 Frogtown Tannat. Like all the respective 2006 premium Frogtown red wines, this 2006 Tannat is at the top of all the previous Frogtown vintages. I believe this vintage of our special varietal Tannat wine rivals the wonderful 2002 introductory vintage of this Southwestern regional French grape. Huge earthy black fruit with black pepper spice accents delivers an “in your face meat-taming wine” that has made Frogtown Tannat a favorite red wine of our Frogafiles. Retail price – $29.99 per bottle.

2008 Frogtown Grandeur. Unless an “all red” Citizen responded to Cydney’s e-mail and directed us to ship a red dry wine, an all red Citizen is receiving with this shipment the inaugural 2008 Frogtown Grandeur. This wine is made from 100% Tannat Grapes which were crushed and cold soaked for one month before pressed off and frozen for three more months in stainless steel and then slowly fermented at 50 Degrees. We started with 4,000 liters of juice and skins, only to end up with less than 2,000 liters of concentrated juice when we started fermentation. The Brix level went from 23.8 to 28.3 during the period of freezing concentration of the juice. This red dessert wine is wonderfully sweet with a dry finish on the pallet. Enjoy room temperature with soft artisan cheeses or with dark chocolate. Retail price for this 375ml bottle is $22.99.

For those Citizens who are receiving mixed red and white wines, in addition to the 2006 Touché and the 2006 Tannat described above, we are including in this shipment the following barrel fermented Chardonnay:
2008 FROGTOWN CHARDONNAY is the BEST Chardonnay Frogtown has produced to date according to Jordan Fiorentini, former Frogtown Winemaker and now Director of Winemaking at the Sonoma County, California, Chalk Hill Winery (and the mother of our granddaughter, Morgane). Fermented in 100% new oak (70% French and 30% tight grain North Central American) this Chardonnay is complex, rich and layered. The front pallet and nose consists of citrus flavors with hints of apple and pear. The mid pallet adds soft nuances of melon and fig and well integrated rich creamy oak flavors. This great Chardonnay has a long round supple finish with clinging acidity that adds to the enjoyment of chicken, fish, cheese, pasta, and salad pairings. Retail Price – $24.99.

For those Citizens who are receiving “all white” wines, in addition to the barrel fermented 2008 Chardonnay described above, we are including in this shipment the following wines:

2008 Frogtown Steel Chardonnay was fermented at 50 degrees in stainless steel (never saw the inside of an oak barrel) for three months. This crisp, acid-rich Chardonnay has citrus flavors complementing a green apple nose and finish. This wine, like French Chablis, is remarkably rich and round notwithstanding the absence of oak aging. Frogtown Steel Chardonnay is especially food friendly. Retail Price – $19.99.

It is not only fun, but educational to compare both 2008 Chardonnays. The difference in the fermentation and aging process results in two almost completely different wines

2006 Frogtown Cachet won a gold medal at the 2009 Jefferson Cup competition. The 2006 Frogtown Cachet is Frogtown’s premium dessert wine made in the style of an ice wine from Frogtown Vidal grapes. Cachet is a classic dessert wine with the presence of residual sugar in the front of the pallet and a relatively dry finish without a syrupy aftertaste. Enjoy this wine, very cold, with soft and flavorful artisan cheeses or dark chocolate.

We are enclosing with these Notes the Frogtown Calendar for 2010. Look over the dates and events carefully. There are a number of events PLANNED SOLELY FOR OUR CITIZENS.

I will provide additional information in my Notes accompanying the May 2010, shipment on (i) the July 10th Bastille Day Celebration providing barrel tastings and other cellar activities for Frogtown Citizens attending the Viva La Frogtown Dinner and (ii) the Harvest Experience with Craig for Frogtown Citizens attending the Harvest Dinner on September 11, 2010.

Best to all,

Craig

Dear Frogtown Citizen:

Vineyard Update

This is the time of the year Frogtown begins the process of pruning all 22,000 grape vines. Like many aspects in viticulture and winemaking, pruning is as much an art as it is a science. I would personally miss the opportunity to stand before a vine and make decisions on what is the best pruning strategy for the vine for the coming year. Frogtown is blessed to have very skilled vineyard workers to accomplish this pruning task which will extend from December, 2009, to March, 2010. Over ninety-five (95%) percent of the growth during 2009 will be eliminated by pruning all shoots to two buds. The quantity of fruit at bud break 2010 directly relates to the amount of sun andweather patterns experienced in 2009. While there was sufficient sun in 2009, the quantity of rain at the vineyard was more that twice the rain received in 2003, the next most rainy vintage. Only at bud break (late March or early April) will we know whether or not 2009’s rains will be a factor in the fruitfulness of the vines in 2010.

Introduction of 2008 Audacity and the Sangiovese grape.

We are including with this shipment a bottle of Frogtown 2008 Audacity. This wine is a blend of 55% Sangiovese and 45% Cabernet Sauvignon.

We have grown Sangiovese from the commencement of the vineyard. It is an extremely difficult grape to grow in our humid environment. I probably spend more time on growing Sangiovese than any of Frogtown’s 21 different grape varieties. Frogtown planted the Di Grosso clone of Sangiovese; the same clone grown in the Montalcino area of Tuscany where the long-lived Brunello di Montalcino wines are produced. The Di Grosso clone is the largest of the Sangiovese clones with very thin skins. The size of this grape coupled with its thin skins makes the grape very susceptible to disease. Also, the higher ratio of juice and pulp to skin we experience with Sangiovese makes it a challenge to get good color in our Sangiovese based wines. Notwithstanding the above, I have learned to deal with these negative viticultural attributes of Sangiovese and during the last five years delivered very good to excellent Sangiovese grapes to our winery. In fact, 2009 is the best Sangiovese grapes we have ever harvested at Frogtown. If the 2009 Sangiovese wine develops well in the cellar over the next 18 to 24 months, we plan on bottling a special 2009 Family Reserve Sangiovese which will sell for around $25.00 a bottle.

I have been told by a number of people that Frogtown Sangiovese wines deliver more of the classic Tuscan flavors and texture than many of the California Sangiovese labeled wines, including, in most vintages, the Atlas Peak Sangiovese. Atlas Peak is owned by the famous Tuscan Antinori family. The influence of the Antinori family to the wines of Tuscany is like comparing the influence of the Mondavi family to wines of California. Some of the most wonderful Chianti and Super Tuscan wines I have ever had the pleasure to taste were made by the Antinori family. Our daughter, Jordan (Director of Winemaking at Chalk Hill, Sonoma County) was selected, upon her graduation from UC Davis, to intern at Antinori in Tuscany.

It is my belief that Sangiovese “needs” more humidity than available in California to develop complexity and the classic bright cherry/black cherry earthy flavors in classic Sangiovese. The cloudy and rainy days we experience, from time to time, during the growing season in Northeast Georgia, gives our Sangiovese grapes “time-off” from the summer sun and heat. Many of the viticultural areas in California where Sangiovese is grown may produce excessive sun and heat during the day preventing Sangiovese grapes from developing these classic earthly cherry flavors.

With the sole exception of 2003, when no Frogtown red fruit was bottled under a Frogtown label (I created our second label, Thirteenth Colony, as a “home” for our 2003 red fruit), Frogtown has made a varietal Sangiovese in each of its first six released vintages.

Our Audacity wine was “born” during the wonderful 2008 harvest. As our Sangiovese grapes were being harvested, I decided to make a “Super Tuscan” style wine from our premium Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. With more intense fruit and complexity than our varietal Sangiovese wines, Audacity delivers on the cherry flavors of the Sangiovese grape and the complete pallet experience one can only receive from premium ripe Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.

Throughout Tuscany, a number of the Chianti producers have decided to make Sangiovese blends with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Syrah grapes. These specially blended wines are referred to in the wine business as “Super Tuscan” wines. In producing Super Tuscan wines, Tuscan vintners have been freed of the requirement to blend from 10 to 30 percent of white wine into Sangiovese red wine in order to legally refer to such wine as Chianti.

For those of you that are receiving all red wines or red and white wines, we have included the following wines in this fourth Wine Club shipment:

2008 Frogtown Audacity -described above. Wine Club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $25.99.

2006 Frogtown Cabernet Sauvignon -The 2006 Vintage is only the third Frogtown vintage of a varietal Cabernet Sauvignon wine! This bottle of Cabernet reminds me of a premium Bordeaux Medoc wine from the commune of St. Julien; and particularly the 1982 Bordeaux Vintage. Yes, I am old enough to have purchased Bordeaux vintages upon release in quantity from the 1978 vintage until the time Frogtown was founded in 1999. This very supple Frogtown Cabernet wine will increase in intensity as it ages in the bottle. Lovely notes of chocolate, vanilla, and dark cherry fruit complement a wonderful finish. This is a GREAT food wine to enjoy with your favorite steak. Wine Club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $29.99.

For our Citizens receiving all red the third bottle included in this shipment is:

2006 Frogtown Sangiovese- I could not resist the opportunity to include our current 2006 varietal Sangiovese along with the 2008 Audacity. Not many wineries make Sangiovese wines let alone two wines containing a majority of Sangiovese grapes. We blended approximately 10% of our 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon grapes into this 2006 Sangiovese. This Sangiovese is a light to medium bodied red wine with distinctive cherry flavors with an earthly fruity finish. It is one of the best wines to enjoy with any Salmon dish. Wine club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $18.99.

For our Citizens receiving red and white, the third bottle included in this shipment is:

Frogtown 2008 Steel Chardonnay – Fermented at 50 Degrees F in stainless steel (never saw the inside of an oak barrel) for three months, this wonderful crisp, acid rich Chardonnay has citrus flavors complementing a green apple nose and finish. This French Chablis-like Chardonnay is remarkably rich and round notwithstanding the absence of oak aging. Frogtown Steel Chardonnay is a special food friendly wine which sells out quickly when available. This is a very good example of why Chardonnay is the “queen of grapes.” Wine Club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $19.99.

For those of you that are receiving all white wines, we have included the following wines in this fourth wine club shipment:

2008 Frogtown Steel Chardonnay – described above

2008 Frogtown Vineaux Blanc – we have just released this white wine, as our supply of 2006 Vineaux Blanc became exhausted. We have made Vineaux Blanc in every vintage except 2007 when we lost almost 90% of our fruit to a three day freeze occurring one day after Easter 2007. The Seyval and Viognier grapes in this wine were fermented in Stainless Steel and in Oak barrels. This bright crisp white wine is a refreshing combination of pineapple and citrus, with a touch of toast. A small portion of the wine is put trough malolatic fermentation to assist in the smooth long finish for which this wine has become known. Wine Club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $14.99.

2008 Frogtown Viognier – we have not yet officially released this vintage of our classic Viognier wine. I would suggest keeping this bottle outside of any wine cellar or stand-alone wine cabinet at standard room temperature for one to two months before you enjoy what is inside this bottle. I just adore Viognier. I am very particular on the growing, fermentation, and clarifying of our Viognier wines. Always made in relatively small amounts, this Viognier is a worthily successor to the wonderful 2004 Viognier (Georgia’s only GOLD medal in a major California competition) and 2006 Viognier. I have coined the phrase that “Viognier is the red wine drinkers white wine” for good reason. In enjoying this wine, you will notice the mouth feel (particularly the viscosity) is similar to a red wine. This complex white wine delivers kiwi fruit, melon, pineapple, and peach flavors and a smooth and long-lasting finish. Wine Club members enjoy a 20% discount from Retail Price of $24.99.

Cost of Wines After 20% Discount and Including Shipping and Sales Tax.

For red only Citizens the charge for the enclosed wines is $76.17; for our red and white wine Citizens, the charge for the enclosed wines is $77.02; and for white only Citizens, the charge for the enclosed wines is $63.33.

Your next shipment will be in February, 2010.

Look for, and please purchase, Frogtown wines at restaurants and package stores in Georgia.
Best to all,

Craig Kritzer