Spring is In the Air

   Spring is in the air! How can you tell? Look around the farm. Garland and Joe and Chuck are spreading fertilizer on the fields. Winter pruning of the vineyard has been completed. Another acre of ground in the new vineyard has been prepared for new vines, which will arrive on March 19 and be planted that next week. The new acre is set up with posts and trellises, all in nice symmetrical lines. Joe is making sure that all the tractors work, and pretty soon the planter will be removed from the shed.

   What do you like best about the spring? Think about it. I like the freshness of the air, the promise of a great crop of wheat (and corn and soybeans and grapes). I like sitting on the porch of the winery in a rocking chair and sipping a cold glass of Vidal Blanc. I like sandals (hate shoes!) and watching the children play in the winery playground on weekends with parents relaxing on the porch. I like putting away jackets and sweaters.  Soon……………..

    With spring comes a whole new calendar of events at Layton’s Chance. Kicking off the spring season, we have our Easter egg hunt on Palm Sunday in the afternoon starting at 2. View of the Vineyard takes place the day before with everyone getting a chance to plant their own grapevine. Happy hour will continue through the spring with the opportunity to sit outside on warm nights, and enjoy the sunset over the vineyard.

   By the way, Jello shots were a great hit at Friday night’s Happy Hour, and JohnE Wa2C rocked the crowd with his famous words “Sa - lute!” to which everyone raises their glasses and joins in a toast to music and wine. See you at the winery! Help us say good-bye to winter and hello to the warm days of spring.

Love, wine, and Jello Shots?!?!

Happy Valentine’s Day from all of us here at Layton’s Chance! Our Sweetheart Dinner on

Saturday night was a lovely event with twinkle lights on the trees and a special gourmet meal

from Suicide Bridge Restaurant. The room was decorated by Barb Bailey, and the dinner was

served by Barb and Pam Payne. It was truly elegant. The Tidewater Farm Club is coming in on

Valentine’s Day for their regular February meeting and a special Sweetheart luncheon.

Happy Hour is on the agenda for this Friday nite, February 17, with one of our favorite

performers, JohnE Wa2C. We will again offer our lite buffet with chili, salad, and dessert. Come

on out and relax after a tough work week. Teachers..…you know who you are…...come on out

and celebrate TGIF! This week we will feature jello shooters made with wine for $1 each, and

the always-popular wine-a-rita returns from last summer.

Layton’s Chance has an intern, Troy Thomas from Cambridge, who is a junior business and

marketing major from SU. He is working here every Friday, learning how we market our winery

and also becoming familiar with the staff and events, as well as many aspects of wine-making.

Come in and say “hi” to Troy on Fridays. He likes working Happy Hour on Friday nite!

Check out our Facebook page and our website for the most up-to-date details of all our

events!

Happenings at the Winery

Layton's Chance is gearing up to celebrate Valentine's Day in style.  We will host our second annual Sweetheart's dinner on Saturday, February 11th.  Catered by Suicide bridge Restaurant, this dinner will be a romantic event of candlelight, wine, and gourmet food.  Layton's Chance also has special sweetheart deals with a bottle or two of wine, LC logo glasses, and chocolates. Barb has worked hard to put together beautiful bags of goodies.  Check out our website to see how you can also get this package delivered directly to your sweetheart on Valentine's Day. 
Mark your calender for Happy Hour Karaoke on February 3rd with Bob Windosr. He always brings a crowd, and Layton's Chance has a great party on Karaoke nights.  As always we will feature our light fare buffet for $7.00.  Also everybody's favorite, JohnE Wa2C will be back for Happy Hour on February 16th. 
Winter truly is the season of meetings. William and Jen just got back from the American Farm Bureau convention in Hawaii.  Joe and Laura are headed to the National Association of Conservation Districts in Las Vegas.  Farmers meet to discuss important issues in the winter, before field work starts again in the spring.  The trade shows provide an overview of current technology and information, as well as the lastest products and equipment.
On Thursday, Joe, Laura, William, and Jennifer all participated in the Chamber of Commerce Buisness After Hours sponsored by Dorchester County Farm Bureau at Atlantic Tractor.  Approximately 100 farmers and Chamber members gathered to learn how Dorchester County farmers are working to clean up our environment and help save the Bay.
Don't forget your sweetheart! Check out our website for all the details of how Layton's Chance can help you this Valentine's Day!

February is for Wine Lovers

Lots of action at the winery these days! Jen H and Jen-Jen are planning several special events for Valentine's Day, including a Sweetheart Dinner on the 11th, catered by Suicide Bridge Restaurant. Would you like a bottle of wine delivered to your sweetheart on Valentine's Day? Check out our website for personal delivery service on that day! Richard is putting together a special View of the Vineyard this year, probably in March, and he wants everyone who planted a vine for the past three years to come out and locate their vine, pamper it, and even take a picture of it.  Then you can plant a vine for this year's event as well.
Blending trials took place on Monday.  What are blending trials? The staff and special invited guests take an entire afternoon to taste wine ande make decisions about what actual wines will be bottled in April.  William, the winemaker, is the facilitator, and the group on Monday consisted of Jen Layton, Jen Hoffman, Barb Bailey, Pam Payne, and Jim Ogg.  They tasted wines form last year, and compared them to proposed wines for thie year.  Wines examined included Traminette, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, and Rose.  They decided which wines would make it to the bottle on April 4th and 5th, so these blending trials are of vital importance to Layton' s Chance wine lovers.  By the way, our winemaker, William, has begun classes at University of California - Davis to get his wine-making certification.  UC-Davis is the premier location to study wine-making, and we are excited that William will study with the best!
Don't forget Happy Hour on February 3rd with karaoke by Bob Windosr, and Happy Hour on February 17th featuring the return or JohnE Wa2C. Two great evenings of entertainment.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year form the Laytons to all our great friends and family.  We look forward to seeing you all many times in the New Year of 2012.  Today is a typically busy Friday on the farm with Garland and Chuck working on equipment in the farm yard - gotta get ready for field work in the spring. Jennifer H. and Barbara are giving the tasting room a complete renovation.  Richard is helping them with hammer and saw.  Come in and ask him how he used his "Redneck ingenuity" for tasting room displays.  He is very proud of his handiwork.  Claudia is here to open the winery, and when she took one look at the revamping going on in the tasting room, she had one questions, "How"?
Joe is working in the office on production records for the last crop year - records he will use to plan his field work for the year ahead.  Laura is doing payroll and paying bills - as usual! Jon is being a liason between the farm work and the winery work, and generally doing whatever is asked of him. 
As those of you on Facebook know, Joe's cool Red has been an intergral part of Willam and Jen's trip to Hawaii.  Joe's Cool Red has been photographed on Diamond Head and a the Dole plantation, signed by Jack Hanna, and faithfully carried all over Honolulu, Waikiki, and Maui.  He has had a great trip!
As we said in our newsletter, Joe's Cool White is running low.  We bottle again in April, so we might be a few weeks without our companion to Joe's Cool Red.  Those of you who enjoy our "combine" might do well to come in and get a few bottles to stock up.  If you don't know what a combine is, come in any day and ask the server behind the bar. Combines have been very popular, especially during Happy Hour!  See you all soon!

Christmas Traditions

'Twas two days before Christmas and all through the farm and winery, the family is scurrying around trying to get everything done...The farm workers are all off next week, and the winery will be closed for three days for Christmas.  Christmas is a time for family traditions, and the Layton family has plenty of those! Two days before Christmas, Joe and Laura put up the Christmas tree, and Joe bakes his famous chocolate chip Christmas cookies. Joe is the BEST cookie baker in the family.  Christmas Eve is the time when the Layton side of the family gets together for dinner. This year the dinner is at Joe and Laura's house, and approximately forty guests - Joe and his four sisters as well as their children and grandchildren - will gather for dinner and a Chinese gift exchange. There are always lots of kids running around on Christmas Eve.  One Christmas Day, every year, all the Layton's who are home for the holiday go to Claudia's house for an enormous Christmas breakfast.  No one goes away hungry!  Christmas evenging, the Hill side of the family (Laura's family)  gathers at Williams and Jen's house for gift-giveing and more food!  The kids have a busy Christmas of toys and food, and the adults have a busy day of food and more food! 
All the Layton's wish your family a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and we hope you get lots of Joe's Cool Red for Christmas!  If you have not signed up for our New Year's Eve party at the winery, there is still time.  If will be a great way to welcome in 2012.

Preparing for the Big Day

What are we doing at the winery to get ready for Christmas? The company Christmas party, organized by Barb and Richard, was last night, and employees of both Lazy Day Farms and Layton's Chance Winery had a great time.  I am sure you will see some videos of the karaoke on Facebook in teh next few days. Everyone got a "gift" which fit some aspect of their personality, as we celebrated into the night Layton's Chance wine and Bob windor's karaoke.  This morning we are getting ready for a day full of Christmas parties, and all the last minute shoppers that will be out this last week before Christmas.  We are the perfect place for those hard-to-find gifts, as Barb can make a basket to fit any request - it doesn't even have to have wine (although we hope it does!) Don't forget to think ahead to New Year's Eve. We are planning a great dinner with food and wine pairings, and then an evening of music to ring in teh New Year with Mike Elzey and the Mayhem Band - everybody's favorite! Take some time to relax in the next week, and get ready for special holiday traditions with the family.