Hagafen Cellars, 1998-2005 from the Web Winery archive
Hagafen Cellars was on the original Web Winery by December 1998. Its pages told how Ernie Weir founded the winery in 1979, explained what makes a wine kosher and mevushal, and carried his seasonal newsletters from Winter 1997 to Winter 1999, with harvest reports, a letter answering a fourth grader's questions, and news of the new winery on the Silverado Trail. It also kept newspaper pieces about Hagafen wine at the White House in 1994 and 1995 and about kosher food for Passover. Its kosher recipes from those years are in the Winery Kitchen. 14 entries, from September 28, 1995 to December 1999, each with a link to the original page on the Wayback Machine.
1995
Newsletter
Napa Valley Register, 1995: Hagafen at the White House
A short Napa Valley Register item of September 28, 1995, kept on the winery's pages, reported that Hagafen's 1991 Chardonnay Reserve was served at the White House lunch for that day's Middle East peace signing. It was the second such occasion in a year, after a July 1994 state dinner that poured the 1988 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
1997
Press
Press release, January 1997: seventeen medals in the seventeenth year
Hagafen's press release of January 17, 1997 marked its seventeenth year with seventeen gold and silver medals won in 1996, led by gold medals for the Johannisberg Riesling. Ernie Weir praised the 1996 harvest, and the release noted that earlier Chardonnay Reserve vintages had been served at the White House.
At harvest time, the weather was perfect with long golden days, and cool evenings
Original page: Wayback Machine copy Newspaper text not republished.
Newsletter
Winter 1997 newsletter: from grapes to wine
The winter 1997 newsletter followed a year of notes on Napa Valley grape growing with a plain account of fermentation and of cultured and wild yeasts. It reported that the 1997 harvest had begun in July, weeks earlier than usual, so the new Johannisberg Riesling was ready for release on December 1.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
1998
Newsletter
Spring 1998 newsletter: Ernie Weir answers a fourth grader
The spring 1998 newsletter printed a fourth grader's questions about the Napa Valley and Ernie Weir's full reply: the climate, the 20 acres of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc he farmed (13 owned, 7 rented), the seasons of the work, and how Napa had grown since he came from Los Angeles in 1973. It also listed the year's medals and the coming first Cabernet Franc.
I remember as a boy how much I loved to say borey pri hagafen and since then I have wanted to make wine.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
Newsletter
Fall 1998 newsletter: mevushal wine and flash pasteurization
The fall 1998 newsletter explained that mevushal kosher wine must be heated or flash-pasteurized, and summarized UC Davis and other research that the winery cited to argue that brief heating does not harm a wine's flavor.
We at Hagafen Cellars believe that thermal processing of wine actually enhances the flavor of our wines.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
Newsletter
Winter 1998 newsletter: a late, small harvest
The winter 1998 newsletter described the El Niño year's late harvest, which ran into November, and how Ernie Weir tested grape sugar with a refractometer before picking; he expected a crop about a third smaller than 1997's. It also gathered short press notices of the wines and added a Cabernet Franc to the list.
Yesterday I saw beautiful garnet new wine after pressing the Merlot.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
1999
History
What makes a wine kosher
An explainer on kosher wine: certification depends on how a wine is made and handled, with only Sabbath-observing Jews touching it and no animal-derived fining agents, and most kosher wine is flash-pasteurized so that it stays kosher whoever pours it. Written in the first person by a reviewer of kosher wines, it reads as a column the winery reprinted rather than the winery's own writing.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
Winemaker
Ernie Weir, founder and winemaker
A profile of Ernie Weir told how he grew up in Southern California, studied sociology at UCLA, toured the wine regions of Europe and Israel in 1973 and settled in the Napa Valley that year, earned a UC Davis viticulture degree in 1978 and founded Hagafen in 1979. It added that he married Irit, a doctor of Oriental medicine, in 1980.
Consistent premium wine quality is our goal.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
Newsletter
Spring 1999 newsletter: the 1998 harvest and a planned wine club
The spring 1999 newsletter warned that several wines would sell out, described the cool, wet 1998 season and its late, small but intense harvest, and asked readers what a new Hagafen wine club should offer. It said the winery's own building was due to open in 1999 and shared the Weirs' news of a new baby.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
Press
Chicago Jewish News on the 1995 White House lunch
A Chicago Jewish News report from its issue of October 6-12, 1995 described the White House press lobby during the Middle East peace signing and the lunch menu for the leaders, noting that the wine was Hagafen's 1991 Reserve Chardonnay.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy Newspaper text not republished.
Press
Napa Valley Register on kosher food and wine for Passover
A Napa Valley Register feature by Nicole Kraft, dated April 11, 1995 on the winery's news page, looked at the growth of gourmet kosher food and dry kosher wine for Passover. It interviewed Ernie Weir on why he makes kosher wine and on the limits that kosher rules and the Sabbath put on the work.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy Newspaper text not republished.
Winery page
About Hagafen Cellars: the family and the grapes
The winery's main page described a small family business run by Ernie and Irit Weir, Ernie's reasons for starting it, its kosher certification (Orthodox Union from the 1993 vintage, Triangle K before that) and its use of Napa Valley grapes only. Its later version reported the new winery on the Silverado Trail, finished in summer 2000, with a stone tasting room to follow in spring 2001.
I was attracted to the idea of producing a premium Napa Valley wine using modern methods but infused with my Jewish cultural identity.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
Winery page
Roasted vegetables for the White House menu
A short recipe page for oven-roasted potatoes, carrots, turnips and onion, published as the side dish for the winery's lamb chop menu modeled on a 1994 White House dinner.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy
Newsletter
Winter 1999 newsletter: wine and health, and ground broken
The winter 1999 newsletter reviewed research on moderate drinking and health since the French Paradox reports, and announced that ground had been broken for Hagafen's own winery, expected to be finished in summer 2000. It also introduced a Brut Cuvée sparkling wine from the 1997 harvest.
Original page: Wayback Machine copy