The tradition of May Day celebration has steamed from pagan times through the Roman empire where it was in honor of Flora, the goddess of flowers it was a major holiday for the Druids who felt May day divided the year in half. In Great Britain it was celebrated with children, flowers, and maypoles with streamers. Puritanical ideas dissuaded May Day in America early on because of it's pagan history, but still today May day celebrations seem to pop up with the excitement of warm weather and spring flowers.
Wine is a beverage of tradition. Grapes have a season and thus the wine. The making of the wine takes time, has it's own aging process. Each spring is the birth of a new vintage and a release of the past.
Elk Run celebrates those traditions. Each spring we hold our annual Champagne tasting the week before Easter to toast to the new vintage and taste through the newly released whites.
May Day is another tradition that we enjoy because it’s the time of bud break. The killdeer lay their eggs in the vineyard (this year on row 16) and the smell of wild onions and mowed grass fill us with the anticipation of warmth and the excitement of seeing friends who have been hidden away because of winter cold.
Join us for our Annual May May_Wine Tasting.
May wine, also known as Maitrank, Maiwein, Maibowle and Waldmeisterbowle, is served traditionally on the May Day in Germany. The base is made by taking sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum, sometimes called Asperula odorata, known in Germany as Waldmeister), a fragrant creeping herb that grows in the forests and steeping it in a white Riesling.
Elk Run will be selling Sweet Woodruff plants this weekend. It’s a great excuse to have a party in May and the plant makes for a delightful ground cover. Come purchase some and make your own.
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