Patricia's Corner

Hello Everyone,

This year, our lavender was picture perfect because of the late start and slower bloom time, due to the cooler weather we experienced this spring. The peak flowering time was approximately three weeks late. The lavender made a spectacular show for our guests who attended our 11th annual Days of Wine & Lavender event on June 23rd.

On Monday, June 25th, we began the long process of cutting, bunching and hanging the lavender. During this time, Adela Haro, who weaves all of our wands during the year, forms the wands out of the fresh lavender. They are then hung to dry and then carefully stored. In the coming months, we will process the lavender to use in our handcrafted products. The ‘Provence’ lavender that we use for culinary needs to be screen cleaned twice and the ‘Grosso’ is sorted so that the deepest color and most fragrant is saved for our black wrapped bouquets.

The winery is abuzz with people who come from all over the world to taste our world-class wines amongst the beauty of our landscape which is dotted with visiting artists trying to capture a moment in time. This year, we had some wonderful photographers who were kind enough to share their photos with us. One of the nicest things about my job here at the winery is all of the wonderful people that I get to meet on a daily basis.

The new lavender garden we put in this spring is thriving nicely and is bursting with the different shapes and colors of the flowers. It has been very popular with our guests who are lavender enthusiasts and are enjoying seeing so much variety in one place. Next year, this garden will have grown substantially and I will be able to harvest some of the flowers for specialty bouquets and products that you’ll be able to find here at Matanzas Creek Winery’s tasting room.

Now that the lavender harvest is over, the winery will get ready for the grape harvest and yet another cycle will be complete. I look forward to hearing from you and enjoying answering any questions you may have.

Thank you,

Patricia Kaczmarek
Lavender Designer/Production Manager
patricia.kaczmarek@matanzascreek.com