Where No Person Wears One Hat

If you stop by the offices at Laetitia any day of the week, what you will find is nothing short of amazing.  Whether it be Winemaker Eric Hickey on a business call negotiating prices for cases in New York or Shipping and Receiving Manager Elza Corona coming up with new marketing schemes. At any other winery it would be considered standard to have many different employees accomplishing tasks that the small, but amazing, number of employees at Laetitia accomplish on a daily basis. “This has been one of the most inspiring parts of my employment at Laetitia thus far. I love the fact that when I have hard decisions to make I can easily reach a winemaker or even the CFO to help me.  We all work together to ensure that a standard of quality is met in everything we do, from the many award-winning wines we make to the type of chairs we order for our lawn outside the tasting room,” says Jackie Ross, Laetitia staff member.

“We have an open-door policy here at Laetitia; because we know that what each of our colleagues do directly and indirectly affects us,” says Jackie. “At the end of the day it’s satisfying to look at a bottle of ’̀̀̀̀̀̀̀̀̀̀̀̀06 Brut Rosé and think of all the work that went into that bottle. From vineyard worker, to cellar worker, to winemaker, to tasting room associate and so on. It is gratifying to have such a dedicated family of employees willing to go the extra mile for the sake of exceptionally good wine.”

The beginning of this summer marks a special event for Laetitia Winery that they like to call, “Sparkling Summer.” This is a promotion that highlights the seven different traditional Méthode Champenoise sparkling wines that bring Laetitia repeat enthusiasts year after year.  Available now in the tasting room seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. are the seven wonders themselves: Brut de Blancs, Brut Coquard, Cuvée M, Brut Cuvée, Brut de Noirs, Brut Rosé and XD. The Brut Rosé and Brut Cuvée are being offered at a 15% off discount until the end of the summer.  One of the things that make these sparkling wines so special is that Sparkling Winemaker, Dave Hickey, combines his exceptional talent with the only two traditional wooden basket Coquard Presses in the nation.

Although, many Laetitia connoisseurs are very sure of their favorite sparkling wine the terminology used to describe the sweetness of these wines can be less than obvious. As Sparkling Winemaker Dave Hickey says, “There are many elements in a wine that, all combined together, add up to the impression of sweetness.  For example, a wine that has a higher acid (more tart) can have more residual sugar in it and still taste dry. So when discussing how “sweet” a wine is, you may actually be talking about the body of the wine, it’s depth of flavors, it’s acid levels, it’s alcohol content, and more. In the world of sparkling wines we use terms like “natural,” “brut,” “dry,” “extra dry,” “demi-sec,” and other often unknown phrases. Here at Laetitia we make seven different sparkling wines.  The XD is the sweetest of those wines. The rest of the sparklers are all rated at the “brut” level of sweetness. Do they all have the same impression of sweetness? No. To you, one may taste sweeter than another, and it might actually have more residual sugar in it. Or, it might not … So, do you like your wines sweet or dry? Whatever your answer… enjoy!”

Come see Laetitia Vineyard & Winery’s new tasting room and experience it yourself!  Located at 453 Laetitia Vineyard Drive in the beautiful Arroyo Grande Valley.  The Tasting Room is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or visit their website at www.laetitiawine.com for more information on tasting and upcoming events.