Support Our Small Business!

Greetings from Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery!

Support Our Small Business!

Today, throughout America, there are protests, riots and destruction.  Covid-19 continues to harm our people and suppress our economy. The very fabric of our democratic and capitalistic system is being stretched and often denigrated.

Through all of this chaos, the carriers of the greatest burdens of this destruction are our “Small Businesses”!

No other part of our economy has suffered more than our Small Businesses. While government employees at the state, local and federal levels continued to receive their full paychecks and benefits, our local Barber Shops, Hair Salons, Fitness Centers, Restaurants, Bookstores, etc. have been burned out or ordered closed by the State Governors or local bureaucrats. While most large and multi-national corporations have remained open and prosperous during our terrible pandemic, all manner of Small Businesses have lost everything. Some will never reopen.

Small Business is proud to serve our communities and our friends and neighbors, but we cannot continue to carry the greatest burdens. In times of prosperity and tribulation every American must share equally. Today, this is not happening!

Please seek out and support your local Small Businesses. Small Business is the engine of our economy. Small business is the greatest generator of new and well-paying jobs. Small Business is where innovation and entrepreneurship prospers. As a Small Business, BHV supports our local farms and local businesses. We ask that you continue to support us, so we can continue that mission. 

The situation is dire; Please, speak out in support of our Small Businesses and share this letter with everyone that you can.  We need your help, NOW!

Thank You…Larry & Lenora

The Green Winer

Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery

Rationing of Essential Consumer Commodities!

Rationing of Essential Consumer Commodities

Has the time come for the government to enforce the “Rationing of Essential Consumer Commodities”?

Just in case you have not experienced grocery shopping recently, let me give you an insight as to what it’s like.

Huge crowds of people pushing and shoving to grab the last case of water, cooking oil, bananas, fresh meats, butter, milk canned meats, canned vegetables, sugar, pasta and every kind of paper goods. Entire aisles are empty with nothing on the shelves.

Groups of people travel from store to store repeating their havoc. Long lines of people form before the store opens and snakes out into the parking lot. Tempers flare as late comers arrive and refuse to go to the end of the line. They rush into the store as soon as the doors are opened, unwilling to wait their turn.

Into this chaos are thrown our Seniors and children. The longer this Pandemic continues, the more uncertain the future becomes; the more chaos grows. Through no fault of their own, Americans are being forced to compete with their neighbors for basic commodities.

Many decades ago our nation was fighting a world war. It was necessary for us to ration basic and scarce commodities so that every American on the home front could have an equal chance. This Pandemic today is being referred to by our leaders as a war. Isn’t time to spend all of our energy fighting this Pandemic war, rather than fighting over a roll of toilet paper?

Thank You…

The Green Winer

Why We Recycle/Repurpose Wine Bottles

Why We Recycle/Repurpose Wine Bottles

And….

Why No One Else Does!

As of this week, October 2019, ‘Bunker Hill Vineyard & Winery (BHV)’ crossed an historic threshold; we (you & us) have recycled/repurposed over 100,000 wine bottles! There was no media fanfare nor parades nor bells and whistles; we expected none. Through our grassroots efforts, what we (you & us) have accomplished is way more than any other winery in the U.S.A. has been able or willing to achieve. With the following factoid gems, we will attempt to put this huge accomplishment into perspective.

We (you & us) have helped to reduce mining waste by over 7,000 pounds!

We (you & us) have helped to reduce air pollution by over

500 pounds!

We (you & us) have helped to save enough electricity to operate over 33,000 TV sets for over 1 hour each!

We (you & us) have helped to save enough electricity to power 100 watts of home lighting for 100,000 homes!

Additionally, we (you & us) have helped to reduce BHV’s carbon footprint, upon our shared environment, by over 60%!

Our march will continue to go on and we (you & us) will continue to care deeply about the world around us and all of our friends and neighbors.

Every year in the U.S.A., we go through approx. 350,000 million cases of wine; about 4 billion wine bottles are dumped into our landfills and forgotten. Because wine bottles are inorganic (glass), it takes almost 1 million years for each one to decompose. So, why isn’t every winery in Florida and the U.S.A. recycling and repurposing their own wine bottles?

For the first five years that BHV was open, we took in the empty wine bottles from every other Florida winery and cleaned, sanitized and repurposed them. The hope was that we could lead by example and encourage them to join us, and together, Florida could set a recycling example for the nation; this never happened. Today, we no longer accept wine bottles from any other Florida winery. If you patronize any other

Florida winery, you should return their empty wine bottles to them for them recycle.

One final note, even though BHV is the Greenest Winery in America and is 100% recycled on wine bottles, we are not alone in the world. Every winery of every country in Europe recycles their empty wine bottles a minimum of 9 times!

Again, Thank You, for all your help and support…BHV!

The Green Winer!

‘Paid’ Internship Programs

‘Paid’ Internship Programs

To graduate, most colleges require a student to complete an internship program; our local University of South Florida campuses, included. 

As the ‘Greenest Winery in America’ BHV has participated in and supported these internships for years. We believe that sharing our knowledge with the youth of today will help insure a successful future for both the student and for our community. If you own and operate a successful local business, we encourage you to contact the University campus nearest to you and become a member of their internship program.

With this Blog, we hope to open a dialog about how college interns are compensated for their time and contributions to the hosting business. Today, some businesses like BHV offer ‘Paid’ Internship programs. We believe that a student has worth and value and deserves to be compensated for their time working with us. However there are too many businesses that look upon their interns as a source of ‘Free Labor’. These types of businesses should be required to pay their interns or be purged from the Internship Program.

Most college students have accumulated a large backload of student debt. To expect the student to enrich any business with their ‘Free Labor’ should be unacceptable to us all. 

In the normal conduct of their business, all businesses are required to pay their employees for their work, even those employees in training. To make an exception for the college intern is both wrong and unfair. BHV calls upon our Local Universities and community to support only ‘Paid’ internships and to discontinue the unfair practice of not paying interns for their time and work.

We Thank You…..

Things to Know and Questions to Ask When Visiting Wineries!

(Provided as a Customer Service by BHV)

Things to Know and Questions to Ask when Visiting Wineries!

Congratulations on your decision to visit wineries. We understand your enthusiasm and excitement! After all, we are blessed to be at one every day!

Before embarking on your winery trip, it’s important that you have an idea of what to expect and what questions to ask of the wineries. To begin, we’ll start with what you can expect.

Most wineries, today, are factories. Some are small factories and some are very large factories. Rather than grow all the grapes and/or fruits for their labeled wines, most factory wineries “source” their inventory in the form of juices and concentrates. In America, today, there are only about 30% of our wineries that are growing anything. As you drive up to the winery, you should expect to see some grapes and/or fruits growing near the tasting building. Just like you, wineries understand psychology and fulfill your expectations with “show vines”. 

Today, most wineries charge you a fee for the privilege of tasting their wines. Some wineries credit this fee to the cost of your wine purchase, while others do not. It’s best to check with them before showing up at their door. You should expect all wineries to follow all the applicable laws that are related to alcohol consumption. In Florida, the legal drinking age is 21 years.

After entering the wine tasting building and before tasting any of their wines, you should ask to see a labeled bottle of each of the wines that you will be tasting. By Federal Law, every winery in America must tell you HOW their wines are made.  This information is usually listed on the back label in tiny print. The “Holy Grail” of wine making will list four words…”GROWN, PRODUCED, VINTED & BOTTLED”! When you see these four words on any wineries wine bottle label, you should become very excited! That winery is upholding the tradition of wine making at the highest standard. 

Remember, however, most wineries in America are simply factories. They aren’t growing anything. They are ‘sourcing’ the juices and concentrates for their wines. The hallmark of a factory winery will only be one or two words. Usually they will read… “Bottled”, “Produced & Bottled” or “Vinted & Bottled”. Notice that the word “GROWN” is missing??

If you have determined that this is a factory winery the next question that you should ask is…”Where are you ‘sourcing’ the juices and concentrates for your wines”? You have a right to an answer to this question. If the winery answers your question, then you can make an informed decision on whether to taste their wines, or not. If the winery cannot or refuses to answer this question, you should leave immediately!

We are throwing 4 Billion used/empty wine bottles into America’s landfills every year, because most American factory wineries refuse to recycle/repurpose their own wine bottles. You should expect every winery that you visit to accept the return of their own empty wine bottles, including those that are shipped. Please ask this question up front. (NOTE: BHV is the Greenest Winery in America and uses 100% recycled/repurposed wine bottles. We’ve repurposed over 100,000 wine bottles in the last 18 months).

Lastly, but not least, you should look for the words “UNFILTERED WINE” on the label. This is telling you that you are getting a wine that is made to be the best that it can be. Only wines that are labeled ‘Unfiltered’ insure you that your wine is made to age properly. Unfiltered wines have NO end time and will get better year after year! You may have to recork in about 20 years. ‘Filtered’ wines have No longevity build into their wines and are only good for about 2 to 4 years! One easy way for you to tell the difference is to look at the neck of the wine bottle. If that wine bottle was sealed with ‘Wax” then it’s most certainly an “Unfiltered” wine. If it has plastic or aluminum foil on the neck it’s a ‘Filtered’ wine.

We hope that the above customer service information helps level the playing field between you and the wineries.

Thank you…BHV

The Green Winer!

Imported Wines!

There seems to be a lot of confusion about imported wines.

With this BLOG we’re going to help you understand them a lot better!

Firstly, imported wines DO NOT have to comply with American laws of wine production. They are governed by our ‘Trade Agreements’. 

Most Americans are unaware that these ‘Trade Agreements’ supersede American laws and standards. They need only comply with the laws in their ‘Country of Origin’! This is why, our bad trade agreements need to be rewritten.

As an example, there are two (2) Federal U.S.A. laws that every American wine producer are required to meet.

Federal Law #1:

“Every producer of wine in America must tell you, the wine consumer, HOW your wine is made!” A ‘REAL’ American winery has the word “GROWN” on its label. The following chart shows you the five (5) options:

RANKING:
1)     GROWN, PRODUCED, VINTED & BOTTLED	BEST
2)     PRODUCED, VINTED & BOTTLED	GOOD
3)     PRODUCED & BOTTLED	BAD
4)     VINTED & BOTTLED	BAD
5)     BOTTLED	WORSE

Federal Law #2:

“Only wineries in America producing any kind of ‘Fruit or Vegetable’ wine from “Whole, Fresh fruits or vegetables, can use the word “NATURAL” on their wine label”! Absent the word “NATURAL” the wine is being made from juices or concentrates.

Now, let’s suppose that the laws in that foreign country stated that those wineries were not required to tell their own consumers how their wines were being made. You guessed it, they DON”T have to tell you either! They are able to import their wines into America, put them on American shelves next to REAL American wines, yet DO NOT have to meet American laws of wine production. This is NOT a level playing field!

Although not mandated by federal law, there is one word that appears on REAL wines everywhere on the planet. By knowing this single word, you are assured that that bottle of wine is made to be the best that it can be. That word is the word “UNFILTERED”!

In conjunction with the word “UNFILTERED”, look for the bottle to be sealed with real sealing wax. “UNFILTERED” wines are the only wines that age and are worthy to go into any kind of long-term storage. 

Shun any bottles of wine with plastic or aluminum foil on their tops. These are ‘Filtered’ wines with a usual shelf life of two to four years and no ability to age.

Thank You….the “Green Winer”

Buyer Beware!

“For Sale,

Rural 5 Acre Lots in Florida”.

“NOTE: With this Blog, we are going to address a situation that is not being discussed on any public forum. Our hope is that we can inspire conversation and substantial change to Florida law that protects our fellow citizens!”

It sounds idyllic, buying a piece of quiet, rustic, rural Florida and escaping the pollution and noise of the city. This fairy tale can quickly become a nightmare if you’re not extremely careful!

Citrus Greening continues to devastate Florida’s citrus groves. With no cure in sight, many Florida grove owners are selling off their old grove lands to unsuspecting city buyers.

A quirk in Florida’s Real Estate laws permits these grove owners to sell off their lands in 5 acre residential lots and retain their agricultural zoning. Thus, they are exempted from any county code enforcement rules and laws. They have NO obligation to tell you, the buyer, about any of the pesticide or fungicide chemicals that they used on their citrus crops or any of the toxic chemicals released into the soil by the onsite burning of their black PVC irrigation pipes.

One extremely toxic pesticide that has been used on Florida’s citrus crops is “ALDICARB”! It has been shown to enter the human food chain and cause significant and long-term pollution of drinking water supplies. Because of its extreme toxicity to humans and wildlife its use in America was recently banned by the EPA.

In order to quickly and cheaply remove the old citrus trees from their land, they are permitted by Florida law to open burn together the citrus trees and black irrigation pipes. Usually, they are bulldozed into large piles and set ablaze with gasoline. 

By not having to pull and recycle the black PVC irrigation pipes, toxic “Dioxins” are able to enter the air and the soil.

So, until Florida laws are changed, you should seek your paradise elsewhere!

Thank You…”The Green Winer”