Day 3

I can’t believe it has been 2 weeks since I’ve updated the blog and alot has happened.  Most recently, we finished Memorial Day weekend event at the winery.  For those who don’t know, Memorial Day Weekend is the 2nd busiest wine tasting weekend in Oregon.  We ended up with over 400 people here over the 3 days.  It was our biggest event yet.  I have attached some pictures.  Also, some more work has been done on the back patio.  The bar top is in and the area to the picnic table has been cleaned up and small rocks added (thanks Tom).  You can see this in the pictures of the picnic areas.  The county sent us a note that we need a permit for our “cabana”.  RJ has worked it out with them but we need to do some more paperwork and we can’t have picnic tables or people under it because it is an agricultural structure.  Take a look at the patio areas with all the plants, etc.  They are from our neighbor nursery and are for sale.  They should look good, too.  I may have to buy some.  The other picture is RJ with Ghost Monday morning taking alittle rest before our last big event day.

Pond Rocks

We ended up with a very good week last week which made up for the previous week.  This week is shaping up to be good as well (except today, you would have to be a muscrat to go out in this weather).  Anyway, it has given me some time to catch up on projects in the tasting room.  I finished the Snowman trios for the church bazaar, tagged a bunch of stuff and started to clean the back room.  I’ve bagging and pricing found objects to use in jewelry, scrapbooking and collages.  A new found friend uses old metal to make jewelry and we have lots of old metal.  Last week before RJ left for California, he moved the gravel to around the back pond and then added large rocks that came out of the vineyard.  I call them Russell’s rocks, because Russell from Australia, got them all out of the vineyard and made a nice pile.  Pictures below.  I also promised  you pictures of Waterbrook’s new facility that I visited when I was in Walla Walla a week ago.  I was going to pass it off as our new facility, but not even I can lie that much.  Impressive isn’t.  They will produce 250,000 cases of wine out of that facility.  At our peak, we will produce 3-4,000 cases.  A different world for sure!

100th Posting and Muller Thurgau

My last blog post was my 100th.  Yeah!  Now, I want to get to 10,000 views.  We’ve had a great week at the winery; lots of visitors and sales.  And we’re supposed to have a nice weekend with regard to weather, so picnics are in order.   We got the labels for our Muller Thurgau so we are ready to sell it.  Our official release is Memorial Weekend, but we’ll sell it now.  Here is a picture of our packaging plus a couple of pictures of our picnic gift items I mentioned in my last posting.

Back in the Saddle

Even though I had a great visit to Milton-Freewater, it is sure good to be home.  We had a good day at the winery and I got alot done.  I ordered a bunch of mustards and black wine shirts, so if you have been waiting for your size or flavor, it will be here before Memorial Day weekend.   Then last night, I poured wine at Forest Grove’s First Wednesday.   That went well, too.  Speaking of Memorial Day Weekend, don’t forget to put us on your route.  We have one of the lowest tasting fees; $5.00 and you get a souvenir glass.  We will have live music each day, catered food from Sundial Bakery, at least one new release (maybe 2) and our friendly staff.  Our patio is covered, so plan on a picnic or two.

I’m Gone Again

Some people think I never work in the winery.  Others know this is not true, but once again I’m out of town.  I had the chance for a tag-along trip to Eastern Oregon that I couldn’t pass up.  It meant I could spend 4 days with my parents.  So I’ve been gone since Friday, returning late on Tuesday.  RJ has had to hold done the fort with some help from Henry and Joyce.  While here, Walla Walla was having their Spring Release event, so I HAD TO GO!.  It was education, you know.  Anyway, we started Saturday with an 8:30 brunch at Forgeron, trying 4 of their wines, plus sparkling.  Very nice pairings.  Everything was lovely, except the polenta, which had a case of the stickies.  Then we went to a friend of a friend of a friend’s house, where we picked up a 12 passenger van and 4 more ladies for a total of 7.  We managed to hit 9 more wineries before the end of the day and were still walking.  We had some very good wines and some mixed experiences with regards to hospitality.  Everything from thimble size tastes and a limit of 3 for your $5.00, to generous tastes, large food spreads and 25 wines plus barrel tasting.  Everyone charged $5 except the Incubator (a cluster of small, new wineries).  Most wineries refunded it with a purchase and with one winery, you got a free glass.  Few wineries had entertainment and most just had cheese and crackers for food.  I managed to pick up a case including 5 reds, and can’t wait to share the wines with my friends back home.