Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Let the bidding begin ....
Click here for a piece of wine country action - oh, actually wine country auction. This Saturday, June 5th at Thomas George Estates - Single Vineyard Night. See you there!
Blame it on Facebook not the Sonoma Coma
No posts for six months!! Well, ok, I can't blame all of it on Facebook. There has been a series of whirlwind sales trips followed by catch-up, catch-up, catch-up. Grandfather memorial at Lake Powell, then prep for my Art Show that opened a few days ago. Oh, and family drama episodes ... well, you get the picture - generally, life sometimes gets busy.
However, I must say that this crack-head addiction to Facebook is stupid. You log on thinking "I'll just take a glance at the news feed and check my messages" - which then turns into "I'll just see what my pals that won't have anything to do with me are up to" - followed by "what does his girlfriend look like?" click, then "she knows him too!?" click, to "I didn't get an invite to that event!?" to "who else went?" click, to "maybe my cousin has posted some more baby pictures" click, to "who haven't I friended from work yet?" ... and on and on .... Two hours later, you could have written a nice blog post instead. DOH! (oh, and now it's hard to get to sleep)
Well I'm not going to write six months worth of missed blogging here now, but I do have to give you a weather update. It's weird. Again. At this moment, it is chilly and raining heavily like a typical day in January ... only it's June 1st. Hey!! It's like we've transported ourselves back to the last blog post! How ironic!
Anyway, the grapes have been going through bloom for the last week and a half and are trying to finish in between bouts of rain. This is not good farming weather unless you have your spring veggie starts in the ground and are a lazy boob that doesn't remember to water the garden.
I've never seen a summer start out so wet. The locals are calling it "ridiculous" - we are so spoiled. I'll insert a picture for you here that shows what we are usually doing about this time of year.
Now to be fair, that picture was actually taken on May 13th, so it hasn't been all gloom and doom. We've actually had some pretty glorious days - we're just spoiled, so we can't wait to express outrage that it could rain on our perfect little Sonoma County Parade.
Let's just recap and be thankful for the past few days of idyllic wine country living.
The weekend began with a cooking class taught by Vanessa Barrington at the next door neighbor's house where we learned how to clean a squid (and why it is a sustainable food source), make homemade yogurt and butter, properly disassemble a raw artichoke, make fish stock and much more. We sat down to a lunch of Spring Salad made up of peas, asparagus, artichoke, favas and ricotta - followed by a fabulous Fish Stew of fennel, calamari, mussels and clams. We washed it down with a Sauvignon Blanc made by Merry Edwards. All local goodness!
After the cooking class, I motored down the hill in a hurry to prepare the cheese plates and dessert trays for my art show. A five minute change of clothes and viola! About 60 guests came over to view my photos - it was a lovely evening of friends, family and new acquaintances - a few art sales as well!
The next day was mellow - a bit of cleanup and wine deliveries, then off to the home of one of our winemaking friends and his wife. They invited us to an intimate blind tasting gathering featuring Petite Sirah. Everyone brought a dish to share and the food was stellar! Mediterranean Lamb stew and polenta, Mushroom, leek, rice and cheese tart, vegetarian Bourgogne. A few older wines were brought out of the cellar - the highlight being a 1975 Dehlinger Petite Sirah! Still kickin'!
Monday was Memorial Day and although I had intended to get some work done, fate conspired against it. Another pal invited Rick and I over for a vegan brunch and suggested that I take some photos of her garden which was blooming in abundance. After a lovely meal and a bit of Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee' sparkler, we went outside for a photo shoot and a hike through the forest across the creek and behind their house. Lovely!
After returning home, there was little time to do much - although Rick got in a few rows of vineyard mowing before we left for our next social engagement - a blind Pinot Noir tasting and BBQ at a local grape grower's ranch.
Oh darn! Lots of our friends were there, several winemakers and folks in the business as well as new friends to make. Rick's '09 Pinot Noir - Halo's Hill and Terry's 2009 Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley (Castalia wines) both took the winning slots in the tasting. Two tables of seven wines, one winner at each table. It was amazing! The setting was beyond idyllic. Perhaps I should show you here:
That's the view from the patio. Not bad huh?
Another friend had come up from San Jose to visit us. He joined us that evening at the tasting and BBQ, then he explored some wineries the next day and came back with goodies to make for dinner. Locavore experience #28: Preston wine, olive oil, bread and fresh veggies plucked from the dirt only an hour before at the Preston farm. Our friend commented a few times while nibbling the oil-drizzled bread (Preston grows the grain for the bread too), "I could get used to living here."
Yes, you can.
However, I must say that this crack-head addiction to Facebook is stupid. You log on thinking "I'll just take a glance at the news feed and check my messages" - which then turns into "I'll just see what my pals that won't have anything to do with me are up to" - followed by "what does his girlfriend look like?" click, then "she knows him too!?" click, to "I didn't get an invite to that event!?" to "who else went?" click, to "maybe my cousin has posted some more baby pictures" click, to "who haven't I friended from work yet?" ... and on and on .... Two hours later, you could have written a nice blog post instead. DOH! (oh, and now it's hard to get to sleep)
Well I'm not going to write six months worth of missed blogging here now, but I do have to give you a weather update. It's weird. Again. At this moment, it is chilly and raining heavily like a typical day in January ... only it's June 1st. Hey!! It's like we've transported ourselves back to the last blog post! How ironic!
Anyway, the grapes have been going through bloom for the last week and a half and are trying to finish in between bouts of rain. This is not good farming weather unless you have your spring veggie starts in the ground and are a lazy boob that doesn't remember to water the garden.
I've never seen a summer start out so wet. The locals are calling it "ridiculous" - we are so spoiled. I'll insert a picture for you here that shows what we are usually doing about this time of year.
Now to be fair, that picture was actually taken on May 13th, so it hasn't been all gloom and doom. We've actually had some pretty glorious days - we're just spoiled, so we can't wait to express outrage that it could rain on our perfect little Sonoma County Parade.
Let's just recap and be thankful for the past few days of idyllic wine country living.
The weekend began with a cooking class taught by Vanessa Barrington at the next door neighbor's house where we learned how to clean a squid (and why it is a sustainable food source), make homemade yogurt and butter, properly disassemble a raw artichoke, make fish stock and much more. We sat down to a lunch of Spring Salad made up of peas, asparagus, artichoke, favas and ricotta - followed by a fabulous Fish Stew of fennel, calamari, mussels and clams. We washed it down with a Sauvignon Blanc made by Merry Edwards. All local goodness!
After the cooking class, I motored down the hill in a hurry to prepare the cheese plates and dessert trays for my art show. A five minute change of clothes and viola! About 60 guests came over to view my photos - it was a lovely evening of friends, family and new acquaintances - a few art sales as well!
The next day was mellow - a bit of cleanup and wine deliveries, then off to the home of one of our winemaking friends and his wife. They invited us to an intimate blind tasting gathering featuring Petite Sirah. Everyone brought a dish to share and the food was stellar! Mediterranean Lamb stew and polenta, Mushroom, leek, rice and cheese tart, vegetarian Bourgogne. A few older wines were brought out of the cellar - the highlight being a 1975 Dehlinger Petite Sirah! Still kickin'!
Monday was Memorial Day and although I had intended to get some work done, fate conspired against it. Another pal invited Rick and I over for a vegan brunch and suggested that I take some photos of her garden which was blooming in abundance. After a lovely meal and a bit of Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee' sparkler, we went outside for a photo shoot and a hike through the forest across the creek and behind their house. Lovely!
After returning home, there was little time to do much - although Rick got in a few rows of vineyard mowing before we left for our next social engagement - a blind Pinot Noir tasting and BBQ at a local grape grower's ranch.
Oh darn! Lots of our friends were there, several winemakers and folks in the business as well as new friends to make. Rick's '09 Pinot Noir - Halo's Hill and Terry's 2009 Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley (Castalia wines) both took the winning slots in the tasting. Two tables of seven wines, one winner at each table. It was amazing! The setting was beyond idyllic. Perhaps I should show you here:
That's the view from the patio. Not bad huh?
Another friend had come up from San Jose to visit us. He joined us that evening at the tasting and BBQ, then he explored some wineries the next day and came back with goodies to make for dinner. Locavore experience #28: Preston wine, olive oil, bread and fresh veggies plucked from the dirt only an hour before at the Preston farm. Our friend commented a few times while nibbling the oil-drizzled bread (Preston grows the grain for the bread too), "I could get used to living here."
Yes, you can.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Home again, home again, jiggity jig ...
A full riot of narcissus was waiting to greet me the day after we arrived home - I picked a large bunch right away to freshen the house. My winter lettuces plumped up while we were gone and the slugs were closing in ... oh my!
Unfortunately, I did manage to catch a cold just before we left the east coast - just like last year. Doh! My sweetie kept the house warm with a cozy fire and made me lots of tea - we slept until noon on Saturday - much needed and I must say that it worked wonders - today, Sunday, I feel much better, though I'm still not quite out of the woods.
Dinner last night was home-made chicken soup and a nice salad. The cats are oh so happy to have us back and hanging around the house to adore them. Rick and I spent a few hours planning our vacation in June, it is coming together so well - we'll be drenched in purple wine on my birthday in Haro, Spain at the "Battala de Vino." All that after a week in Burgundy - the epicenter of Pinot Noir. As much as we love being home, it's a bit disconcerting that we will be away for a good portion of the next year. The vacation doesn't count as the the "disconcerting" part - we will have earned that time off once we've completed our business trips to Las Vegas, Texas, Florida, Los Angeles, etc. It will be so nice to get this brand high in the air and not have to pound the pavement so hard to expose folks to this yummy wine. Come on economy, let's get a move on!!
Cheers!
Unfortunately, I did manage to catch a cold just before we left the east coast - just like last year. Doh! My sweetie kept the house warm with a cozy fire and made me lots of tea - we slept until noon on Saturday - much needed and I must say that it worked wonders - today, Sunday, I feel much better, though I'm still not quite out of the woods.
Dinner last night was home-made chicken soup and a nice salad. The cats are oh so happy to have us back and hanging around the house to adore them. Rick and I spent a few hours planning our vacation in June, it is coming together so well - we'll be drenched in purple wine on my birthday in Haro, Spain at the "Battala de Vino." All that after a week in Burgundy - the epicenter of Pinot Noir. As much as we love being home, it's a bit disconcerting that we will be away for a good portion of the next year. The vacation doesn't count as the the "disconcerting" part - we will have earned that time off once we've completed our business trips to Las Vegas, Texas, Florida, Los Angeles, etc. It will be so nice to get this brand high in the air and not have to pound the pavement so hard to expose folks to this yummy wine. Come on economy, let's get a move on!!
Cheers!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Life on the Farm
Not my farm mind you ... ours is not really that farm-like. I'm at Crow Farm in the tiny burg of Kennedyville, Maryland. Over three hundred hundred acres of land with cattle, pigs, chickens, barn cats, miniature horses and lots of geese flying overhead.
Like a cat, I've found my perch inside the glass enclosed alcove that lets me hear the birds, enjoy the last bit of sun and see the calves frolicking in the browned pasture. My beloved is upstairs in our room at this lovely B&B - he is resting from a rather frenetic work week that began 7 days ago, and now we have a break. Ahhhh.... a much needed break. Each day, we worked with sales reps, Rick with one, I with another in various towns here on the Eastern Shore - Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington DC, Wilmington, etc. At the end of the week we took part in a winemaker dinner, then a pouring/bottle signing the next day, then another pouring/bottle signing the next day followed by a long drive to the coast for another winemaker dinner which we arrived at just in time to haul our suitcases up the stairs, breathlessly change clothes then hurry downstairs to mingle and promote our product.
We've been invited to this quaint little bit of quietude in the country by our hosts Judy and Roy. They have a newly planted vineyard and are currently planning a winery for the property. Rick is a wealth of knowledge and has already given them a pretty good pruning lesson. We'll chat later about more of the winery plans and how they began the project that is Crow Farm. In the meantime, I'm soaking up every bit of country solitude that I can. Work begins again tomorrow.
The top photo was taken the day we arrived, the one here is the next morning.
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