Wind River Cellars

Are you there God, it's me, Joel. I got bud break today. (I know this reference is obscure. If you understand it, email me and let me know that it's as funny as I think it is.) The vineyard has finally begun to grow in 2008 which means I'll have to take care of it. If you would like to come out and adopt a vine I'll let you name it.

This past week has been a lot of fun in the tasting room. Saturday reminded me of showing up for a blind date, coincidentally meeting the wrong person, and having a great time anyway. Kris told me a group was coming in at 1:00 and that they purchased a VIP tasting in the cellar at a charity auction. We try and make these private tastings as fun as possible and they usually include barrel tasting and light snacks. Well, a group showed up promptly at 1:00. I gave them the full barrel tasting experience and pumped them full of gourmet cheeses. They were a lot of fun and I enjoyed everyone of them but they weren't the group that purchased the private tasting. That group showed up at 3:00. The screw up was 100% Kris's fault. 0% mine. That is rewarding in itself. Luckily, the real group was a blast also and brought their own appetizers.

This Thursday I will be pouring at Wine Alley in Renton. If you have nothing going on come on down and say hi. Saturday I will be pouring at a fund raiser for the University of Washington Marching Band. I believe this event is open to the public. If you are interested in more details please contact us.

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW FOR THE WRC GOLF SCRAMBLE. It's filling up fast. Check our website for other upcoming events.

I am Joel and I approved this blog.

Stay classy, Husum!

It's nice to see that the price of gas isn't keeping you all away. This past weekend reminded me of what summer is like around here as we hosted what seemed like millions of visitors. I enjoyed meeting all of you who attended Zena's 40th birthday party on Sunday.

Last week I briefly mentioned what a great time I had pouring wine at Vino Bello, in Burien. This wine bar isn't the usual stuffy wine bar that thinks jazz is the only music that goes well with wine. Michelle and her staff are a lot of fun and I look forward to many returns.

2007 Riesling is now available and if you can see your face in the group photo from harvest party (mid-October blog entry) I will give you an additional 10% off on a case purchase. Get it while it's here.

I've had so many visitors this past week that It's difficult to pick favorites. The nice couple from New Jersey come to mind, as do the kayakers from Portland. Dee Dee from Beaverton and Jan from Puyallup always bring a good time also.

It's never too early to book your rafting trip on the White Salmon. Go to http://www.riverdrifters.net or http://zooraft.com. Both of these companies do an excellent job and they are both just minutes from our tasting room.

The Wind River Cellars Golf Scramble will be held July 19th. Several teams have already signed up and last year nearly every player went home with a prize. If you would like to be on my team you will be subjected to foul language, club throwing and superhuman beer consumption. Perhaps this is why I don't have a team yet.

I can always play with myself, Husum!

Joel

This weather sucks and I refuse to blog until it improves. (When I do blog I will tell you all about the great time I had at Vino Bello in Burien last Saturday.) I'll be back later in the week with an update. I'm bottling my little butt off this week. '07 Riesling will be available this weekend. This doesn't count as a blog entry because, like I said, I refuse to blog until the weather improves.

Help me with the weather, Husum!

Joel

80 degree day for the barrel dinner. What could be better? As you can see from the photos below, a lot of fun was had. The party went late into the evening and we were pleased to see everybody renew their memberships.

This Friday Kris will be pouring wine at Bonneville Hot Spring Resort. Saturday she'll be doing the same at the Inn of White Salmon. If you're in the hood stop by and say hello. I'll be pouring wine Saturday at Vino Bello wine bar in Burien. You've read my praise for this place before and Saturday there will be live music to go with the wines I'll be pouring. For those of you that haven't had a chance to get to Husum lately, this is a great chance for you to taste some our new releases.

Visitors of the week include all of you Barrel Members who came out for the annual shindig, the nice couple from Camas who were heading to Pullman to visit their daughter, and the couple from Portland who came up to pick up the very last case of 2006 Riesling. Don't worry, we'll be releasing the 2007 in the next two weeks.


Barrel Dinner is fun but I sure am glad it only comes once a year, Husum!

Joel

Vineyard Manager, Gavin offers his date, Janet, a little squirt.

Aaron from Solstice Cafe in Bingen serves up his famous Wood fire Oven Pizza for Italian night barrel dinner

Barrel Members Tom & Karen Reid informing Kris that Wind River Cellars is out of 2006 Riesling!

Barrel Members Bruce & Alicia sharing a taste of giggle

North Shore Wine Cellars winemaker Craig Sawyer dippin' into the WRC

We're off to the coast on official winery business. Former Employee of the month runner-up, Ryan will be here to greet you in the tasting room. He was bumped by Julie, who filled in on the bottling line. Now Julie is the Employee of the month, runner-up. Don't worry Ryan, she was just temporary.

Visitors of the week included the return guests from Ohio, the fun doctor and his wife from Chicago and the locals from White Salmon.

This coming Saturday is Barrel Club Dinner. I can't wait to see all of you barrel members!

You're always a barrel of fun, Husum!

Joel

The picture below is from the 19th annual Capital Food and Wine festival last weekend. I've had a lot of great times at this event over the years and this year was no exception. For the second time in two weeks, Wind River Cellars Cabernet Franc was given an award for outstanding quality. I don't care a whole lot about these judgings and to tell you the truth I don't know who the judges were, but I do care about the feedback I get from festival goers and once again they made us the top selling winery.

Kris will be pouring wine this weekend at Taste Washington in Seattle. This event has never been my cup of tea so I'm staying home and manning the tasting room. I've been on the road the last three weekends and I'm actually looking forward to turning on some music, opening the doors and enjoying the expected sunshine.

We'll be heading to the coast on Monday for some official winery business, but I'm way looking forward to the annual Barrel Members Dinner the following Saturday. Every barrel member gets a turkey baster when theyshow up and we all drink. . .er. . .uh. . .taste out of the barrels the entire night. My homies from Solstice in Bingen will be catering the dinner. If you ever get a chance to stop by Solstice, I highly recommend their wood oven pizza.

April 19th I will be doing a tasting at Vino Bello in Burien. This is a great wine bar and the owner, michelle will be throwing out food and live music.

Check out the website for other upcoming events here at the winery.

You're plenty festive, Husum!

Joel

Capital Food & Wine - 2008

I had a great time pouring wine this past weekend at the Portland Beer and Wine Festival. This year they had it in Portland. I had the semi-pleasure of sharing a booth with North Shore Cellars Winemaker, Craig. They must be hurting at North Shore because Craig had to use my cork puller all weekend. If any of you are visiting the Gorge anytime soon, take them a cork puller.

Tonight Craig and his wife, Kelly came up for Garbage Can Turkey. You can see our method and results in the pictures below. Craig and I are thinking of getting out of the wine business and opening up a chain of Garbage Can Turkey outlets up and down the West Coast.

The festival was a long two days but I enjoyed seeing lots of WRC visitors. We were also able to collect a few nice awards. Better than that I got to see several good friends from other wineries, including some of the coolest people on the planet from Hip Chicks Do Wine. http://www.hipchicksdowine.com I've watched these ladies grow over the last 10 years and I couldn't be more proud of them. If you're in Portland and you need a winery fix, check them out. Also, thanks go to my volunteer servers. Marita, Mark, Nick and Suzanne, if you're ever in the area lets open some bottles and talk about the great time we had. By the way, if you're ever in Portland and need a place to stay I highly recommend Lap Dance John's house.

This coming weekend I will be at the Capital Food and Wine Festival in Lacey. This has always been a fun event with several wineries and a few of those things called "breweries". It's my understanding that breweries produce something called "Beer". I'm not really familiar with this beverage but I understand it can be quite refreshing. If you get a wild hair come on out and say hello.

Visitors of the week include the couple from Montana, the Bonneville Resort couple and the two fun people from Washington D.C.

Your Garbage Can Turkey is the best, Husum!

Joel
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Pictures below are of Craig (from North Shore Cellars) and I perfecting Garbage can turkey. If you've never done it, put a turkey inside an upside down garbage can and light charcoal around it. This turkey will go great with WRC Pinot Noir or Cabernet Franc. Craig says that his Chocolate Cherry Port is a great dessert when you're done eating.

I like what your cookin', Husum!

Joel