Wind River Cellars

This is my first blog from the road. This is from my mother's computer and it's as slow as waiting until the Wind River Cellars' Holiday in Mexico trip. By the time I finish this entry, my kids will be in college. I should have just sent smoke signals. It would have been faster. Speaking of children, below is a picture of Hollywood out in the vineyard. I wasn't around for the last snow dumping but I hear that son number one spent more time in the vineyard today snowboarding than he did during all of harvest. This is just days after the beautiful day we had Saturday after Thanksgiving. What a difference a day or two can make. Truth is, this doesn't happen all that frequently, only when we're counting on lots of visitors or the snowmobile isn't running- both of which are currently the case. Speaking of a day or two, that's how long it has taken me to get this far on this !@#$% computer. Maybe when my mom is sitting down to watch Golden Girls or Hollywood Squares or whatever the hell it is she watches I can come in and fry this piece of crap. By the way, how come she buys a computer in 1999 and it still works and I buy the state of the art laptop in 2006 and mine is dead in six months and hers still works? She must download cleaner porn than I do.

I will be in Seattle until Saturday evening. I'm looking forward to one of my favorite appearances of the year at Corky Cellars in Des Moines. Those of you who are expecting Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon at this tasting will be sadly disappointed. Instead I brought Syrah and Merlot. I'll go ahead and take the blame for this mix up. Kris claims that she gave me the list but I must have set it somewhere and forgotten. Anyway, I think I'll just blame it on my mom's computer. I think it's one of those models that you get at Radio Shack that plugs into your TV.
When I'm done I'm going to play a relaxing game of PONG while I listen to 8 track.

Quick reminder: We're having a Port celebration December 8th or 9th, I forget. It's a chance for you to order a case of "Port of Celilo" with 750 ml bottles instead of the 375 bottles. For those of you doing the math at home, you get twice as much port for the same price. We only do this once a year. Given the weather conditions at the winery, I think I will allow you to order by email instead of coming out to Husum. (Although we would love to see you.) Hopefully, you will receive this blog before the 2010 vintage.

Check out the blog again soon. We will post a picture of the 20 or so elk that were in the vineyard the other day. I don't understand why people take a week of their hard earned vacation to go deep into the woods to hunt this animal. If you can't bag one of these stupid animals you're not a good hunter. Go to Safeway and buy a steak. It will taste better and save you hundreds of dollars. (Those of you so called "hunters", don't give me the "you haven't had my elk" BS. It all tastes like crap. You just need to justify your little trip up to "Brokeback Elk Camp".

To sum it up: There's snow in Husum, people that can't kill an elk are bad hunters, my mom needs to step into the 90's, it's a good thing that Connor wears a helmet, even when he's just sitting around, Kris is always right, and Corky Cellars in Des Moines is a great place for you to visit on Saturday afternoon.

Your technology is advanced, Husum!

Joel

Saturday after Thanksgiving was absolutely beautiful. We still had a few residual guests from the shindig and I was excited that they were able to see the Mt. Hood view from the winery. Great day, lots of fun people and lots of wine poured. Hell, I even enjoyed the 50 people that pulled up in the huge passenger bus late in the day. Saturday was a great day. The picture below shows what I woke up to Sunday morning. I didn't even shower and I barely made it outside to clean up from the day before. Rather than take the opportunity to use the needed spare time for topping barrels, racking chardonnay and blending '05 Pinot Noir, I dedicated the time to the person I love more than anyone else. ME. My ass sat on the couch all day. It was great!

This week I have to head to Seattle for perhaps my favorite tasting of the year in one of my favorite bottle shops. I will be pouring wine at Corky Cellars in Des Moines on Saturday. Come on in and say hi. Ric and Diane always have good snacks and you know how I love to pour.

You keep me snowed in, Husum!

Joel

Thanksgiving weekend is a zoo in the tasting room and this year is no different. Hooba made a twenty four foot sandwich for our guests and we're down to about six feet remaining.

Thanksgiving just might be my favorite holiday. We always have an open invite to anyone who can tolerate us. This year Joe and Amy from El Mirador Winery in Walla Walla, James and Poppie from Syncline Cellars, Anthony and Anna Marie from Shady Grove Winery and Craig and Kelly from Northshore Cellars all joined the fun. Any time you get this many wine industry people together you can bet your ass that there will be a lot of beer consumed.

We also had the pleasure of having five of Hooba's friends from Kansas City join us. They had to see for themselves why Lewis and Clark left Missouri for the Northwest. I think they're still scratching their heads.

Tasting room visitors of the week so far are the friendly couple from Tennesee, the four ladies from Idaho, Portland, Salem and Mt. Hood, and the couple from Columbus, Ohio. I hope you all enjoyed the big sandwich.

You keep it real, Husum.

Joel

This is the first time in about five years that I don't have a tasting or festival on this particular weekend of the year. Yesterday I drove two hours east to Pasco for a tasting. I had no idea what to expect but I sure did have a great time. Pouring wine for Tri City residents can be risky. They generally know wine better than people from any other area of the Northwest and they are very loyal to the wineries in the Tri Cities area. I look forward to more visits. (Thanks Kathleen and Dori for hosting my dog and pony show.)

Today I have some minor clean up and set up for tomorrow's annual library tasting. There's is going to be a lot of old WRC vintages on hand and I look forward to seeing many of our barrel members and other special guests who were invited.

Last night I was able to arrive at Hooba's just in time to have a glass of wine or two with Rick and Jody from Celilo Vineyard. They were the last to leave the Columbia Gorge Winegrowers fall meeting. (By the way, I know I've said this before but Hooba's is VERY close to opening) Kris was the founder of the CGWGA and we've seen it come a long way since we were one of only three wineries in the area. Now there's around 20 with more on the way.

I'm looking forward to hanging out in the tasting room today. It's been awhile since I've covered it without having to crush grapes at the same time. Come on up and I'll show you a great time.

You keep my attention undivided, Husum!

I'm beginning to feel like harvest is finally over. I made the mistake of putting my press away for the year. Every other year I've done this, some grower comes to us and asks if we'll take his late harvest grapes. The answer will be "No way in Hell". (Unless it's Rick from Celilo)

Monday I came home from my Seattle trip and pressed off the last of our '06 red wines. Tuesday I racked and blended our '04 Cab Sauv. Wednesday I reassembled the winery. Yesterday I bottled Syrah, Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon. Today I'm off to Pasco for a tasting. You can bet your sweet cheeks that I'll have something interesting to say about it when I get back. Tonight is the Columbia Gorge Wine Growers annual Fall meeting. This is where all of the wineries and growers in our region get together to discuss the direction of the organization. That's all I'll say about that.

Sunday is the library tasting here at Wind River Cellars. Here are some of the wines we'll be pouring:
1998 Pinot noir
1999 Pinot noir
2000 Pinot noir
2001 Pinot noir
2002 Pinot noir
2003 Pinot noir
2004 Pinot noir
1998 Cabernet Sauvignon
1999 Cabernet Sauvignon
2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
2002 Cabernet Sauvignon
2003 Cabernet Sauvignon
2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
1998 Merlot
1999 Merlot
2000 Merlot
2001 Merlot
2002 Merlot
2003 Merlot
2004 Merlot
2000 Lemberger
2001 Lemberger
2002 Lemberger
2003 Lemberger
2004 Lemberger
2000 Cabernet Franc
2001 Cabernet Franc
2001 Syrah
2002 Syrah
2003 Syrah
2004 Syrah
2001 Tempranillo
2002 Tempranillo
2003 Tempranillo
2004 Tempranillo
1997 Meritage
1997 Port of Celilo
2001 Port of Celilo
2004 Port of Celilo
2005 Port of Celilo

If this isn't enough for you then just ask to taste more current vintages out of the barrels.

If you don't feel like driving all the way to Husum for this event just stop by any winery and ask them pour samples of all of their red wines from the past ten years. Here's a list of what you would get from a typical Oregon winery:

2000 Pinot Noir
2001 Pinot Noir
2002 Pinot Noir
2003 Pinot Noir

That will be $95 please.

You make me want to open lots of wine, Husum!

Joel

Sorry. I've been busy. Last week I took my dog and pony show on the road for a series of in-store tastings and bottle signings. Thursday I had the pleasure of hanging out at the Wine Alley in Renton. I was suppose to be pouring Tempranillo along with some other selections, but like an absolute idiot, I accidentally put Lemberger in my car. Sorry Renton.

Friday I was pouring turkey wines at City Cellars in Seattle. What a zoo that was. I've never seen so many people packed into a wine shop. I've had several case orders as a result of that event so I guess it's worth battling the traffic.

Saturday I a blast at the Wine Basket in Federal Way. I love it when laughing customers outnumber the glass swirling cork sniffers.

This Friday I'll be pouring at Yoke's in Tri Cities. I love doing tastings in Eastern Washington because something weird always happens.

31 more days until Mexico. Remind me to call Mexico next week to have them put the beer on ice.

This Sunday is our annual Library tasting. This is where we open every bottle we've ever produced. Although this is only for our barrel members, if you call or email me I'll let you in. (Unless you're an !@#$%hole) Don't forget about the port weekend also.

You keep me cussing, Husum!

Joel

For those of you who have been waiting for the return of Wind River Cellars Riesling, your wait is almost over. Right now you can come up and taste the '06 vintage out of the tank. It should be available by the annual Thanksgiving weekend open house.

Friday we had an event at the Cider House for all Insitu Employees. Insitu designs and builds remote control airplanes that are capable of doing everything from patroling our country's borders to finding schools of tuna in the ocean. I wonder if they can build me one that can find my wallet and car keys. Anyway, thanks to all of you who came out Friday.

Saturday I had to drive to Seattle for a tasting at George's Wine Shoppe in Bellvue. For those of you who live on the east side, this is a hidden treasure. Every Saturday George hosts a tasting. All you have to do is drop in and taste. Great casual atmosphere has catapulted this shop into my top five. I can't wait to go back.

Today I did a tasting for a group in Camas. Even though Camas isn't the same anymore without Fitzgerald's Fine Wines, I did enjoy the shrimp platter.

I head back to Seattle on Thurday for several tastings. I'll let you know where before I leave. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I will be pressing off the last of our 2006 vintage.

We just scheduled a tasting at Bonneville Hot Springs Resort for January 6, 2007. I want to invite all of you fun people to book a room and attend. The tasting will only last an hour or two but the lounge will be open until we leave. Bonneville has been awesome to our local wine industry and will definitely show all of us a great time. We're telling you now because we want LOTS of people there.

Don't forget about our library tasting the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This gives you a chance to taste every wine we've every made. Ten varieties for ten years? I'm going to need one of those smart Insitu employees to tell me how many wines that is.

You keep me flying, Husum!

Joel