My arms are sore from pouring, My gut is sore from laughing and there's a huge pile of empty bottles waiting to go to the dump. . .ur. . uh, I mean recycling center. Other than that our Memorial Weekend Bash was a huge success. I don't think I've enjoyed myself more in the tasting room than I did Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Those of you who made it out were treated to Alicia's wit, Ryan's "Twisted Harriet" wine cocktail and my . . .uh. . .whatever it was that I contributed.
We had so many fun guests that I can't possibly remember them all. What was up with all the visitors from Minnisota? Anyway, it seemed as though everyone who visited had as much fun as I did.
I went to Hooba's each night after the tasting room closed. I'm beginning to feel like one of those creepy guys who goes to the same strip club every night and sits in the same seat. The difference is that I don't live with my mom and I'm not Mormon. By the way, Hooba's is doing great and you really should give it a try the next time you visit. (For those of you who don't read this on a regular basis, Hooba's is the restaurant at the bottom of our hill here in Husum.
The weather is going to be fantastic all week. I suggest you blow out of that cubical, tell your boss your sick and come out to taste some wine. Based on Memorial Weekend sales, our new 2006 Chardonnay and 2006 Harriet's Port are not going to be around very long. Get yours while it's still available.
If you want to bring a group up for a special tasting drop us a line. I'll have bells on.
You're my life coach, Husum.
Joel
Memorial weekend is close enough to touch. I've been training for months. I feel like I'm in the best pouring shape of my career. If you 've ever visited on Memorial weekend you know how much fun it is. For the third year in a row my family will be away, leaving me in charge. I will have the help of two time employee of the month runner-up, Ryan, who serves up his world famous "Twisted Harriet" wine cocktail. We might even have a little music stage set up in case anyone wants to entertain the visitors.
Visitors of the past week include the three tourists from Germany, Justine and Roger from Vancouver, and the couple from Houston who visited the Gorge and decided Houston wasn't quite as beautiful. Houston not as beautiful? Are you kidding me?
You make me not care about gas prices, Husum!
Joel
For some reason my last two blogs have not shown up on the website. They are floating out there somewhere in cyberspace. It's unfortunate too. It just so happens that I attached some nude photos of all of our guests at this year's barrel dinner. Oh well. I guess we'll just have to do it again next year.
2006 CHARDONNAY, 2005 LATE HARVEST CHENIN BLANC AND 2006 HARRIET'S PORT ARE ALL BOTTLED AND AVAILABLE. All three of them were originally scheduled for release on this upcoming Memorial Day weekend but we thought we would give your moms a shot at being the first on their block to taste them on Mother's Day. Of course, since my last two blogs didn't get posted for some reason there was no way for you to know that. I feel bad that we were giving a bottle of each to every mom that came in on Mother's Day and nobody had a way of knowing. But again, for some reason the posts didn't make it to the blog.
Speaking of Mom's Day, we had a very nice turnout. Employee of the month runner-up, Ryan was serving an amusing little wine cocktail called the "Twisted Harriet". This is made with our new white port, mint leaf, orange twist and club soda. We may just have to have Ryan cruise around the golf course during the WRC Golf Challenge serving up his little concoction.
Memorial weekend is coming up and we will be offering
13 WINES for sampling in the tasting room. They include:
Gewurztraminer
Chardonnay
Pinot Gris
Pinot Noir
Tempranillo
Merlot
Cabernet Sauvignon
Lemberger
Syrah
Riesling
Late harvest Chenin Blanc
Port of Celilo
Harriet's Port
You can come out here taste all of our wines and visit several other great wineries who have even more varieties to chose from or you can just go to Oregon's Willamette valley and taste Pinot Noir at each place. To find out more about the wineries in this area go to
www.columbiagorgewines.com.
Thanks to all of you who emailed me to say that you heard my interview on KIRO's Tom Douglas program in Seattle. Tom is the most well known chef in the Northwest and it was a pleasure to talk to him.
I have to go get ready for bottling tomorrow. If you feel like getting out of your cubical come on out and help me.
You make everyday memorial, Husum!
Joel
