Wind River Cellars

I'm still recovering from the busiest Memorial Weekend in Wind River Cellars history. I don't have the energy to tell you about the fun group from Issaqua, Carly from Minnesota, Jan, Gary, Kelly and Richard from Puyallup, the nice couple from So. Cal., and especially Matt and Jill from Washington D.C. Employee of the month runner-up, Ryan and I were moving cases of wine faster than looters at a Halloween riot.

I'll post some photos as soon as I recieve them from those of you who said you would send them. If I don't post them it's because the people who said they would send them lied.

I would like to take this opportunity to make a sincere apology to one of the new wineries here in the Gorge. One of our barrel members, Jan, said that James from Springhouse Cellars in Hood River was a lot of fun and that his tasting room has potential to be as festive as the Wind River Cellars tasting room. I don't know if James found our prank phone call as funny as the 12 or so people in our tasting room did, but James, I must say that if I had it to do over again, I would. Don't worry, we sent a bottle of wine over to the folks at Springhouse to welcome them to the neighborhood.

You're better than Prince Albert in a can, Husum!

Joel

Just a quick shout-out to everyone. As most of you know, I'm not one to brag but at the risk of compromising my modesty, I must tell you that Wind River Cellars has recently been awarded for quality excellence. At the 2008 Northwest Wine Summit we were awarded 5 medals out of 1200 entries, including a gold medal for our 2006 Cabernet Franc. If I were the bragging sort I would also boast about winning silver medals for our Port of Celilo and Merlot and bronze medals for our Lemberger and Tempranillo. I don't like people who brag but did you happen to see the picture below of me with Don James? He only likes award-winning wines. You won't see him posing for pictures with the losers.

I hope to see all of you this Memorial Weekend. Today I'm going to call all of the wineries who didn't win anything. Hopefully the news of our awards will cheer them up.

Stay humble, Husum!

Joel

Summer showed up this past weekend and it was pissed! We hit 97 degrees on Friday and Saturday was nearly as hot. One thing about the sudden heat is its effect on snowmelt. The White Salmon river is flowing very fast right now and should be in excellent shape for rafting this upcoming three day weekend. Memorial weekend is always a great time in the tasting room and I look forward to sharing stories and pictures next week. One of the main reasons that I love Memorial weekend so much is because it means that the Wind River Cellars Holiday in Mexico is only 6 months away. Call or email for details if you're interested in joining the fun.

THE WRC GOLF SCRAMBLE IS FILLING UP VERY FAST! I have assembled a team that has an excellent chance of winning without cheating. I've never experienced victory on the golf course without cheating so it could be eye opening for me. Call or email for more details.

WRC Scramble Master of Ceremonies, Josh was in town this past weekend and decided we needed another animal. I wanted a sloth, Josh wanted a monkey. We settled on an ant farm. I can now add ant farming to my resume. Our ant farm is proudly on display in the tasting room. I'm thinking about installing a live ant farm web cam so that Josh can monitor the activity from his home in Huntington Beach.

Come on out this weekend and taste our 12 current releases along with barrel samples. We might even have some live music.

You're alway memorable, Husum.

Joel

I'm back in the warm, loving arms of Husum after several days on the road. I would really like to thank the Wine Alley in Renton for a wonderful time Thursday evening. It was very nice to meet a lot of great people who frequent the shop.

Have I mentioned that the WRC golf scramble is coming up July 19th? Get your team together before we're full. It's funny that I'm telling all of you to get your team together and I don't even have mine yet. None of my friends will play with me because they've heard what comes out of my mouth on the golf course. It's bad enough to make a logger blush.

The weather is going to be fantastic this week. Rumor has it that we're going to flirt with 90 degrees.

I feel fortunate that over the Mother's Day weekend I was able to spend a little time with an important person who means a lot to me and had so much influence in my upbringing. Below is a picture of the two of us.

You're the Motherland, Husum!

Joel

Nothing says "Mother's Day" better than a glass of wine with Don James.

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!