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
Oh, I almost forgot. Results from the 2008 Portland Spring Beer and Wine festival judging are posted. I'll be there this weekend.
http://www.springbeerfest.com/Click on "Winners" on the left margin. If you click on "Losers" you won't find us. That would be boring. Click on "Winners". "Winners" tells you who the winners are. That's were you'll find us. Under the "Winners" category.
You're always a gold medal to me, Husum!
Joel
Destemmer/Crusher Update:
You may remember a blog posting from last harvest when our destemmer/crusher (Machine that destems and crushes grapes) broke during the processing of the very last grape of the year. I said that I had 10 1/2 months to fix it. Well, I still haven't even looked at it but the good news is that I still have six months before I need it again. Stay tuned.
I've been on the road for the last 5 days doing tastings in Portland and Seattle. Thursday night I was pouring at McGinn's Wine Shop in Portland. I like this place for many reasons but mainly because the owner, Jerry isn't afraid to crank the music. He doesn't play it quite as loud as WRC Employee of the Month, Runner-up, Ryan, but he still rocks. I enjoyed meeting all who were there and it was nice to see winery visitor, Bill. One time I had to run to the store for something and Bill and his wife, Alice watched the tasting room for a few minutes.
Friday night I poured at Country Cottage Wine in Bothell. This event was fun for several reasons. One, I was pouring all night next to my buddy, Joe from El Mirador. Two, I was entertained late into the night by the shop's owner, Rudy. And three, I got to hang out with some really great people. If you ever get a chance to play darts with Rudy you'll laugh your ass off. I suggest that you wear a full face helmet. CC wine shop does tastings every Friday night and Rudy is a big supporter of Washington wine.
Saturday was one of the most fun tastings I've ever done. I was pouring at George's Wine Shoppe in Bellevue. George has a great selection of wine but my favorite feature in his shop is the under-utilized pole in front of the tasting bar. I challenge any other winemaker to pole dance as well as I did in George's store. Employee, Wendy thought that I had great potential. George may have needed a few glasses of our Cabernet Franc to get the image out of his mind but those who saw me work that pole were eager to get out their $1.00 bills. I also had a great time after the tasting.
Here's a free plug to a nice wine bar/restaurant in Buckley, WA. Coho Wine Bar doesn't sell WRC but I went there for dinner Sunday evening with Ma and Pa Joel. Great food, great service and great wine. I hope to return someday.
I was very pleased to pull up to the winery today and notice that the vineyard pruning is nearly complete. I made a huge dent in it before I left but Vineyard Manager, Gavin has it nearly complete. Nice hustle, Gavin. The next time you visit the winery and run into Gavin, give him a little slap on the ass and tell him "Good job". As a matter of fact, do it to me also.
This coming weekend I'll be pouring wine at the Portland Spring Beer and Wine festival. It's going to be in Portland this year. I'll be sharing a table with Craig from Northshore Cellars. I'm really hoping Craig doesn't cross-dress this year. Come on down and visit. Mention the blog and receive a free pole dance.
You're always welcome to dance on my center stage, Husum!
Joel
Special thanks go out to you loyal customers in Miami who informed us of this feature in the Miami Herlald newspaper. You can tell that Employee of the month, runner-up, Ryan is quite the quote machine.
http://miamiherald.com/999/story/444817.html
GET OFF MY BACK! I'm sorry I haven't blogged in two weeks but I've been busy with that vineyard thing. Someone told me once that the damn things need to be pruned every year. This takes a lot of hours and fortunately the weather has been fantastic.
Last week I was pruning the section of vineyard in front of the tasting room. Suddenly I noticed that Minnie the pig, Newman the dog and two cats were all hanging out with me. The above picture is Minnie and Newman taking a nap in the sun while I work. They reminded me of Employee of the Month Runner-up, Ryan.
This week I'm taking my show on the road. I'll be pouring wine Thursday night at McGinn's Russle St. Wine Shop in Portland. This wine shop is on Russle St. Saturday I will be heading North to Bellevue where I'll be pouring at George's Wine Shoppe.
Visitors of the week include the great people from Tennessee, the fishing couple from Tri-cities, and the fun two ladies from Sherwood. We had a great week in the tasting room and I don't think I pissed off a single person.
You give me Spring fever, Husum!
Joel
