Hello my people,
I can't say enough how I underestimated the Enumclaw Chocolate and Wine Festival. We do dozens of wine festivals every year and I definitely have my favorites, but this one, for a first year event, has launched its way to the top ten, and for many reasons. The facility was great, the selection of wineries was great, and the people attending were great. Mark your calendar for next year. Below is a picture of Lisa and Penni enjoying the velvety flavors of Wind River Cellars. (www.enumclawchocolateandwine.com)
The other picture below is of what I must deal with this week, taking wine out of those round looking wood things we in the wine business call "barrels". Barrels help wine age until they are ready to put into a bottle. These bottles are then sold to the consumer, which provides the winery with what we call "Revenue". Revenue helps a winery grow more grapes and buy more barrels the following year so that they can do it all over again. I will be "Bottling" this week. Bottling is the process of putting the wine into the bottle. This is done with equipment we call "Friends coming up to help bottle".
Valentine's Day Weekend we will be releasing 6 or 7 new vintages. I'm sorry to see the current vintages go. It's like dumping your girlfriend of the last 12 months for someone younger. After 12 years of Wind River Cellars, I've become pretty good at saying "Good bye, I'll see you at the library tasting next November". I'm very excited about the new releases which include '06 Lem, '07 Cab Franc, '06 Merlot, '06 Syrah, '08 Chardonnay and '08 Pinot Gris. It's quite possible that a few of these wines will show up at the tasting I'm doing this Thursday at Wine Alley in Renton. Some people call Renton "Northern Kent", some call it "Southern Bellvue", I just call it "Home to a great wine shop".
If you can't make it to the winery for the big release weekend, I'll be pouring them the following week at Auburn Wine and Caviar. (In Auburn, you idiot!) In the past, we've always held this event in a high profile location but this year I'm doing it in a central location with plenty of parking. Those of you that attended the release party at the Space Needle remember what a pain in the ass it was to park, get on that elevator and then try to talk your way in. That won't be a problem in Auburn. I promise you'll like this shop. Friday the 20th is for you people that take the time to read this horrible piece of crap blog. I'll have new releases and a few old classics. I promise a great time. For those of you that don't take the time to read this piece of crap blog, come down Saturday the 21st. I'll still pour you the new releases but you probably won't get the classics.
Don't forget that Capital Food and Wine Festival is coming up. This is another top 10 favorite.
Stay festive, Husum!
Joel
