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- Feb 9, 2010
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Hi folks.
been a long time since my last post. Let me get you all caught up.
I have now been retired for over 3 years and I have never been so active. We are in the process of moving from NJ to the beautiful mountains of Georgia. We are currently in the process of getting our NJ home ready to sell.
Normally, a move is a heavy task, but we also have to move a winery too. We have industrial space now and are now working out of that location while also in the process of bottling out the old winery at our home. It is so weird to see the winery so empty. we have only 800 bottles (or so) to cork and the old winery is done and over with.
Going forward, I will continue working out of this industrial location in NJ. I will make the trip up to NJ for all of the important events on the winemaker's calendar (crush, first racking, bottling, etc). Fortunately, I have some family members that can babysit the wine while I am away.
The area I am moving to have some of the prettiest country that you ever saw. Oh, did I fail to mention that it is also a burgeoning wine region?? Yes It Is!!!!
My birthday was August 1st. For my birthday, I tell my wife that I want no gifts. We are of that age where we already have too much stuff! Rather than any birthday gifts, I ask that my wife takes me out to visit wineries. Surprisingly, she is very agreeable to this deal.
Things get better....
I just so happens that each year, during the month of August, most of the local wineries come together to form the "wine Highway". The way this works is that you can pay a fee to obtain a "passport" which entitles you to free tastings at all participating wineries and a free tasing glass. This year the passport was $75 with 41 wineries were participating.
WOOOPIE!
This experience so far has been an education on the local wines and not an excuse to get drunk. Before beginning, I purchased a small notebook and have been making detailed tasting notes of each and every wine sampled. I also note on how I was treated at each winery. My experiences ranged from being completely ignored to one-on-one time with the owner/winemakers. I am glad to say that, after Identifying myself as a winemaker, most wineries were quite happy to give me one-on-one time with the winemakers. This was by far the most valuable part of the experience.
In general, my local education was very enlightening. The quality of the wines in the north Georgia mountains is truly world class and on par with any other winemaking region in the world. They are serious wineries with serious product. One of the best wines I have ever tasted in my life was on my month long odyssey. It was a Chardonnay from a winery called Chateau Meichtry. It was complex, soft, buttery (MLF did its job), and had just the right amount of oak notes (2nd use Med toast Hungarian). Its aroma, clarity, mouth feel, and end notes made it a true work of art. And get this, only $26 per bottle! Now, you all know that I am a red wine lover, but this white was stunning. I advised the winemaker to get the wine into competitions and raise the price by at least $10 per bottle. He wholeheartedly agreed with me.
Unfortunately, while at the Chateau, I did not get to talk with the winemaker or owner (one and the same person), but they did have extremely knowledgeable and attentive pourers that could answer technical questions. The venue was so pretty with glorious mountain views that rival the best that Napa has to offer. The whole experience was a true eye opener.
In my travels this month I did come across one thing I have not seen before. It was a Norton that was aged in bourbon barrels. I saw this at two of the wineries I visited. One was aged for a year and I have to say that I did not care for it much, The wine took on a whiskey flavor that carried with it a hint of oxidation. The other example, however, was stunningly good. The wine maker only aged it about 6 weeks, during which time the wine lost all hints of foxiness, and smoothed out to be very enjoyable on the pallet for a Norton that was one 2 years old. A real eye opener!
To date I have visited 13 participating wineries, and sampled 61 wines. We plan on two more trips before the passport "expires" at the end of the month. One of the notes I made was the price of the tasting if I had not bought a "passport". To date, the value of all my tastings stands at $120 with another 5 winery visits planned this weekend. What a bargain!
All in all, I have been a very happy guy. What truly made it all so great was how my wife has been so gracious in taking me around to wineries all month. Hands off fellas, she is spoken for!
Hope all is going well with you kind folks.
been a long time since my last post. Let me get you all caught up.
I have now been retired for over 3 years and I have never been so active. We are in the process of moving from NJ to the beautiful mountains of Georgia. We are currently in the process of getting our NJ home ready to sell.
Normally, a move is a heavy task, but we also have to move a winery too. We have industrial space now and are now working out of that location while also in the process of bottling out the old winery at our home. It is so weird to see the winery so empty. we have only 800 bottles (or so) to cork and the old winery is done and over with.
Going forward, I will continue working out of this industrial location in NJ. I will make the trip up to NJ for all of the important events on the winemaker's calendar (crush, first racking, bottling, etc). Fortunately, I have some family members that can babysit the wine while I am away.
The area I am moving to have some of the prettiest country that you ever saw. Oh, did I fail to mention that it is also a burgeoning wine region?? Yes It Is!!!!
My birthday was August 1st. For my birthday, I tell my wife that I want no gifts. We are of that age where we already have too much stuff! Rather than any birthday gifts, I ask that my wife takes me out to visit wineries. Surprisingly, she is very agreeable to this deal.
Things get better....
I just so happens that each year, during the month of August, most of the local wineries come together to form the "wine Highway". The way this works is that you can pay a fee to obtain a "passport" which entitles you to free tastings at all participating wineries and a free tasing glass. This year the passport was $75 with 41 wineries were participating.
WOOOPIE!
This experience so far has been an education on the local wines and not an excuse to get drunk. Before beginning, I purchased a small notebook and have been making detailed tasting notes of each and every wine sampled. I also note on how I was treated at each winery. My experiences ranged from being completely ignored to one-on-one time with the owner/winemakers. I am glad to say that, after Identifying myself as a winemaker, most wineries were quite happy to give me one-on-one time with the winemakers. This was by far the most valuable part of the experience.
In general, my local education was very enlightening. The quality of the wines in the north Georgia mountains is truly world class and on par with any other winemaking region in the world. They are serious wineries with serious product. One of the best wines I have ever tasted in my life was on my month long odyssey. It was a Chardonnay from a winery called Chateau Meichtry. It was complex, soft, buttery (MLF did its job), and had just the right amount of oak notes (2nd use Med toast Hungarian). Its aroma, clarity, mouth feel, and end notes made it a true work of art. And get this, only $26 per bottle! Now, you all know that I am a red wine lover, but this white was stunning. I advised the winemaker to get the wine into competitions and raise the price by at least $10 per bottle. He wholeheartedly agreed with me.
Unfortunately, while at the Chateau, I did not get to talk with the winemaker or owner (one and the same person), but they did have extremely knowledgeable and attentive pourers that could answer technical questions. The venue was so pretty with glorious mountain views that rival the best that Napa has to offer. The whole experience was a true eye opener.
In my travels this month I did come across one thing I have not seen before. It was a Norton that was aged in bourbon barrels. I saw this at two of the wineries I visited. One was aged for a year and I have to say that I did not care for it much, The wine took on a whiskey flavor that carried with it a hint of oxidation. The other example, however, was stunningly good. The wine maker only aged it about 6 weeks, during which time the wine lost all hints of foxiness, and smoothed out to be very enjoyable on the pallet for a Norton that was one 2 years old. A real eye opener!
To date I have visited 13 participating wineries, and sampled 61 wines. We plan on two more trips before the passport "expires" at the end of the month. One of the notes I made was the price of the tasting if I had not bought a "passport". To date, the value of all my tastings stands at $120 with another 5 winery visits planned this weekend. What a bargain!
All in all, I have been a very happy guy. What truly made it all so great was how my wife has been so gracious in taking me around to wineries all month. Hands off fellas, she is spoken for!
Hope all is going well with you kind folks.
ventured to far away from the GRAPE?
