Becoming a Phoenix

               I am always looking for way to improve myself and one of those includes my writing skills. If you have been a long time follower of my writing (mostly my family, cause the didn’t have much of a choice J) then you know I am not the most fluent writer. I tend to just write as I speak some fragments and some run on sentences. Well you will be happy to know I have enrolled in school to change that. I am now attending the University of Phoenix Online (UOPX). My Wife was very successful in getting her Master’s Degree in Nursing through the UOPX and is now working on her PhD in healthcare administration.

                I really enjoy doing social media for some of the local wineries so I decided to go back to school for a business degree with an emphasis on marketing. The online school is mostly writing assignments so my online presence may be less as I work to fulfill my school obligations for a bit.  I plan to post some of my old writings that I shared via email with my family when I was traveling the country installing medical software. Hopefully there will be a noticeable improvement in my writing skills as I progress with my education.

                I am going to continue to Tweet and talk about the local wine industry and hopefully use it as much as possible in my school assignments. So like the mythical bird my old writings are going to rise from the ashes I hope you enjoy them .

Russell’s Dining and Bar

What’s the best way to cap off the night after a day of volunteering at one of the many Woodinville wineries? A stop at Russell’s Dining and Bar in Bothell, a converted barn visible from I-405 and now surrounded by a business park.  I was greeted by none other than Russell himself, as always made to feel very welcome. As I settled into the bar area and was offered a sample of wine, I was just going to have a desert but a new item on the menu caught my eye and the aromas of great food  made me hungry so I ordered the Duck Confit Nachos.  This item is on the Bar menu so there is a Happy hour price of $10 a savings of $3 from the regular price I paid on this Saturday night. My plate arrived with a warning that it was very hot, and it was, piled high with corn nachos, shredded Duck Confit and a Corn Salsa this was a meal in itself.  Then I tried the new desert item, recommended by Russell, the Chocolate Caramel Tart. I think I have found a new favorite desert in this triangle of dark chocolate coated custard with a caramel drizzle. 

Russell’s Dining and Bar has some great features in addition to awesome food, the upstairs is an event venue with vaulted ceilings and wood floors just begging for dancing or large crowds.  There is no corkage fee for locally made wines and is a favorite of many of the area’s winemakers.  On this evening I counted four in attendance, who, without their permission, I am not going to name at this time. This is the place for great food and meeting good friends.

What to do on a rainy Saturday afternoon

On Saturday, January 29th, 2011, I had a blast pouring wine for the Edmonds Winery Release party for their 2008 Bentley and Syrah.  Bentley is a scrumptious red blend of 82% Merlot and 18% Malbec named after the winery dog a very friendly black Cockapoo. Bentley was there and greeted all the folks who ventured out in the rain to experience these new wines.  The winemaker, Doug Petersen, made his world famous Chili that really warmed the soul. The 2008 Syrah is a 100% Syrah from Destiny Ridge in Horse Heaven Hills area of eastern Washington.  Both wines are ready to drink and full bodied.  To celebrate this release May Palmer “Queen of Ivory Soul” belted out a 2 hour set and kept the crowd happy with her music. The crowd ranged from regulars and wine club members to folks who had just read about it that day in the Everett Herald.  I was also honored to meet the video blogger Antoine Pin and founder of Underground Winos of Seattle.  Author Peter Ghavami and his wife also visited; his book "Lean, Agile and Six Sigma Information Technology Management" is an IT Manager’s bible. Over all it was a great way to spend a rainy Saturday afternoon and this free event was enjoyed by many.

2011 resolution

For 2011 I resolve to read more of my friends’ blogs, newsletters, and websites.  Previously I mostly waited till some link showed up in twitter and I just happen to see it before is passes by.  But I have some great friends who are very talented writers and deserve more than just my occasional notice.  I invite you to add these folks to your favorites and follow them on Twitter and/or Friend them on Facebook.

One such friend is @TheGonzoMama or Christina-Marie Wright She is a mother, a vegan, a wine lover, a writer, a blogger and a friend. I first met Christina-Marie at the tasting room of Edmonds Winery in Woodinville and knew her as an attractive mother of seven children.  I later got to know her better through Twitter, Facebook and her tremendously humorous book "Everything Everything I Need to Know About Motherhood I Learned from Animal House." As I have a vegetarian son I look forward to her veggie recipes and her humorous take on parenthood.

Margot Savell is another of my friends I have made through Twitter, @WriteForWine is her Twitter moniker.  Margot is a very talented writer originally from Canada and now thankfully a Puget Sound resident.  Margot is very active in the local wine community and great person to know.

One of my earliest Twitter friends is Shona Milne, @Shona425 a Woodinville local and great supporter of the local wine community. Her website Woodinville Wine Update is widely read and good reading.  Shona is always a welcome face to see at many local wine events and always has the scoop on what’s happening.

A relatively new friend is Sean Sullivan the author of the Washington Wine Report and @WaWineReport on Twitter.  His blog is a very extensive review of both eastern and western Washington wines. 

Then I have some not as local friends who have some very interesting blogs, Josh Wade, AKA @NectarWine has a blog and tasting room in Spokane Washington. And one of my favorite unconventional writers Randy Watson or as many know him; The Wine Whore from my home state of Florida he takes the snobbery out of wine tasting and keeps me laughing.

Well this incomplete list is just a beginning of  my list of frineds and I hope you check back so I can share more with you.  If you have a blog let me know so I can check it out.

Winery Volunteering

I am often asked what it takes to be a Winery Volunteer, so I thought I would jot down a few random things that came to mind. 

The first thing is time; you have to be available when the winery has need of help. Most small Winery owners have “Day Jobs” so most likely the times for volunteering will be outside of normal work hours, evenings and weekends. This is advantageous to us part time winery workers as in most cases we also have “Day Jobs.” Because this tends to be the luck of coincidences it is advisable to sign up at many wineries, then chances are something will match your schedule.

The second is a desire to learn, every winery does things a little different so you have to be willing to learn how they "do it." Some have invested in equipment to automate some of the processes others do everything by hand and each winemaker has their own philosophy of what best suits their wine making methods. While you should not be afraid to share your experiences, do not try to tell them they are “Doing it wrong, because at winery XYZ they do it this way.”

Being outgoing helps as to get on the volunteer list you have to approach the winery. Most wineries have an email list of volunteers and the first ones to reply to a request usually get the job.  Make a good impression, being friendly and fun helps to get you to the top of the list as long as you are also productive. Belonging to their wine club and/or making regular purchases does not hurt either.

There are many options when it comes to helping wineries; there are the folks that help set out the food for events, If you have your Class 12 certification you can pour wine, During Crush there are lots of manual jobs that are easy to learn such as sorting the grapes to remove leaves, raisins and debris. Bottling is another opportunity to volunteer some wineries use an automated conveyor that requires little interaction and mostly just observation for defects to a completely manual process where even the labels are applied by hand.  So don’t be afraid to sign up and answer the e-mail maybe we’ll be working together sometime.

Who Knew? (Originally posted on WineCHATr.com 8/28/2008)

Eastern Pennsylvania is home to a new AVA, the Lehigh Valley, designated in April of 2008.  My business travels brought me to this fertile farming area at the foothills of the Pocono Mountains.  With a cooler and wetter climate than Eastern Washington I was surprised by the variety of grapes grown here.  A new one to me and the star of the Leigh Valley is the Chambourcin a red varietal that thrives in this AVA and makes a great tasting red wine. The locals here use American Oak primarily and some even from cooperages right in Pennsylvania.  Traminette is a white grape that does well in this AVA, along with Vidal Blanc, Cayuga and Pinot Grigio.  I visited three wineries here and will review them separately later.  The alcohol levels are notably lower in the wines here rarely more than 11%, and they seem to have a market that tends more towards the sweeter fruitier wines, Concord wine is a staple and I must admit it was like Welch's grape juice, I think a sippy cup of this before nap time would have made a difference in raising the kids :-)