We’re Good To Go
After the whirlwind of the Tour & Taste weekend, followed by our Labor Day party for the community association, I jumped on a plane – actually, four planes – for a quick trip to LA and then Coloma. In each place Jim’s wines got a little showcase (by me) and were delightfully received. One esteemed wine drinker called the Chardonnay a little like Vigionier (something I thought, too) only better!
We enjoyed the next two bottles – PN and the Chard – after a thrilling day river rafting on the America River lower South Fork. You need to know that I never even got into a sleeping bag until I was well into my 40s and that was on a ferry trip up the Inside Passage in Alaska. And, at that, we slept in sleeping bags on deck chairs on the open Solarium deck so it wasn’t like squirriling on the ground with creepy things. And I haven’t been in a sleeping bag since. Thank you, Lord. So, for me to go rafting is a BIG DEAL. Oh, did I mention i also get seasick?? Nevertheless, I wanted to do this and believed everyone when they told me I wouldn’t have any problems on the river. It was enormously fun and quite a bit scary, too.
Are They Kidding .... I Need A Glass Of Wine
That’s me on the left in the dark shirt (I am either smiling or grimacing), Jim on the right in a dark shirt and his brother Jerry and nephew Tommy about to disappear into the rapids in the front!
By the time we got home, the grapes had begun turning their beautiful deep purples and golden greens. The weather is now perfect for their ripening – lovely, hot days and cool nights. I tasted some of the Pinot Noir grapes in the little vineyard Jim planted first to test trellis designs and they are sweet. He worries about every grape, which means his masterly touch is evident in the finished product. He’s talking through the harvest and crush since this is the first harvest from which we will keep all the grapes. Also waiting for us at home was our Winery License so we’re good to go.
That fabulous Chardonnay Jim makes will be the first wine we can sell along around next January!