A Cork is a Cork is a Cork

Date: Mon, Jun 23, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

I subscribe to many many food publications. Yes, wine and food do go together, so I can justify my compulsion. Yes I can! When this month's Cuisine at Home arrived (a great publication, by the way), I opened it right up and read all of the "aha" uses for items that were created for a different use. These "aha" uses are submitted by Cuisine's readership.

When I read about an alternate use for a wine cork, I just had to share it with you. As Ginny Tower from Bend, Oregon wrote: rather than reaching for pot holders to take the heat from the lids to her pots and pans, she slips wine corks under the lid handles, grabs the corks rather than the metal lid handles, and never burns her fingers.

In a future blog, how to make a lamp from a wine bottle, in particular, an Anomaly wine bottle. This one was created by my dad! Chantico.

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A Cork is a Cork is a Cork

Date: Mon, Jun 23, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

I subscribe to many many food publications. Yes, wine and food do go together, so I can justify my compulsion. Yes I can! When this month's Cuisine at Home arrived (a great publication, by the way), I opened it right up and read all of the "aha" uses for items that were created for a different use. These "aha" uses are submitted by Cuisine's readership.

When I read about an alternate use for a wine cork, I just had to share it with you. As Ginny Tower from Bend, Oregon wrote: rather than reaching for pot holders to take the heat from the lids to her pots and pans, she slips wine corks under the lid handles, grabs the corks rather than the metal lid handles, and never burns her fingers.

In a future blog, how to make a lamp from a wine bottle, in particular, an Anomaly wine bottle. This one was created by my dad! Chantico.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Olive Oil Bottling Party

Date: Mon, Jun 16, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

Each year we do a special event at the winery for members of Calistoga Ranch. One year we did a wine-bottling party. This year we decided to mix it up a bit and do a luncheon in the cellar (prepared by Katherine Grimes, who made such a fantastic feast that it was gone before I could snap a photo). After lunch, we went up to the winery crush pad where a fustino (which you can see is the stainless steel vat in the photo) full of olive oil fresh pressed from Steve's brother's olive trees in Cortona, Italy, was waiting for our 13 guests. Each was given a bottle to fill. After filling their bottles, they corked their bottles, then moved on to the labeling device created by Linda's father which they used to put the olive oil label in precisely the right place. And a bottle of olive oil was born. Now, what can we think of for next year??! Chantico.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Olive Oil Bottling Party

Date: Mon, Jun 16, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

Each year we do a special event at the winery for members of Calistoga Ranch. One year we did a wine-bottling party. This year we decided to mix it up a bit and do a luncheon in the cellar (prepared by Katherine Grimes, who made such a fantastic feast that it was gone before I could snap a photo). After lunch, we went up to the winery crush pad where a fustino (which you can see is the stainless steel vat in the photo) full of olive oil fresh pressed from Steve's brother's olive trees in Cortona, Italy, was waiting for our 13 guests. Each was given a bottle to fill. After filling their bottles, they corked their bottles, then moved on to the labeling device created by Linda's father which they used to put the olive oil label in precisely the right place. And a bottle of olive oil was born. Now, what can we think of for next year??! Chantico.

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Hot fun in the summertime

Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

So, today is the last day of my Bay Area Writing Group for the summer, so rather than winery news, I thought I'd pop a fun photo up of our granddaughter, Josie, pretending to copy our dog, Ashby. Chantico!

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Hot fun in the summertime

Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

So, today is the last day of my Bay Area Writing Group for the summer, so rather than winery news, I thought I'd pop a fun photo up of our granddaughter, Josie, pretending to copy our dog, Ashby. Chantico!

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So, what else is new?

Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

Besides the 102 heat yesterday, not that much! We are in the "lull before the harvest" period, just watching the grapes mature, waiting for the magic day when green becomes red, and generally hanging out. In the meantime, Lisa, Seth's wife and our daughter-in-law, who is an incredibly talented artist (although she won't believe me), did a watercolor of the winery. See for yourself! Chantico - and stay cool!

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So, what else is new?

Date: Tue, Jun 10, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

Besides the 102 heat yesterday, not that much! We are in the "lull before the harvest" period, just watching the grapes mature, waiting for the magic day when green becomes red, and generally hanging out. In the meantime, Lisa, Seth's wife and our daughter-in-law, who is an incredibly talented artist (although she won't believe me), did a watercolor of the winery. See for yourself! Chantico - and stay cool!

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Precision Cork Placement

Date: Tue, Jun 3, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

Bet you didn't that it is important to have the proper distance between the bottom of the cork and the top of the wine. Our winemaker, Mark, makes sure that space is accurate.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Precision Cork Placement

Date: Tue, Jun 3, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

Bet you didn't that it is important to have the proper distance between the bottom of the cork and the top of the wine. Our winemaker, Mark, makes sure that space is accurate.

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Linda gets ready to fill the magnums

Date: Mon, Jun 2, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

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Besides the winery....

Date: Sun, Jun 1, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

I ran in my first 5K race in 27 years - yes, it's been that long. I ran much slower than I had in the past, but I finished, and I suppose that's what counts (although there were moments when I wasn't sure I would!). Chantico.

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Bottling the 2006 Vintage

Date: Fri, May 30, 2008 Winery Blogs Wine Business

The time has come. Last night, the Ryan McGee mobile bottling truck pulled into the winery drive and, after a week's worth of preparation, this morning the 2006 Anomaly Cabernet was bottled, corked, capsuled, labeled, and returned to a nice, cool, place to rest (our cellar) for another year before being released. It's a great feeling of accomplishment once the wine is put into the bottle. Chantico.

The Bottling Truck

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