Radical Rants by Richard

It is a grey foggy monday before Christmas and dampness is everywhere. I am taking a day off today because we are going to be open for Christmas. Last week I was talking to my friend Mary at Villagio in Yountville, she said Thank You for being open for Christmas we need a few Wineries for our clients who are here for the holidays and have nowhere to go. I think the same person who has been signing us up insurance quotes, extra schooling, motorized wheel chairs, and many other internet services decided that it would be a great joke if we were open for Christmas and did not know that until people started to show up on our doorstep. Well I decided what the hell why not be open since there were only a few wineries open and i wasn't going anywhere any way. Jon volunteered to help me out until 3PM so now we are making history and being open on Christmas for the first time in twenty five years.

Merry Christmas

Beautiful day to start the Calistoga Passport weekend check it out, we are not participating but it still will be a great opportunity. Stop by anyway. The Christmas port special went up today check it out. Save the Succulence (Port) for a special occasion in front of a roaring wood fire.  I will test my new skills while I am in Florida next week as to a long distance blogger, I know that is real easy for you young whipper snappers but the cyber-space is a challenge for us Great Generation tech ignorant old fogies. I will keep you all posted on my adventure to the other coast. Is it true that there are dragons in Florida? Don't forget that our Semillon goes wonderfully with Turkey.

Tomorrow 12/2/09 I am doing a blending Seminar for three guests at 1:30 and i have room for three more guests. Is anybody interested? You get a tutorial on the why' s and the wherefore's accompanied with a snack plate to illustrate how wine flavors change with different foods, then we tour the vineyard for a short show and tell aout trellising and how that affects wine quality and then we go to the cellar where you blend your own wine and take a bottle home with you. It costs $85.00 and takes about two hours. Rebecca is still doing her magic here at the winery in her marvelous manner  She has relinquished the opportunity to go to Florida to promote the winery, and i am going instead.

We are going to offer a Christmas special for the Port And Chocolate in a pretty box for a Christmas gift ti will be up on our web site soon.

Last June I wrote that I was now back and would be a regular Blogger. Well you know what happened. We have been on a rocky ride here at Graeser staff wise over the summer. First Bruce Harrison left for various reasons and then Jim Derrickson decided that he would rather pursue other avenues for his career. Tony Dodd joined us after many years of absence an event that pleased me greatly since Tony and I bantered with each other and had a fun time in the tasting room. Labor Day morning Tony colapsed with a major heart attack and died. Then Desire decided that she did not wish to work for us anymore and abruptly quit. Through all of this we have added many wonderful programs to add to the experience of Graeser Winery and I thank all of my departed staff for their contribution to our new selection, each one added a great deal to our efforts to enhance the Graeser experience. We are now doing blending seminars in which you learn how and why to blend wine and then you blend your own formula and take a bottle of your wine home with you. We keep the formula and will reproduce it for you on demand. Weather permitting we offer a vineyard hike around the vineyard and a wine and cheese pairing at the top of the hill or a sit down private tasting in our historic dinning room. As part of our regular tasting experience, when we are not slammed, a tour of  our historic 1888 Italian Farm house style Estate House and a tasting out of the barrel in the cellar. Jon Swenson joined us recently and is doing a terrific job in the tasting room and is learning how to take care of our club shippments. Jon also leads tours of our Estate House and does tastings in the cellar. Elizabeth Zima works in the tasting room on Thursdays which may give me an opportunity to get out and visit the Valley. My intention is to Blog at least once a week and more often if possible.

You can make the dust or eat the dust  I will write again soon

Richard