Day Three - A New Blend

What I see when I look across the counter

Yesterday was my third day at the vineyard, and it was a new experience among new experiences. It was the first day that I worked the tasting room with another regular employee, and not the owners. Susan is a lovely girl in her late twenties who just happens to be dating the vineyard's winemaker. She is planning to go away to culinary school in a couple of months, which is one of the main reasons they need me.

Up in the loft

We worked really well together, and I learned quite a lot about the wines from her. Since her boyfriend is in charge of actually blending the wine, which determines its ultimate flavor, her knowledge leans more toward the composition and grape qualities than it does toward the farming aspects of the vineyard. I am finding that everyone has their own area of expertise, and it is beneficial for me to be able to spend time with each of them and tap into their well of knowledge.

The tasting room - behind the counter

One of the regular projects involved with running a tasting room is keeping the bags stocked (you can see them in the above picture, on that small table next to the loft ladder). In order to keep the bags stocked, they need to have wine label stickers applied, and an information card stapled on. Susan and I sat and finished 250 bags in less than ten minutes. Because there are so few employees at the vineyard, speed is just as important as accuracy when it comes to job completion. The tasks may seem small, but they are myriad - and customers can walk in at any moment of the day, so the sooner you can wipe the glasses or prep the wine bags or dust the bottles or sweep the floor, the better.

The rear window... sans Jimmy Stewart

During the day, some VIP folks from a well-known wine magazine came by for a tour and lunch with the owners. While I was helping to serve breakfast, I saw the B&B housekeeper setting a beautiful table on the deck outside for the lunch. There were vases of cut flowers from the gardens, and sparkling flatware and china. I was dying to know what Daniel was going to cook for them, but I never got the chance to find out. Whatever it was, I'm sure it was delicious.

The aptly named Butterfly Bush, just next to the tasting room door

When Brenda came by the tasting room after they had left, she said they were talking about doing an article on the vineyard in an upcoming issue of the magazine. Exciting stuff for me, although I have to say that the walls of the tasting room are lined with articles from the New York Times and other major publications, so they are pretty well used to the attention by now.

On deck: candle holders made from our wine barrels by a local artisan

One of the high points of my day was when Daniel and Brenda came in to the tasting room and brought some of their close friends with them. Brenda told me that she had brought the bottle of the mead that my husband and I made (I gifted her a bottle of our wedding mead, a 2002 vintage) when they went to their friends' house last night, and they fell in love with it.

Weathered wood buildings, circa 1880

Their friends (whose names escape me now) are a Jewish couple, and they said that honey plays a major role in the celebration of Rosh Hashana. They've decided that our mead is a delicious and unique way to use honey for that honored occasion, and they asked if they could buy a bottle of our mead. I said that by law we cannot sell it, but that I would be happy to barter with them - a bottle for a bottle. And so it is agreed!

Waiting for the customers to arrive and play ball

I'm really excited, because our humble little home-made mead is making rather a splash with the "bigwig" wine folks. According to the government, we can make 200 gallons a year for our own consumption and for gifting to others, but we may not sell it without getting a winery license. Most of the meads that you find for sale in a liquor store are just wine with honey added to them, and are not "true meads".

View from the front door

In my whirling imagination, I wonder if it would be possible to become the "head mead maker" at the vineyard. Now, wouldn't that be something?

A tasting table, complete with water jug, spit bucket,
wine lists, and more barrelwood candle holders of course