My names not Cooper, but check me out!

February 24, 2009

Look at me... I'm crazy. CRAZY! I took that barrel apart and scraped it and whupped it up. Then, I put it all back together again. I don't think there were any coopers in my family, but I put my wife, the hard-core genealogist who also whups it up, on that one :)

I have a good friend named Jay Cooper... whose mother was my 2nd grade teacher in elementary school. And yes, they had coopers in their history. With a name like that, you'd better.

But as of now, to the best of my knowledge, my father was the closest thing in our family. I inherited all his winemaking equipment back in 2000 and in it was several tools used by the cooper. Look at that band banger next to the bucket of beeswax. I promptly put it all to work. I've been making wine since 2000, and this cool little 5-gallon barrel that he had needed a refurbish. It was taken care of and it's become a sentimental thing to me now. These pics just show the process. I was successful in this event and I'd do it all over again. I'd whup it up!

Tags: wine , jason , cellar

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Wine Cellar Event Sat. Feb. 21

February 20, 2009

On Saturday, we ate, drink and were merry with good friends. Over the last 2 years, I have really been digging the red wines. To me, reds *are* more complex animals and hard to figure out both in the tasting and making. But I drink what I like and it spans from sweet to dry. I look at the craft in the style of wine in reds more so than whites. It seems there’s more tinkering done in the cellar with red wines… and rightly so.

These are NOT all the wines that were available. They were this years, “featured selections.” My idea is to feature a diverse group of wines from sweet to dry and cheap to expensive, both red and white. People liked some, but not all. Seems my homemade peach wasn't so hot. In fact, it tasted soapy :( - But, I plan to play with it some more. You watch, I may just bring it around. My Plum wine however, was something to gett jiggy to.

Here was the official line up, but it didn't include many wines that were brought... and additional wines that were pulled from the cellar.

Reds

2007 Menage A Trios (a blend) - Folie A Deux
2007 Chianti – Ruffino
2005 Syrah Petite - Stags Leap
2005 Syrah - Columbia Winery
2004 Syrah - Red Bicyclette

Whites

2007 Voignier - Stags Leap
2007 Moscato - Sutter Home
2007 Gewurtztraminer - Chateau St. Michelle
2006 Savignon Blanc - Bogle
2007 Chardonnay - Bogle

Sparking

2005 Champagne - Valley Vineyards

My Homemade

2007 - Concord
2008 - Peach
2008 - Plum
2008 - Strawberry
2007 - Niagra Ice Wine (juice from a kit… real deal stuff)

Thankfully, my wife shares the passion enough to where we’ve sinfully set up a budget for wine-buying. The goal was to put some good stuff in the cellar, but it’s so hard to keep our hands off it! So the cycle repeats. We find ourselves being wine junkies to the extent of grabbing a quick bottle of the shelf to try something new. It’s cool when you find a good $5-10 bottle that you really like. The point of my featured selections is not to wow or woo. It’s to expose everyone to a variety of wines… and particularly, ones I’ve been drinking lately. Around here, we “drink what we like.” If you like it, and it happens to be priced right, remember who introduced you to it :)

Wine is fun and finding people who appreciate it the same is a blast. Thanks to all those who contributed something to the wine and food. What a great experience. So, see you at the next taste. Check out the pics from this years event.

 

Tags: cellar , family , food , friends , wine

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Smooth move, Facebook

February 18, 2009

I commend Facebook for realizing that the power and success of their social network is driven by the user-community. No one likes to be told what to do. They will turn on you just out of spite. As an internet developer who is passionate about technology, I love making my applications work with the social networks. Facebook has been a well-developed service and when MySpace was the craze, I admired Facebook. They have managed to tuck away the "porn-like" scum that you can happen upon on MySpace and it is actually taken as a serious service by professionals too.

A lot of people I know were smashed by the new TOS and claimed they were "done with Facebook." It was sad to hear. With all the other stuff in the world and economy, this was the last straw for many people. Reverting to the previous terms of service that didn't claim the very content that makes Facebook what it is... was smart. Good job, Facebook.

Tags: web , rants

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The virtual hand-shake, it's ok to mingle

February 11, 2009

Everyone knows I like Gary V. and particularly, his practical approach to many things wine and life. His video below sums up most of our thoughts on social networking and "friending" people up on the internet.

Information is everywhere to be had, you only have to wade through it and follow what you like. When get an email out of no-where that says, "so and so wants to be your friend" don't get spooked out... dive in. The new, social web is about mingling, having fun, connecting with new contacts... and for me specifically, doing business. Thanks for this bit, Gary.

 

Tags: social , web

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