Winery visits ~ Chez Nous??

Here's a new one.  Winery visits.  Now here is something that I am having to get used to, and better at!  The French always say that wine making isn't the hard part, it's selling it! Selling has never been one of my strong points, although I've done a fair amount of it in my lifetime.  Well, let me say that I can sell something if I truly do like it, if I don't, it's not one of my better honed skills.  Then when it comes to our wine, of course I like it, I even love it, but when it's your own product, it's hard to be so laudatory about it.  You know, it's something you've made, you really really want people to like it, but you also want to be somewhat humble in the process, not seeming too pompous at the same time.  I have been witness to more than one scene in which a customer tells a winemaker that their wine isn't that good, or isn't their cup of tea, people that have no idea what has gone into making that bottle of wine.  No idea that their heart and soul went into making it and this guy just has to tell him that it's not good!  It's not a pretty sight, and it's not something that I want to endure! Of course our wine isn't for everyone, but I sure hope that when they come to our place, they'll try to be polite and thoughtful of all the hard work that has gone into making that bottle of wine.

Which brings me back to the point of this post.  Tasting at our "winery".  Yeah, that's it.  Does that put an image in your mind of a beautiful building, an entryway and a tasting room surrounded by lots of oak barrels and bottles of wine??  Well, uh, it's not quite like that here.  We haven't fixed up a "tasting room" yet, so when people ask to come and taste our wine, I gladly accept, and then hang up the phone wondering what they will think of tasting in our kitchen!  Yes, for some reason we end up tasting in our kitchen.  It's as nice a place as any... Though a bit strange for some people.  Recently there was a group of 5 Canadians that were staying at a place down the street.  One day they rang the bell and asked if they could have and wine tasting, and asked  "what do you do here?"  Like do you have a tour?  Uh, well... sure, I can give you a tour, as you enter, on your left is the cellar where we store the bottled wine (used to be a garage.)  Please come with me now, through the house, into the back yard, and now here's the vinification cellar.  (About as big as your two-car garage).  On your right and left there are our 4 concrete fermentation vats, as well as three other fiber glass tanks.  On the upper level you will see our 500 liter oak barrels, both of them.  There's also a pump, a horizontal press just outside the door, and various other winemaking equipment - a shovel, a long-handled squeegee and a stainless steel contraption that is used to draw a tank sample .  Well, that's about it, would you like to follow me into the kitchen to taste our wines?  Yes, we make a red, and a red.  Just one wine.  Hmm, not quite like a  "real" winery is it??

Oh well.  In general people love to hear our story, and their eyes get very wide when I explain that it's just the two of us, Matt and I.  No, Mexicans, no Moroccans, over even a Pole, just us.  The story gets more interesting for them then, and people tend to leave with a great story, and an hour well spent.  Jeff and Carolyn Mitchell from Minneapolis came to visit a few weeks ago while they were in area.  Jeff had discovered my blog and had even bought some La Gramière in MN before coming.  After they left, they sent me some great photos and an email that warmed my heart.  Here's an excerpt:

Thanks again for the gracious welcome and tour of your cave(s). You and Matt have a beautiful home; I wonder if it's as obvious to you as it is to visiting outsiders how much the two of you "create" together

-- a domaine, a wine, a home, a business, a brand, etc., etc. Not many people take the plunge so deeply with another person. We felt lucky to join the conversation for an hour or so.

They even sent me a picture of a bottle of our 2006 that they happily drank in Barcelona! (not yet labeled - notice the cork neatly displayed at the base of the bottle)

- photos courtesy of Jeff Mitchell.

 

Comments

[Tim Stephens]

Hey, Amy, I enjoyed this post a great deal! I've tasted wine in a few kitchens and I find it especially pleasing. Much more intimate than a fancy tasting room and rightly so because wine is an intimate thing. Nevertheless, I hope that one day the line of folks outside becomes overwhelming and you find yourself in the fortunate position of having to build a formal tasting room to handle all the traffic. :-)

As for tasting itself, I've found myself on the receiving end of what I consider both unwarranted praise and unwarranted criticism. I never cease to be amazed by how differently a single wine can be received by different people. There's no accounting for people's tastes and, sometimes, their civility.

Speaking for myself, I see wine as being a lot like a child -- it's the product of both nature and nurture, you make every effort to see that it turns out well and becomes all it can be, and you don’t really know how you did until years later when it makes you proud or disappoints. :-)

I would never pour something that I didn't believe to have merits, but it's my "baby" and, whatever it is, it's the product of a lot of effort and love. And, let's face it, perhaps I'm biased at times. After all, I am an amateur. A passionate amateur, but an amateur none the less. So to the tasters out there: If you can criticize constructively, please do, but don't just call my baby ugly. :-)

Or perhaps I should ditch my thin Pinot Noir skin in favor of a thicker Syrah-like skin... :-)

Thanks for the post!