Just not sure

We aren't sure which is going to show up at the tasting tomorrow. So hard to plan. One will be here for sure.


In other news.....

Our village has a photo shoot this morning for some clothes company. It is pretty exciting.
Big weekend last week for the Maritime Festival. Tens of thousands of visitors. That was pretty good too.

Gas down at the corner is well of $4 a gallon.  The food shop just up the street now has a coffee table.  The Harbor is full of big boats.

Halloween is the next huge event on our calendar.  Pretty neat stuff. Pretty neat.

And that's the news from Lake Wobegon.

Martha Clara Entenmann

We have to step back and admire folks who take something from the getgo and make it into something impressive.  We like Martha Clara Winery a lot for that reason.  They will be our "tasting host" this Saturday and we are glad to have them. A very nice selection of wines, a booming business started from scratch, and good friends to one and all.

As we have commented before, Martha Clara was "mom's" name and it is pretty special that someone would name an enterprise after "mom"; something we don't find much anymore.  Of course anyone who shops in any market knows the name Entenmann - something of an icon of baked goods - and we think that we recognize most of the selections in this picture.  When Entenmann's was old and Martha Clara Winery emerged we kinda knew that they would make a go of it.

Anyway, enough. Good folks. Very good wine. Pretty darn good classic crumb cake to this day.

Smarty Skirts

We ran this contest last month to give away some very nice wine glasses for "the more creative among us".  It was a huge success with scores of entries and some terrifically funny ideas.  Our winner was a Deborah who lives locally and although there was great debate over the finalists, we like this best.

What we also like a whole lot is that people, when given half a chance, can be as creative and clever as all get out.  We don't know if the winners/entrants came up with their entries in a flash or after pondering over it.  What we do know is that there are a lot more brains out there, all cocked and at the ready, then perhaps some of politicians give us credit for.

If it isn't Sparkling, What's the Pointe?

We had a conversation about rock climbing the other day.  A local gadfly came in all agog about watching someone climb a big rock face with no ropes - no nothing - just find the niches and up he went. We pondered this for a bit and rather liked the idea of persons doing such things; crazy things that we don't understand and would never do.  We couldn't for an instant imagine a sheer rock face and finding those little niches and handholds and, well up you go...up or out as it were.

A lot of times businesses are in the same position and at the mercy of a lot of things they can't control.  Our rock climber could well have taken a route that had no handholds, no niches for purchase, nada and eventually he would have found his way back but not in a good way.  We are surrounded by vineyards and as a Wine and Spirits shop, we take interest in these businesses because 1.) they are pretty much our stock and trade and 2.) there is a certain "rock climber" aspect to what they do. First there is a long term investment before the first bottle is corked and after that it is weather, or just a freaky poor harvest, or a pre-harvest hurricane. 

Then there are those who go a step further and put their eggs in a smaller basket. They climb rock walls blindfolded so to speak. Sparkling Pointe Vinyards comes to mind as their stock and trade is, well, sparkling and that is something of a daredevil thrill ride of current tastes to be sure. To be sure, the fine cabs and merlots produced around here have a huge following and the vineyards that produce these do a bang up job. People love the wines and rightfully so. Sparkling Pointe just climbed the rock a bit differently.  It is pretty neat really. They took rock climbing up on the vineyard scale and generally bet the farm that they could produce a niche type product that would have a constant following.

They were right and we think they are great.