Vashon Winery Journal (vashonwineryjournal.com)

I went into the city today to get bottles. It is somewhat convenient as it is just over the hill in West Seattle and down in the Duwamish industrial part of south Seattle.

I buy directly at the manufacturer (I think). They do manufacture there but I don’t know if they bring my bottles up from somewhere else or not. I’ve heard stories that they make the bottles there, then ship them to a warehouse in California, then transport them back up here; something to do with union protocol.

It was cold today and I had to wait awhile in the receiving area. Meanwhile big, big trucks are loaded. I only ordered one unit which is two palates. They just increased the size to 112 cases from 105 cases. I was concerned because I can just barely carry that much wait in my van. In order to get the cases of bottles in I have them load one palet with the forklift, then I manually load the other palet. I don’t want to risk tearing the rubber flooring on the van. My wife also depends on the van for her business.

I always feel so dumb, so small, loading just one palet. However, I have found that it is best for me to bottle in small batches. That is a lot easier on my cash flow. Sometimes I have to bottle in batches. And although I don’t like to do that, I haven’t found any detriment to wine quality. On the contrary, a little extra barrel time seems to benefit the remaining wine. I find it also gives me some flexibility if a particular wine is selling slowly, I can blend the remainder into another wine.

I got notices today that my insurance was going to cancel the winery, that my telephone was going to be cut off, and that I was going to lose service to my cell phone. I had already paid all of these bills.

I have always paid my bills (well, maybe not a few…but I intend to) in time. It seems so futile to call these kinds of companies. You can’t talk to a regular person anymore as it is all computer generated.

I do some business with Scott Laboratories in California. I buy corks and lab supplies from them. It is always a pleasure dealing with them. When you call them, a human being answers the phone. And they are incredibly understanding when it comes time to pay.

Oh, the bottle company I buy from cut me off from credit when one of my checks bounced back in January of ‘06. Now I have to send a check prior to the bottles being available for pick-up. It really hurts.

Cash flow and all I produce is cash drip. 

Oh well, the pleasures of being a small businessman. It like constantly swimming against the tide. You get tired after awhile.

Why didn’t I become a psychologist like I wanted to?

All I really want these days is a healthplan. My wife and I just cancelled our health plan. We really couldn’t afford it; and that was a plan with $10,000 deductible. They were cancelling that plan and reducing the deductible and raising our rates.

Well, I guess I’ll be walking more and watching what I eat and hoping…………

  Got a late start today. Went for a walk with my dog. Read the Seattle Times and had breakfast.

  Did some prep work for a class I teach about wine at South Seattle Community College. The winery that is associated with the college is about to release its first wines so we are having an open house/party to celebrate.

  Then I ran a bunch of small errands before going to the winery. The winery is about ten minutes from my home. I knew that it was going to be cold in the winery today so I wasn’t in a big hurry to get there…..although I had a bunch of stuff to do. I am trying to get some wine bottled this Friday. I have free up one of my tanks to blend the wine into, plus I wanted to get the wine into barrels anyway.

  I ended up moving my new Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The Merlot is from a new vineyard, Dwelley Vineyards, in the Walla Walla Valley. The Cabernet Franc is from Portteus Vineyard.

  It went really well. I got it all transfered into barrels. It was tough getting my forklift to start and to keep going. It’s a terrific forklift as it is a three wheeler and great for manuevering. But I have to stop and think what happens if it breaks down. I even hate to think of that. I’m not sure how I would finance another forklift. Then I start thinking about other items that I can’t do without…..and whether my lease arrangements will remain. Jeez, what would I do without this barn and property.

  But it seems to work. But it is all so fragile. Right now I have Art to help me but I can’t count on him wanting to work only a few hours a week, and I can’t afford to have him work very much.

  I was really lucky with the weather. It was pretty clear and cold, about 36 degrees F, until I was cleaning up, then it started lightly snowing.

  I hate working in the cold. I never seem to warm up. I have an area where I label wines, store wines, a sink area and my desk; all is kept warm with baseboard heating so I can excape the cold occasionally.

  Oh, I tasted the wine. It is really young. I added pretty hefty doses of meta-bisuphite to each and they both got bleached just a tad but you can taste and feel the great fruitiness in the middle of the palate. Having made wine now for about fourteen years I know that the color will come back and that the wine will develop wonderful rich flavors.