It is July 6. Today was a bit cool and a bit of rain was squeezed from the clouds. Very refreshing.
It has been a record 29 days without rain and the grapevines have caught up and July is supposed to be nice, so, we might have a decent harvest of island-grown grapes.
The Vashon Poetry Fest was a huge success with all of our events at or near capacity. It was really fun helping to organize and sponsor the event attended by over 700 people over Memorial Day Weekend.
I decided to just do a few large events this year, rather than a number of smaller events at the winery. The poetry fest was born during a poetry reading last year by the state’s poet laureate Sam Green. He offered to bring to Vashon his friend, Tony Curtis, of Ireland. Together they rocked. On the final day of their visit, we threw a breakfast send-off for them. I was sitting between the two poets, listening to both talk. Tony shifted gears right in the middle of a sentence and started to recite an original poem, then as quickly shifted back to finish his sentence. It took me by surprise and I had to ask him if he indeed did what I thought he did…..and he said, yes….”I have had this idea for a poem that just had to come out and I will finish it on the airplane on my return trip home.” Shortly, photos of the event will be posted at Vashonpoetryfest.com. It was one of the top things I have ever been associated with and it was made entirely possible by the warm humanity and talent of both Tony and Sam. They were absolutely amazing. I also want to publicly thank the poetry committee: Ann Spiers, Lonny Koneko, Devon Atkins and Faith Sohl. Each contributed mightily in making the fest happen.
I will be doing a wine tasting at Cafe Luna this Friday, July 10, but not of my wines. Rather, we will taste a selection of five wiines from around the world, including: Argentina, south Oregon, Italy, Chile and Australia. These are table wines, selling for less than $12. in the grocery store and available at very reasonable prices at Luna, by the glass or by the bottle. Seems like a perfect way to start a weekend: pull into the Luna, taste some wines for $8. (for all five wines), meet some folks, and then maybe stick around and listen to the sounds of Mark Wells, a very strong and distinctive vocalist, guitarist.
I also do a similar tasting at Sound Found on First Friday, working closely with Mardi Ljubich of SheFidgets Catering. There we usually taste three or four wines for $10, wines that are slightly more interesting, and more expensive. I find people like to come into the restaurant, order their dinner at the front door counter, then start with the wine tasting. I will often come by their table, pour them the next wines, talk abou the wines….just as dinner is ready. Mark, Mardi’s fiance and the bartender, has said that customers rave about being able to taste wines from around the world and one woman exclaimed, “I’ve just been around the world in wine!”
The next big event for Vashon Winery is our 2nd Annual Folk Festival on August 22, Saturday. This is an all-day event held at the winery grounds with music going from 2 – 10pm. It is organized by Wally Bell and his wife Carolyn. I think you can find a MySpace video of last year’s event plus music from many of the performers, both last year’s and this year’s at www.myspace.com/vashonwineryfolkfestival. I think you can listen to their music as well; that’s Wally’s thing.
Finally, we have just released our new 2005 Merlot and our 2006 Semillon. Both are very good. The ‘05 Merlot is one of our very best; from a cool growing season that finished with a hot bang, ripening the grapes, I think, to perfection. Of interest: recent DNA testing shows the parentage of Merlot as Magdeleine Noire des Charentes (the mother) and Cabernet Franc (the father). This underscores the relationship between Merlot and Cabernet Franc and why they are so complementary. You can try our Right Bank Red which is a 50-50 blend of the two. It is starting to drink wonderfully.
The 2006 Semillon is a change from the slightly acidic ‘05. I think consumers will like it better for its softness and nice ripe flavors. Personally, my bet goes to the ‘05.
Hope to see you soon, at the winery, at Sound Food, at Cafe Luna, or just about….oh, like at the Wine and Jazz Fusion Garden during Strawberry Festival. We’ll be pouring the Merlot and the Semillon and likely the Tramp Harbor Red.
Ron Irvine
Vashon Winery
