Day 1 of the wine country roadtrip from Atlanta to Sonoma is officially in the books.  I felt pretty good and excited to get things started and pounded out about 673 miles and settled down in Van Buren, AR for the night.  The weather held up nicely and was sunny and hot most of the way with the exception of a quick storm that decided to slam me right when I was unloading the car at the hotel.  I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who is supporting me on this wonderful life journey, especially my wife, Jonjie, who has allowed this to become reality.  I don’t know what I would do without her.  Of course, thanks to all 5 of you other folks who are actually reading this and commenting… I really do appreciate it.  Come visit me in Sonoma this harvest and we’ll raise a glass!  Now, onto today’s highlights:

Memphis BBQ

The first leg of the trip was a fairly lengthy stretch on I-20 and hwy 78 from Atlanta to Memphis before I even hit I-40.  However, the dangling carrot in front of the loaded down family truckster was the promise of Memphis BBQ for lunch.  Brad (@biskuitatl) had recommended Payne’s BBQ on Lamar, however, I learned that it is closed on Sunday’s as most things are on this day in this town.  Ben (Benito) Carter of Benito’s Wine Reviews informed me of this critical information and offered up a backup plan, as did Brad, to check out Central BBQ.  The results were tasty, right on time and had me and Willie on the road again.  Check out the results and colorful comments from other BBQ lovers here.

Wine in the Ozarks

You have heard me and many other wine geeks mention on more than one occasion that there is at least one winery in every state.  One such winery in Arkansas, named Chateau Aux Arc (pronounced “O-zark” — get it?), is only about 3 miles off of I-40 in Altus, AR.  A few wineries in this area were  approved to make sacramental wine during prohibition and therefore have been making wine for over 130 years.  Ch. Aux Arc and their vineyards are within the Altus AVA which is situated on a plateau above the Arkansas River.  The tasting room manager informed me that they had already harvested their grapes this year much to my amazement, though it is necessary due to the very warm climate.  Unfortunately, a lot of the resulting wines remain quite high in acid which was quite noticeable when I tasted their lineup.  They make Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon (though not anymore as it just isn’t doing well for them in this area), Dragon Fly (Merlot/Zin blend), Zinfandel, Muscadine and a German-style off-dry white blend.  The 2004 Zinfandel was very good, with aromas of plums, raisins and black fruit and had nice spice finish that had good length.  The off-dry blend included Chardonnay, Muller-Thurgau, Kerner, Orienesteiner (sp?) and Scheurebe.  It was probably less than 2/2.5% RS with great floral, honeysuckle and citrus aromas and was well-balanced.  A nice way to wrap up the day.

The Power of Positive Thinking

Carry and present the attitude that you would want others to present to you.  Have an attitude of accomplishment, drive and the desire to be successful.  Do not let others tell you that you are not worthy and you do not have the right to chase your dreams just because you don’t have 30 years experience in the field like they do.  People who do this are haters and only serve to bring negative energy to the conversation and will only serve to suck you into the black hole of self-doubt.  This kind of negative attitude is the source of what is wrong with wine today and why social media can be a good thing for wine if used appropriately.  Most social media channels do not tolerate such negativity, though constructive criticism, transparency and open feedback are welcome.  The problem with these haters is that they are trying to apply their 30 years of yesterday’s experience to something that is innovative, ever-changing and requires a completely different point of view.  Maybe they don’t have the experience to be flexible and adapt to changing environments, who knows.  Those who do will remain relevant.  My advice to you is to keep positive, keep driving and keep getting better at what you do.  Let the online community decide who is fit to influence… not haters.

Cheers!  See you on the road tomorrow – be sure to follow along with my tweets and pit stops via Foursquare.

-Easy Rider

James Cagneyclaims he never actually said “Mmmm you dirty rat!” in his 1931 film Taxi!  But, I will claim it proudly come this harvest season in Sonoma as I get the pleasant opportunity to scrub tanks, clean barrels and help prepare and execute crush and fermentation at Holdredge Winesin Healdsburg, CA.  I owe a lot to John Holdredge for allowing me to work for him this Fall as I guess I am probably twice as old as most of his usual harvest interns.  The opportunity came as a surprise one day on Facebook when John noticed I was applying to win an opportunity to work with Lynn Penner-Ash in Oregon last November.  He reached out and said something to the effect of “If you don’t win this thing, you can come work for me.”

Then, in February, I called him on his proposal as I had just learned that my company was about to embark on a radical organizational change that was going to reduce everyone’s level of job security.  John is a witty and bold individual and gave me what I suspect is the usual schpeal about the overwhelming work involved and how only those entirely devoted to the wine industry should apply.  Of course, I am a devoted wine geek and just completed a winemaker certificate program from UC-Davis, so I was adamant about putting that book-learnin’ to actual use.  He and I came to agreement.

So, here I am.  Two months from being let go from said re-organization and about 3 weeks away from what I can only assume to be synonomous with the hell week I experienced as a neophyte in my college fraternity (only to have John state that it will be more like a month, than a mere week) and I cannot be more excited.  As many already know, the weather in the North Coast has delayed harvest an estimated 2-3 weeks, so early September will most likely be spent cleaning tanks and preparing the facility for the harvest activity.  But fear not, as it has been said more than once that it takes a lot of good beer to make great wine and I intend to uphold that legend.

John Holdredge

If you are not already familiar with Holdredge Winesthen you are truly missing out on some fantastic Russian River Pinot Noir.  If you are familiar with me at all, you know I love this grape and just recently coordinated a global Pinot Noir tasting via Twitter.  My wife and I met John (and have yet to meet his better half, Carri) last summer.  Though we caught him early when he was about to send some barrel samples to the lab, he was gracious and courteous to commence a tasting and give us some insight as to the bike route we should take that afternoon as we were going on a bike ride later.  He came highly recommended from Michael Bryan, owner of the Atlanta Wine School, and Atlanta is a market John visits regularly.

As a part of my journey, it is my desire to bring to you the behind-the-scenes look at harvest in a winery including the personalities that abound in such a hectic yet passionate environment.  If you are in the area, you must visit.  If you have any questions about the process, please ask.  It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it!