It's a great weekend to be at BOW. The weather will be clear and crisp yet redolent with the warmth of early Spring's blessed nascence. There are flowers blossoming. There are trees budding red and blooming green. The harshest of winters is rocking back on its last leg. The fire pits will be lit on the patio to remove the remaining chill and folks will gather in community and good cheer. Lasting friendships will be made. Tonight Robbie Limon will sing here for the first time. Everyone who has heard him is flat out excited. And even more music Saturday: our buddies Hit by Pitch will be playing from 1-5p and the Fabulous Exaggerations will be rockin us for a great cause from 6-9p on Saturday. The cause is K-9 Rescue and those folks, volunteers all, rescue dogs from high kill shelters to nurse them as needed and place them with loving homes in the metro area. Theirs is a labor of love and we are honored to be a part of their evening. $25 at the door gets you a glass of wine, hors d'ouvres, a great band, and the good feeling of saving our most trusted and trusting companions. http://www.k9lifesavers.org/.
Join us.
Change is in the air....
It's not just that today is the first day of Spring. These days are so much longer. The lovely and inspiring sunsets hang over the Piedmont further to the North and lingering in their orange and pink boa softness. They're kinda like the lovely Sharon before she spends the day working in the winery racking wine and soaked in burgundy from head to foot.
The frogs are awake and they sing to the moon and to the stars. Grick, grick, griiiccck. Though now occurring later by the clock, the dawn is rushing at us a moment or two sooner each day, insistent and awake and full of birdsong. Gosh how we love living in the country.
Speaking of new, here's a fun one. Have you been to Yelp? It's another online community. We're there now because some folks have written about us.
Check it out: http://www.yelp.com/biz/barrel-oak-winery-delaplane.
Maybe you have time to write a little something. More news: we said we'd run out of the Norton last weekend. Guess what? We did! And this weekend's last hurrah? Late Harvest Viognier. Urrrahggghhhh...stewed pineapple. ummmmmhhhh.
You need more? How about a fine evening out at Marriott Ranch. Great food paired with BOW wines. Saturday evening, March 28th.
You want more?
Saturday April 4th from 6-9pm: A benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hosted by Team Spencer's Heroes. This is a childhood disease and a great cause to help eradicate it. I lost my best friend in College to CF. He was 22 years old. When he died he was the longest living survivor of this disease. Ever. People are now living into their 30s. Wow. Starryville will be playing from 6-9. All proceeds from the $10 door cover and 10% of all bottle sales will go to CF.
Wednesday, April 22nd. Green Drinks at BOW on Earth Day from 6-8pm. Meet and hang with Fauquier's green leaders. Learn. Breathe. Drink. Live.
Saturday April 25th from 6-9pm. The Relay for Life of Jessica's Hummingbirds in memory of Jessica Randall. http://caringbridge.org/visit/jessicarandall. Read her story. Cry with us and celebrate her life and legacy. Blue Book Value will be playing and we'll all be dancing! The door cover and 10% of all bottle sales will go to Relay for Life.
Life is good. We are together and it is Spring. We hold our loved ones dear to us and we share in all the possibilities of life. Heide and Fran and Dennis, your loved ones are in our thoughts.
Join us! Join us.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
What a week! Bottling week! Panic week! A week of Expo! A week of wins!
Let's reverse order the review. BOW won gold for the '07 Cab Franc in the Governor's Cup. Here's how one of the judges described our efforts: "This great vintage really was the best ever for this classic Virginia red grape, and so it was a tough competition to name the best in the field (there were three gold medal cabernet francs, one of which was from ’06). This winery is another industry newcomer, making an impressive start with a juicy, rich, fruit-driven wine where the oak is in the background and the finish is fresh and clean."
http://www.richardleahy.com/blog/2009/02/16/va-governors-cup-medal-winners-tasting-notes-and-commentary/
Richard's happy, we're happy, and we know you'll be happy when you get a taste of this wine. Sharon and I want to personally thank Rob, Chris, and DJ at the Winery at LaGrange and Pearmund Cellars for their help and support making this and all of the lovely '07 vintages. The Governor's Cup also gave us two Silvers and a Bronze. You can taste these wines before their release on Sunday, March 29th from 4-6pm. Drop me a line and I'll send you the details! brian@barreloak.com.
So the Wine Expo was fun. Kristin, Rick, Sharon and I all travelled to Richmond Friday to meet and greet our peers during the industry event at the convention center. We saw many friends promoting their wines and wineries and we made several new acquaintances. The Expo is an interesting event by several measures. The logistics and expenses to be there are steep. We think it is at best a break even proposition for many and may be a money loser for most. So why were there 40-odd wineries there? In the dead of winter it affords many wineries a place to boost sales and raise their public profile. What strikes us is that we are already so busy at BOW. Sending a team down would undermine our service to our existing customers and probably not generate much in the way of substantial sales or traffic. For us the verdict on expos and festivals is still out. We are leaning towards smaller local venues in the spring and fall in order to share our wines with the members of local communities. Any of your thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. The highlight of the trip for me was sitting and catching up with our good friend Stephen Bernard of Keswick Vineyards as I sipped on a bottle of his Governor's Cup (best in show) winning '07 Cabernet Sauvignon. Good job buddy! What a lovely and balanced wine!
Sharon and Rick made some wine of their own this week. On Wednesday, after panic about our labels and capsules showing up at the very last minute, the bottling truck backed into the crush pad and the work began. I was so proud of Sharon. She had marshaled a team of friends, staff and volunteers to bottle nearly a thousand cases of wine on a 25 degree cold morning. There were refreshments throughout the day and enough help to share in the heavy lifting. Each case of wine was properly labeled and stacked upside down with dates and proper identification on each pallet. This was our first complete start-to-finish production run at BOW. It was a significant and memorable day! Working closely with Rick, Sharon took a huge step on Wednesday and we are all so grateful for their hard work and dedication to BOW and making great wines.
This is living the dream my friends. And it is a lot of work! It is also a huge amount of volunteer help from a very large group of wonderful people like Tammy and Rosemary, Terri and Jim and Steven and Roxanne and Tom. Our wonderful staff are also up to their hearts in this effort. It is...so...much...fun! It brings smiles and tears sometimes. This dream is everything that we hoped for and days like Wednesday remind us of how lucky and grateful we are!
http://www.richardleahy.com/blog/2009/02/16/va-governors-cup-medal-winners-tasting-notes-and-commentary/
Richard's happy, we're happy, and we know you'll be happy when you get a taste of this wine. Sharon and I want to personally thank Rob, Chris, and DJ at the Winery at LaGrange and Pearmund Cellars for their help and support making this and all of the lovely '07 vintages. The Governor's Cup also gave us two Silvers and a Bronze. You can taste these wines before their release on Sunday, March 29th from 4-6pm. Drop me a line and I'll send you the details! brian@barreloak.com.
So the Wine Expo was fun. Kristin, Rick, Sharon and I all travelled to Richmond Friday to meet and greet our peers during the industry event at the convention center. We saw many friends promoting their wines and wineries and we made several new acquaintances. The Expo is an interesting event by several measures. The logistics and expenses to be there are steep. We think it is at best a break even proposition for many and may be a money loser for most. So why were there 40-odd wineries there? In the dead of winter it affords many wineries a place to boost sales and raise their public profile. What strikes us is that we are already so busy at BOW. Sending a team down would undermine our service to our existing customers and probably not generate much in the way of substantial sales or traffic. For us the verdict on expos and festivals is still out. We are leaning towards smaller local venues in the spring and fall in order to share our wines with the members of local communities. Any of your thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. The highlight of the trip for me was sitting and catching up with our good friend Stephen Bernard of Keswick Vineyards as I sipped on a bottle of his Governor's Cup (best in show) winning '07 Cabernet Sauvignon. Good job buddy! What a lovely and balanced wine!
Sharon and Rick made some wine of their own this week. On Wednesday, after panic about our labels and capsules showing up at the very last minute, the bottling truck backed into the crush pad and the work began. I was so proud of Sharon. She had marshaled a team of friends, staff and volunteers to bottle nearly a thousand cases of wine on a 25 degree cold morning. There were refreshments throughout the day and enough help to share in the heavy lifting. Each case of wine was properly labeled and stacked upside down with dates and proper identification on each pallet. This was our first complete start-to-finish production run at BOW. It was a significant and memorable day! Working closely with Rick, Sharon took a huge step on Wednesday and we are all so grateful for their hard work and dedication to BOW and making great wines.
This is living the dream my friends. And it is a lot of work! It is also a huge amount of volunteer help from a very large group of wonderful people like Tammy and Rosemary, Terri and Jim and Steven and Roxanne and Tom. Our wonderful staff are also up to their hearts in this effort. It is...so...much...fun! It brings smiles and tears sometimes. This dream is everything that we hoped for and days like Wednesday remind us of how lucky and grateful we are!
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