DC Tom Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Albemarle County Virginia. I've been selling for ten years. What's your label? Anything I might have heard of? We vacation in Massanutten, and I've visited a few of the vineyards in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Probably help my wife with her mobile food truck/catering biz. The objective is to run it just enough to pay for our fixed costs and use the 401k, pension, SS for fun. Scary plan. Just sayin' What's your label? Anything I might have heard of? We vacation in Massanutten, and I've visited a few of the vineyards in the area. If he's smart he's just selling the grapes. Spent the morning yesterday with a couple that have a small vineyard in Sonoma. They have 10 acres and sell most of the grapes but do make a very good Zinfandel, Red Blend and Zinfandel Rose. Crazy hard work. He works a full time job in the P&C industry and spends his weekends in the vineyard. Super nice couple. We've been there three times and their tasting room was their dining room table. I got a call during the tasting and had to excuse myself from the "tasting room" and take the call in their living room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Scary plan. Just sayin' If he's smart he's just selling the grapes. Spent the morning yesterday with a couple that have a small vineyard in Sonoma. They have 10 acres and sell most of the grapes but do make a very good Zinfandel, Red Blend and Zinfandel Rose. Crazy hard work. He works a full time job in the P&C industry and spends his weekends in the vineyard. Super nice couple. We've been there three times and their tasting room was their dining room table. I got a call during the tasting and had to excuse myself from the "tasting room" and take the call in their living room. If he were smart, he wouldn't be a Bills fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share Posted May 11, 2017 DC tom, where is his winery to Haymarket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 (edited) Maybe I'll become a Stromboli apprentice? I'm in Atlanta against my will, but the wife has a great gig and it's close to family so it really does make the most sense at this point. I want to do something I enjoy. I loved my job in FL, but it's not transferable and I took a job here that was the worst of my life. Won't do THAT again. I don't need to work, but I want something to be a part of and feel fulfilled. A check would be great too, but not really required (a luxury, I know). As it is, I'm the errand boy for the family, play tennis with a bunch of guys almost every day the weather is decent (you'd think I'd be better!) and travel as much as I can. It's certainly not a bad life, but I have to do more than that. Edited May 12, 2017 by Augie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share Posted May 11, 2017 Food truck to sell Stromboli? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Food truck to sell Stromboli? Shotgun!!! That's travel AND food, two of my favorite things! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Food truck to sell Stromboli? Didn't you retire so you didn't have to work?? If he were smart, he wouldn't be a Bills fan. Did you, in a roundabout way, just call me smart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted May 11, 2017 Author Share Posted May 11, 2017 I want to hook up with someone take a percentage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I want to hook up with someone take a percentage Done. My percentage is reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 Didn't you retire so you didn't have to work?? Did you, in a roundabout way, just call me smart? If you were smart you'd know I didn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I have always wanted to have one of those mobile hot dog stands at the beach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 If you were smart you'd know I didn't. I know you didn't. Ha!! I'm !@#$ing smart. Wait...what? I have always wanted to have one of those mobile hot dog stands at the beach I'll be the retired dude on the beach eating all your hot dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I have always wanted to have one of those mobile hot dog stands at the beach And right now, I'd buy one from you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 And right now, I'd buy one from you! John and I meeting on that beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 John and I meeting on that beach. How can he be down on his luck with his lucky rabbit foot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherpa Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 (edited) What's your label? Anything I might have heard of? We vacation in Massanutten, and I've visited a few of the vineyards in the area. In the past, I have sold to Veritas and Keswick, both rather large wineries. I grow Petit Verdot, which is a full bodied, rather robust grape; one of the five true French Bordeaux grapes. Because of its nature, it is usually blended to strengthen a Cabernet or other less hearty red. Recently though it is being used as a pure varietal. I now sell to Chestnut Oak Winery. They are releasing some of the 2015 in a blended form next month, but the pure Petit Verdot is still in oak and will not be released until next year, probably under the name "Ascension." I just sell the grapes. I have no interest in opening a tasting room or dealing with people stomping around my property on weekends. Plus, I produce about 3000# per year, which is not enough to justify a larger scale project.. We do bottle about two cases for ourselves. Edited May 12, 2017 by sherpa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 In the past, I have sold to Veritas and Keswick, both rather large wineries. I grow Petit Verdot, which is a full bodied, rather robust grape; one of the five true French Bordeaux grapes. Because of its nature, it is usually blended to strengthen a Cabernet or other less hearty red. Recently though it is being used as a pure varietal. I now sell to Chestnut Oak Winery. They are releasing some of the 2015 in a blended form next month, but the pure Petit Verdot is still in oak and will not be released until next year, probably under the name "Ascension." I just sell the grapes. I have no interest in opening a tasting room or dealing with people stomping around my property on weekends. Plus, I produce about 3000# per year, which is not enough to justify a larger scale project.. We do bottle about two cases for ourselves. I'm familiar with Veritas and Chestnut Oak. Just had a Veritas Cab-Franc about a month ago; last time I was at Chestnut Oak, though, it was just after visiting Barboursville and I had no money left to buy anything. I'll keep an eye out for the Petit Verdot next year. I just saw I have a 20-year old bottle of Clos du Bois Zinfandel on my wine rack. I should probably open that tonight - it's probably vinegar by now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 I'm familiar with Veritas and Chestnut Oak. Just had a Veritas Cab-Franc about a month ago; last time I was at Chestnut Oak, though, it was just after visiting Barboursville and I had no money left to buy anything. I'll keep an eye out for the Petit Verdot next year. I just saw I have a 20-year old bottle of Clos du Bois Zinfandel on my wine rack. I should probably open that tonight - it's probably vinegar by now. Petit Verdot is a great stand alone varietal. It's interesting how the wine industry has changed over the past 30 plus year. Especially here in CA. In the 70's it was all single varietals such as Cabernet...Chardonnay...Merlot...etc etc. In Europe though the art of blending was common place, especially in Bordeaux with the 5 nobles. Now many wine makers in Napa/Sonoma are really getting into blending. I'm not sure what prompted this but I think it had something to do with California wineries luring top winemakers from Europe. Now you're seeing more stand alone varietals again. More obscure grapes such as Petit Verdot and Grenache. It's fascinating and living so close to some of the world's best wines has been a treat for me. I highly recommend that anyone who wants to see a good documentary of the state of wine in Napa watch Decanted on Netflix. BTW I love tasting in the Finger Lakes. Lots of varietals there I've never heard of. Wine making is a fascinating art. In Decanted there is a winemaker who has been making wine for 45 years. That's a LONG time however he said over all those years he's only done it (the annual cycle from vine to bottle) 45 times. When he said that it really blew me away. I just saw I have a 20-year old bottle of Clos du Bois Zinfandel on my wine rack. I should probably open that tonight - it's probably vinegar by now. It's probably way gone especially if it's not been stored properly but who cares. It's about the history. I had a friend open a bottle of 1961 port once and said anyone who was involved in making this is dead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 It's probably way gone especially if it's not been stored properly but who cares. It's about the history. I had a friend open a bottle of 1961 port once and said anyone who was involved in making this is dead. It's decently cared-for - I don't have a climate-controlled cellar, but it's in a place that's pretty stable, temperature-wise. Enough so that I've had bottles almost as old that I thought should have gone off turn out to be in good shape, so maybe I'll get lucky. I just saw that I've got a 1996 Roger Pouillon Grand Cru Champagne on the wine rack, too (don't have much call to drink champagne). Pretty sure that sucker's gone, given it wasn't that great a champagne to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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