How was your weekend Sonny...
In my school years, I usually responded to this question by reminding my teachers that my name wasn't Sonny, then enviously explained that while all the other kids in class road-tripped four states away, I didn't do a whole lot. With school behind me, I don't get asked questions like this anymore, so it's up to me to reflect on my own what happened over my holiday weekend and this time I can say I had a great weekend and did lots!
My Memorial day weekend started on Thursday when I began braising chicken for our chicken and apple salad with tarragon. It seemed like a good idea to get the food started early, but it ended up making everyone salivate all day, guests and staff alike. I also ran out to Yamhill to pick up twenty pounds of crimini mushrooms and some black truffles. I've use Misty Mountain Mushrooms and love their product and usually have them deliver but decided to get a head start and visit them myself. It turns out, that even though they have a Yamhill address, their warehouse is another twenty minutes west in the coast range. I raced through winding country roads, getting some good practice shifting back and forth between thrid and fourth gear. The scenery along 47 is incredible, but just five miles on either side and it feels like you're in another world. Chickens, chipmunks, pheasants, and quail scurried and fluttered off the road as i raced around corners on my quest for great mushrooms.
With the mushrooms and the biggest black truffles my hands have ever held all in my clutch i had secured the ingredients for our food pairings. Now to rebuild the tasting room... but first, another whiff of those beautiful black truffles.
I spent Friday prepping the mushrooms, and chicken salad, and getting everything else ready to assemble Saturday morning. I have discovered a habit, perhaps good, perhaps bad, but undeniable nonetheless. I find from years of living overseas, I practice what I am going to say in my head several times before i say it. If i am speaking to someone from another country, i use this technique to communicate more clearly, oftentimes converting my mental voice to their accent. When i am in the kitchen, i begin thinking with my limited culinary terminology from years of watching iron chef and reading Anthony Bourdain. I found myself referring to all of this prep as my "Meez". Bourdain has warped my mind! Tim, who helped me with all of the prep, reacted to my distorted kitchen dialogue with a tilted head blank stare. The kind of look I get from my dogs when I ask them if they want to watch TV.
Saturday we flung open the French doors and welcomed beautiful weather (pictured above is a field of crimson clover seen from the patio). For a few members of our Tasting Room staff, this was not just a first event, but thier first day working at the winery. They were great!!! I wasn't worried, and in fact, hadn't even considered that they might not handle this sort of event well, until a guest made a comment to me while i rang him up at the register. It was around 3:30PM, which is about the busiest time of day, and we had easily seventy guests working their way through the tastings. It works out that each employee is pouring wine, and sharing information with about twenty or thrirty people all at once. He commented that, "everyone was very nice and knowledgeable", which he appreciated because, "sometimes when it gets busy like this, people can be rude." As soon as he said that, it occurred to me that we've found some really great people to work with. The day wrapped up without incident and the feeling that we had shared some great wines with our guests, and that they all enjoyed themselves while they were here.
The biggest hit of the day was our 2007 Cuvée A Midnight Saignée Rosé of Pinot Noir which flew out of the fridge and onto tables on the patio.
Sunday's dreary weather didn't deter people from enjoying the Memorial Day Weekend in Wine Country one bit. We made it through the day without a hitch, just as the day before, and other than feeling like none of us need to look at another mushroom flatbread, or chicken and apple tea sandwich for a long time, we closed the doors just after 5PM, slouched into comfortable, mission-accomplished relaxation, and washed it down with some bubbly.
Even though I didn’t travel out of state, I’m sure that my weekend was more exciting than sitting on Grandma’s couch.
Cheers!
Ksandek Podbielski
Director of Hospitality
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