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Madroña Vineyards Blog

Life At A Winery At Halloween Or Is It Nevada Day?

Madrona customer artwork on Halloween.

Charcuterie plate with bottle of wine.I had wanted to write earlier in the week about needing to have your bottles of wine chosen ahead of time for election night. No matter how you lean politically, it made sense to have a bottle chosen for celebration (like Madroña's Blanc de Blancs), as well as a bottle for burying your disappointment (like a bottle of Late Harvest Zinfandel, with its soothing higher sweetness (and alcohol) to absorb your bitterness). It's too much information to tell you what we drank last night, but the fact is we haven't even had time to catch our breath since last Friday!

The picture here is our dinner at home last Friday after "Nevada Day". We got home and simply crashed on the couch with a bottle of 2019 Quintet, cheese, bread, fruit and prosciutto. We need to give a "shout out" to all you Nevadans who made the trek over to the wine country here to enjoy wineries celebrating with you. And thank you for stocking up on El Tinto and so many other wines as we restocked the tasting room midday to keep the wine "flowing".

With the cooler weather and "threats" of rain, we had set up tables in the cellar (as we always do with inclement weather). At times, all the tables downstairs, the four tables in the tasting room and the remaining tables still out front were filled with, well mostly, Nevadans. And with Halloween falling on Saturday, we never really know how that will impact visitors coming out (kind of like Superbowl Sunday...I love the 49ers, but from a business point of view, we probably should hope they don't make the playoffs!).

In any case, each day Maggie, the staff and I would get our 15,000 steps in and then collapse once we were home. But it was a good feeling as soooo much El Tinto found its way into new homes and new palates. So, once again, a big "Thank You" to all that came out (and all of you who stocked up on El Tinto during the month of October!). And thank you also to Betty's Balls and Tapas, coming down from South Lake Tahoe with their food truck to showcase their culinary spirit and our wines!

Finally, the artwork on the tables just nailed the Halloween feel and spirit. Such talent from all of you while you're enjoying your time at Madroña. We appreciate this more than you know, and that's how memories are made!!!

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Value...Where Is It? Is It In Wine?

A few days ago, I was listening to a radio program, Marketplace, which has a host of interesting stories of the day regarding the economy. (Don't worry, I'm not going to talk about the yield on 30-year-bonds as the true pulse of the US economy...but finally I'd get to use my macro-economics degree!). Instead, they had an interesting story regarding US consumers and how they are embracing "value" (and showing it off).

The crux of the story was about how in the past, people were often embarrassed by buying generic brands at a store, hiding them under "name-brand" products. However now, it's...

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Come Over October The Real Reason for Enjoying Wine

Well, we're still looking at an industry in a bit of a state of flux right now. As one travels around the wine regions, there are still grapes hanging in some vineyards where the fruit didn't get sold this year. (That's tough on the farmer as she's put all the expenses in, but with no return.)

The smaller crop this year has may be both a curse and a blessing. The initial thoughts on the quality of the vintage (not just by me, but by others too) is that it's a good year, with the word "intensity" being used a lot. It's nice to hear the media picking up on this story rather than just the "woe...

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Electric vs. Diesel: It's a Topic of Conversation

So in the tasting area, it's always interesting to get a pulse on what people are thinking by listening to the questions you all ask. Of course the #1 question is always, "What is your favorite wine," asked by new-comers to the winery (as you all know I don't have a favorite). The #2 question, time-related, is "How is the harvest this year." This allows me a time to complain but also give small glimpses of hope for the vintage.

But the question I've been getting over the last several weeks is something I didn't think I would ever hear. And there's a nuance to the question that I'm getting now...

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Chillable Red? Glou, Glou, Glou? What The "#$@&" Are You Thinking?

As always, I can never just get straight to the point. Instead, you get way more background on things than you probably want. So here I go again (with Paul McCartney actually playing in the background while I write)!

When we did the Duero cruise with our Wine Club et al a couple of years ago, we started to see a new product out there...Port Rosé. Made, it seems, predominantly for making cocktails, most of the Port Houses were making them. It was also made due to the inventories they already had with their red and white Ports. Basically a new product.

So when Maggie and I spent the seven...

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