Tuesday, March 15, 2011

2011 Calendar of Events Part One

I have been promising a schedule of upcoming events, so here we go!

Sunday, March 27th at 4:30 pm: PLANNING A WINERY WEEKEND; a 90 minute seminar for those who would like to visit a group of wineries in one of the following regions: Southern Indiana; Southeast Michigan; Southwest Michigan; Northwest Michigan; Missouri River Valley; and the Finger Lakes Region of New York. This will offer advice on where to go, how to plan your trip, and what pitfalls to watch for once you are there.

Sunday, April 24th at 4:30 pm: WINEMAKING - AT HOME & IN THE WINERY; a 90-minute seminar for those who want specifics on small and large scale winemaking with a focus on questions the audience has on any related topic. Both beginners in home and commercial winemaking are welcome.

Saturday, May 7th, 1- 6 pm: OPEN HOUSE AT THE WINERY; Free tours in the winemaking “cellar” with Q&A by the winemaker every 30 minutes; free winetasting with music and snacks.

Saturday, June 11th, 1-6 pm: ANNUAL BREAD-BAKING CONTEST; Enter your best home-made bread for a shot at glory & prizes and come help us pick the best commercially-made bread by tasting and voting on your favorite. Bread and wine make a great combination!

Watch here for more on: July’s free CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL; August’s INDIANA CHEESE TASTING; and the Big Event of the Year, September’s CHEESECAKE FESTIVAL!

All the events we have at the Oak Hill Winery are FREE and we hope you’ll come join us for fun and a little wine too!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Cleanliness is next to...

One of the ongoing jobs at the winery is tank and barrel cleaning. I handle the majority of the icky, scrubbing, scouring, de-gunking jobs in this category. But on occasion I do ask for help.



We had another load of juice coming in and I was getting all the empty containers ready to transfer the new stuff in for fermenting. But one of the big tanks had a stain I could not get out through regular means. I soaked, pressured-washed, and scrubbed with a long handled brush and mop, but could not get it gone.

Now, these tanks are about 6-feet high, 31-inches around, with a 15-inch lid, so I was doing all I could. But then I thought about my wife’s much lesser size (and girth!) and asked if she would help out. Of course she would!


So I took off the lid and she crawled right in! With her close up view, she was able to get more pressure on the crud and with about 30 minutes, it was back to its sparkling clean state.



So while I often get the credit for what the wine tastes like, my lovely wife is always willing to chip in and do her part when a job is too big (or I am, in this case, too big) for me to handle.

If you have not been by, we have LOTS of new wines in stock and the popular BUNKER HILL is selling well, as expected. A new wine WHITEWATER we tested the last few week has won a place in our regular line-up. So come by and see us!

March 27, free 90-minute seminar, PLANNING A WINE GETAWAY, is now able to be booked. Limited to 20 people, send in your reservation today! Next month’s topic: MAKING WINE AT HOME AND IN THE WINERY. Watch here for details.