Visited heaven yesterday

[tonyt]

Visited heaven yesterday. So now I know what heaven looks like. I found my way to the winemakers
toy store in spite of my Garmin insisting the store was on the opposite
side of IH35e in Dallas. I called George who said I would never find
his store with Garmin and he directed me in. I spent nearly two hours
there. George gave me the twenty-five cent tour. Joseph was racking a
Rose' from the grapes some of y'all got last season. We all had a taste. I couldn't get over how much wine they make, no
wonder they can answer our questions about every particular kit. I couldn't get over Joseph throwing around those full 6 gallon carboys like they were gallon jugs and he was 18 years old. Not
surprisingly I left with lots of information, ideas and wine kits. Bart
and the other Dallas-ites are very fortunate to live near such a
resource. Thanks to George and Joseph for their hospitality.

 

[Runningwolf]

Like I said earlier, all this and no pictures!

 

[Rocky]

"Joseph was racking a Rose' from the grapes some of y'all got last season. We all had a taste."


...so how did it taste? You have us all on the edges of our seats!

 

[Wade E]

Must have been a great time, wish I was right around the corner!!

 

[ibglowin]

He is just "teasing" us with info! Nice little trip Tony!

 

[Bartman]

I'd probably still make wine even if I didn't live close by the store, but I wouldn't be able to get the fresh grapes, like we did last fall. Coincidentally, I am planning on bottling my Petite Sirah/Barbera blend I made with those grapes in the a.m.
I enjoy talking with George about his business and his eternal optimism of always getting bigger and better. Good times!

 

[tonyt]

Guys, I am so sorry I didn't take a bunch of pictures. I wanted to but thought how corny they would think I was wanting to take "family pictures" with them. I'll do my best to give you a visual of the visit.

Walked in to be greeted immediately by shelves and shelves of Mosti, a huge inventory. Off to the right is a small office where George counts beans, he mentioned several times that he's a "bean counter" and that's how he keeps up with his business. There's another glassed in room full of grains for brewers. George says he is allergic to the grain dust so he built the glass room. Off to the right is a large area of shelves full of the RJS and CC inventory. Off towards the back was large benches with at least 20 full 6 gallon carboys and assorted gallons and so on. George introduced me to Joseph, whom I have talked to many times helping me through my lame questions and concerns. George says that Joseph is the "real" winemaker. Behind the work benches was a large shipping room that had all the supply items, tubing, racking supplies and so on. Then on to what George called the warehouse that was loading dock, and bulk storage area for carboys and the such. He said he also rents off site storage in order to buy huge quantities of carboys in order to keep prices down, again he reminded me that the is a "bean counter".

As I mentioned we tasted the Rose' that Joseph was racking. I don't have much experience tasting Rose' but I have to say I liked it. Joseph said that he had only sweetened it a very little bit but George thought it might take a bit more. Expecting a Rose' to a bit more off dry I would agree with a bit more back sweetening.

We talked about expansion plans that may include a winery so they can do more tastings and a freezer so they can handle frozen buckets. I really hope the freezer plans materialize.

I guess I'll fess up to my purchases:
MM Renaissance Cabernet/Shiraz Australian
CC Showcase Yakima Valley Syrah with crushed grape pack
RJS Cru Select Brunello
I'll be busy all summer!

Hope y'all enjoy my ramblings.

 

[Wade E]

Im sure they also crush the grain in that room also and that needs to be contained as Grain dust is actually a nasty thing and can cause really cause mold and stuff to happen. You should never crush grains in the same room you ferment anything as you can easily introduce an infection to your musts. Its also not to healthy to breath that stuff in so if you do crush grains you should do it outside or in a separate room hopefully with good ventilation and wear a dust mask.

 

[ibglowin]

Some day I "must" make a pilgrimage!

 

[Wade E]

By "George" I do think I may have to also!

 

[tonyt]

I will say I found it "fruitful".