We opened a bottle of Jarhead Red to see how it is progressing.  Our first taste a couple of months ago did not leave us feeling very optimistic!!  However, bottle shock may have been the reason.  After getting our courage back up we decided to give it another try.

Upon opening:  Nose is improving but still not great.

After breathing for 30 minutes:  Kind of smooth on the tongue; drinkable for sure; taste is better than the smell; very dry; light and fruity with a floral scent; easy drinking.

Maybe there is HOPE!  We know that Jarhead Red is probably never going to be anything but passable.  We didn't start with great grapes, and I know from cooking that it's all about the ingredients.  Still, we are hoping for a wine that doesn't make us shudder on a Wednesday night.

After posting this I'm reminded of a cartoon I saw recently.  I think we need to improve our tasting vocabulary so it sounds more important!!

Day in the garage winery

A full day of work in the garage resulted in a spiffy and spotless repainted garage floor, painted shelves, and laid in supplies.  Brad borrowed an old fashioned oak press from a friend but later decided we would return it to him and rent a stainless one.  We don’t want to do anything that might taint the juice early on.  We are feeling a bit impatient now since we still haven't received the date of the arrival of our grapes.  We're ready...but we need our FRUIT!!

Field Trip

Woodinville winemakers invited the public to crush day and we took advantage of the opportunity to see what was happening and taste the juice at various stages in the process of becoming wine.  Plus, Brad was able to have some long and informative conversations with winemakers from Page, Edmonds Winery, Tempest del Sol, and Barrage.  He asked some really good questions and it was obvious that he has been doing his homework and is eager to learn everything he can.  Linda and Mike joined in the fun and the conversations, and Brian and Jen and the children also joined us for a short time.  Of course we made some delicious purchases, and to round out our day we had dinner with Mike and Linda at La Fontana in Belltown.  Yum! 

What Are We Thinking?

We’ve been talking about it for years.  Bitten by the wine country bug over 10 years ago, we’ve been fascinated with both the delicious wine made in our country and the interesting and amazing stories that the winemakers share with their visitors.  During every wine tasting adventure we always end up saying, “we should try making our own wine!”  After all, I love to cook, Brad likes to build and carve, so we clearly like making things on our own.  He also loves chemistry, and we both love wine, so it’s a perfect match...except for the part about knowing how to do it!  We finally decided to take the plunge.  After a summer of reading, asking questions, internet research, phone calls, and wine-making-from-a-kit, we still don’t know much, but we’re going for it anyway.  Wish us luck, and we’ll let you know down the road whether adding our own wine to our collection is a good idea!  

We have a name...

Soldato Del Mare.  

In Italian that means “soldier of the sea”...or Marine.  Bowing to the old Marine Corps phrase “Whatever it takes”, we have decided we are going to figure out how to make good wine.  However, since it takes so darn long to make, I decided I needed to have something to do in the meantime, so I’ll be documenting this latest idea of ours.  We hope you’ll come along for the ride!