It's Harvest time. Which for many has different meanings. For the resident wino here at Binkomonster, it means time to roll the sleeves up and get busy with our forthcoming Chardonnay production. As of today, our Sleepy Hollow yield is still on the vine with an estimated 'pick date between October 8th and October 12th. So we wait (and hold off on any travel plans) in anticipation. We got to spend a lovely few hours over at Crushpad this evening participating in CrushCAMP. What is it you ask? Basically a quick crash-course/immersion into all the things that need to be done in order to get a wine into barrel: sorting/destemming, and punch-downs (very cathartic). Now that we've gotten all of the bugs off of our jammy and grape stained shirt (which went into the laundry), taken that long and thorough shower, we're sitting and enjoying the fruits of such labor (namely, the vino). Dinner has been prepared and is in a holding pattern awaiting the arrival of the CEO. And the week still holds more events. We go back to spend some more time doing harvest activities perhaps on Friday. And Saturday sees a monumental event here at the Binkomonster stronghold. Mr. Stephen Beal (one of the world's 7 'Masters of Scotch') will be here to host a tasting event taking us on a tour of Scotland via our collective palate. Haggis will be served, along with other traditional fare (tatties.. also known as mashed potatoes, and shortbread) to better complement our journey. There are rumours that the CEO will be donning a kilt. And we expect a large turnout, with high spirits among all. Sunday may just see at least one of the staff here nursing a mild hangover while we slide into the workweek. Its been a good two weeks barring some minor hiccups. The weekend past saw us going over to Bonhams&Butterfields for our yearly wine auction. And we hit the jackpot! For a not insignificant amount of shekels, we are now the proud owners of: 1 Petrus 1972, 1 Petrus 1985, 1 Petrus 1992 (for putting away of course), and a case of awesome Italian Chianti (1993). Between this and our magnums of Dead Arm Shiraz and Schramsburg, well, let's just say it is going to be one mighty awesome-fantastic-decadent-vinorrific Thanksgiving this year. The stove is ready for a tasty bird, we're in the process of assembling recipies, and of course we'll be doing our pumpkin/bourbon ice cream again. There's this tiny thing in between of course called 'working for the man', but rather than lodge our usual complaints this week, we'll take the opportunity to recognize that the wages do provide a rather nice set of comforts. So we'll give our thanks for that. And for Harvest 2007, it's turning out to be awesome already.
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