After nearly two years in our new location we have decided to close our business. It was a very difficult and heart wrenching decision to make but we think it is the right one. We’ve never had enough volume on a routine basis. Sure, lots of people came to our special events and lunch was getting to be consistent but there still was a lot of time where we had no customers in the late afternoons and evenings. Weekends too were hit or miss.

Our operating hours are Noon to 6 pm Monday thru Friday and 10 to 4 on Saturday.  All our equipment and fixtures are on sale too.  Stop in for prices on the equipment.  We will continue selling items through Saturday, December 17th and after that our doors are closed for good.

Along the way we have many customers who have become special friends and our staff has turned into family for us. We thank all of you for your support and kindness through the years.   Here’s to you and all the great memories we have of our experience. Love to all!

Cindy & Valerie

We only have two weeks left and we need to sell more merchandise!!  We’ve sold a lot, but there is still a lot to sell and a good selection of items.  All non-wine merchandise is now on sale at 50% off!  We have so many items that are great gifts, stocking stuffers, hostess gifts, you name it and you can get a great buy, so shop soon!

We have an amazing sale on wine just in time for the holiday.  All wines are 35% off!  Yes, that’s 35% off!  You don’t find wines priced like this.  And we have some very good ones left.  We’ve sold a lot of wine since we started our closing sale so there is a limited selection of great wines.  Sorry, our sweet wines are sold out. 

If there is a special wine you want us to order in for you, we are happy to do that for you.  Don’s Lodi Red, Oliver and several others have been great sellers and are not widely available at other stores. We will only be able to offer the 10% case discount for special orders. All special orders require prepayment. Let us know soon so we can get your favorite wines in.

Stop in and stock up today!

PS–We have a few bottles of Lust and Rapture left, hurry in to get them.

Please use any balance you have on a gift card as soon as possible. And if you have bought gift cards for people in the past, please let them know to use their gift cards soon. We want everyone to get the full value from their gift cards.

When we were in Lodi, California this summer, a dear friend arranged for us to visit with his friends at AIM (Ag Industrial Manufacturing).  They design and manufacture grape harvesting machines.  What a great experience to see their operation first hand and learn more about grape harvesting and the wine making process. 

We met Paul Burkner and Claude Brown with AIM.  Paul took us on a tour of their facility and we saw the different steps of assembling a grape harvester.  To understand how the equipment works, you need to see how the plants are grown.   This is a picture of a new vineyard but it helps to see it before the vines grow all over the training wires.  Note the white sleeve on the trunk of the vine.  They are in place to first protect the vine but also to prevent growth on that part of the vine.  The poles and wires are at least 6 ft tall and the machine will straddle one row at a time. 

Now back to the machine.  The harvester straddles the row and the driver actually goes right over top of the row and the trunks of the vines go between the two yellow bars which will shake, shake, shake the trunk of the vine until the grapes fall in the aluminum chutes on each side of the machine which is actually a conveyor.  This picture shows hubby John talking with Paul about the process.

From the rear of the machine, you can get a better view of the conveyor and elevator process which will lift the harvested grapes up in order to get them to a gondola cart (just like we use a grain cart here).  Along the way, the grapes go through several places where air is forced through them to blow away any debris that may have come with them in the harvesting process.  Once the grapes arrive at the top of the machine, there is a spot where two people stand and can manually pick out any other debris before the grapes are shot into the gondola cart. 

The completed machine looks like this.

And this sign, well it seems obvious to me but Paul just shook his head and says its all about the lawyers. 

I got to sit up top and look at all the controls with Paul explaining how everything worked. 

Many thanks to AIM for their hospitality and tour!

Another Lobstahfest is in our history books!  Wow!  What an event covering two evenings.  We had a great turnout and cooked over 200 lobsters along with 45 steaks.  We started having Lobstahfest long before the store opened for family and friends.  Now it’s just a little bigger.  The 2011 Lobstahfest was in honor of our mom, Alice Driscoll, who passed away in May.  

Here's to you mom!

The lobsters arrived in a box with dividers, like wine.

Cindy dropping the first lobster in the pot.

Boy, those lobsters turn really red!

The front of the house was gettin a little uppity with the back of the house!

Can you say butter?

Putting on the bibs!

This is how you crack the lobster.

 

Chowing down!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enjoying dinner.

 

 

I crack my lobster this way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it got later, even the staff joined in dancing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for joining us!

Aayah!

Val and husband John recently made a trip to California wine country and of course, we had to stop at our favorite winery, Michael David Winery in Lodi, California. Michael David makes 7 Deadly Zins, 7 Heavenly Chards, Lust, Gluttony & Sloth, Rapture, Earthquake, Windmill, and Don’s Lodi Red to name just a few.

We were lucky, both Michael and David were there and our sales reps Gary & Tom (Tom came in for our Earthquake event) were there too and we had the grand tour of the operation. A little background first, the Phillips family has been farming produce in Lodi since the 1860′s and operated a fruit stand along Highway 12. The family has been growing grapes for wine all this time and their grape production was previously shipped off to Napa to some big name wineries. Sons Michael and David came along and got into the wine business.

Today, they still sell fresh produce, fresh baked pies and breads, operate a little restaurant, and have a wine tasting area and outdoor gardens and seating.

We really enjoyed the tour and meeting everyone. What a nice family too. Seemed every time we turned around there was a spouse, a son or daughter working all together. We saw the smaller casks they use for aging wine along with the giant tanks they use to ferment and age the wines. The giant tanks have thick double walls that contains a cooling system so the juice/wine doesn’t overheat or get too cold.

We got to see the lab, at least that what I’m calling it, not sure what they call it. There is so much science in making wine and blending it. Very cool.

This year’s grape harvest was just getting started. They had actually harvested some viognier grapes (used in Incognito White) and were running them through the press while we were there. You can see the juice dripping off into the catch basin.

Managed to get a picture with David on the left, Kevin Phillips (the poet along with other duties) and Michael on the right.

After our tour, we had lunch at their cafe. Like us, they feature fresh, hand prepared foods and it was excellent. I had the Lodi burger with fresh peppers and veggies. And we had a treat for lunch, their new vintage of Rapture Cabernet. It will be released in October or so and it is so worth the wait. We have had Rapture 2007 at the shop and it was very good, but the new release (I think the vintage is 2009) is even better! Can’t wait for the release.

After lunch, we thanked our hosts and they returned to their meetings. We continued to shop and taste for a bit and looked up and saw someone familiar come in. I said “Look! It’s Grandpa Don!” and sure enough, Michael and David’s father, Don Phillips along with his wife Jeannie came into the store. One of our best selling wines is Don’s Lodi Red was made to honor their father’s 75th birthday. Its a smooth, easy drinking wine at a modest price, $9.99. Of course, we had to have a picture.

We enjoyed our visit to Michael David Winery in Lodi, California. Nice people, fresh food, and some really great wines. Be sure and tell ‘em we sent you if you have the opportunity to stop in.