Of course I will not send that jumbled email to the County I posted last night. I did not show what I had sent Friday to Martin. I mentioned in the email to him that I have a new accountant and they should wait for an updated equipment report. We will see what they come back with. I don't expect much love because like I said before they want to get as much money from me as they can.

I am heading out soon to pick up Pat who has been in The City for 7 days. Susie my 27 year old flew in from Seattle yesterday and I will pick her up also. Susie is always a challenge and plenty of fun. She keeps me young. Next week end is the Passport event so we have a lot of friends and relatives coming to help. it should be a real fun time.........

Thursday April 23, 2015

 I used to think if I got a barrel which was aged less, like 18 or 20 months of drying, I would get a strong impact from the barrel. I have been wrong in some ways. Barrels aged longer impact flavor to our wines so I am learning more and hearing more and so I am interested in learning more about barrels. Barrels aged less do depart tannin but we have enough tannin now so if they are aged longer things change. Below is a quote from a barrel maker who I respect:

"WE DID AN EXPERIMENT once ...18, 24 and 30 month dry...medium, med plus and heavy toast...the less time the wood is seasoned the more obvious the flavors and the more astringency you get...the toast is almost like smoked ham...the longer you season the wood the more subtle the wood and the smoother the flavor...so perhaps you get less flavor but the flavor is better and you get more good fills...."

So I am purchasing some Hungarian oak barrels which were aged 4 years. We will see.....