Good Morning!

I think I will start pairing wines with people and not with foods. I was thinking last night about some of my friends and why it is I have never had a bad time while having wine with them. I will breakdown my friends and which wine I have most enjoyed with them.

Sara- My best pal, her nickname is Cubby. She lives in Indianapolis, IN and is an actress and director. Our favorite place to drink wine is on her back porch and we normally have Moet bubbles! We love to sit there for hours catching up on gossip, family, hopes and dreams. We both love to cook and grill so we constantly search for the best pairings but even if the food falls flat…that’s ok, we had a blast together.

Jon- Another great friend JonSwain is one of my favorite people ever! He lives in DC and we actually lived to together for several years back in Indianapolis. Jon and I would watch Jeopardy everynight. We would have a value priced red, normally we would open a bottle of Cabernet at a price point of $10-14.00 and which ever label was cool. I know sometimes we would try other varitals like Syrah and zinfandels, but mostly we would laugh, shout out answers to Alex Trebeck’s questions. I loved the 7-7:30 ritual.

Tony- My buddy Tony Wayne has a love for life and alcohol, I can not live up to. He lived in Austin, TX and we would buy bottles of Kendal Jackson Vitner’s Reserve. It would join us by the pool and we would spend hours sipping and giggling. Tony and I spent many nights on 6th street in Austin drinking wines and listening to music and watching shows and then stopping for tacos on the way home.

Michelle- My good friend Michelle is an ex-chef and total foodie, she knows her taste buds and really loves to have fellowship with wine. Michelle lives in Oakland and the last great day of wine together we started out with raw oysters and Sauvignon blanc and of course it was a perfect pairing. The best thing about how adventurous Michelle’s palate, nothing is off limits and any restaurant can be a source of great fun.

Kelly- K Ho…my pal Kelly has an affinity for Russian River Pinot Noir and actually she has very savvy taste buds. Kelly lives in San Francisco and she belongs to many wine clubs. Her love for life makes any occasion and her unique ability to find extraordinary people. We have been tasting together and before you know it, she will be in the back room or cellar with the winemakers. I love her pure connection with people.

Stacey- Stacey lives in Denver and her palate is AWESOME. She is very well traveled and is a total foodie too. We have drank some amazing wines together, but what I think most about Stacey, she is one of the best critics of my personal wines. Back when I was just starting to make wines in the basement, she was one of the people I would give a bottle to sample. Her direct feedback and thoughts on what wines she liked really helped me form some of my opinions about what customers might enjoy.

Mom- I always enjoy any wines I have with my mom. I will say her taste for port is fun for us to try some new things. She prefers reds in general, which is funny to me, because we have the same DNA and I LOVE my whites so much.

I could write about my friends all day, there are folks out there who I have to mention, Rick, Clark, Karolyn, Lia, Miles, Jessica, Gigi, Sarah, Joe G. Scott, Lance, Bryan, Denny, Angel, JP, Raquel, Jim Rosenau, Chris Ebert, Sherman, Chris Jones Erica and Olivia (though Olivia does not really like wine that much yet). I love drinking wine with Hobar, Terra Doyle, Dealio, Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam, Mikey Hayden, Michelle Merritt, Andy, Brad, Phillip and all the girls I worked with too…Little Anne, Liz and Brandee, It would be fun to tip a glass with you all right now. I would drink a glass now with Brad Kime, Topher, Scott, Todd and Aaron…along with Chris and Jeff too. I could and would list you all but today, I am just grateful for so many friends who share my love of wine and life.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

Over the weekend the Wine Blogger’s conference was held in Virginia. I followed all my favorite bloggers and wino’s on Twitter while they met, went they tasted, when they were having fellowship late into the night and all the break out sessions at the conference. It was great fun to “follow” the events and to understand what it was they were experiencing. I am constantly reading blogs of all sorts. I really love the wine related blogs and the business related blogs as well.

I am constantly inspired to understand wines the way many of these bloggers do. I want to taste what they taste and see if I agree. I aspire to write in such an elegant way, I hope some day to convey my thoughts as easily as they do. My biggest problem is I write just like I speak… sometimes unfocused and unfiltered. I never planned on blogging about my wine adventure, but I found that if I capture my thoughts it really helps me better understand what it is I am learning about making wine, understanding what I taste and how to launch a business.

There are several wine blogs I follow. I love 1winedude.com, I follow the video blogs of Gary Vaynurchuk, I love to read the blog Fermentation, by Tom Wark and many more…these are my favorites.

Here is the complete list of winners:

Best Wine Blog Graphics, Photography, & Presentation Winner: Vino Freakism

Best Industry/Business Wine Blog Winner: Fermentation

Best Wine Reviews on a Wine Blog Winner: Enobytes

Best Single Subject Wine Blog Winner: New York Cork Report

Best Winery Blog Winner: Tablas Creek

Best Writing On a Wine Blog Winner: Vinography

Best New Wine Blog Winner:Terroirist

Best Overall Wine Blog Winner: Fermentation

If you are looking for some blogs to follow, check these out. I learn something new everyday from these folks. My goal everyday is to learn something new about wine, business or about myself. Then my next goal is to share that with anyone who wants to follow my journey. I will never win an award for blogging, I am not consistent and I barely remember to run spell check. But anytime, anyone is picked out by their peers as the best, I will study what they do, so I can improve myself.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

I know it is hot everywhere except San Francisco this time of the year and sometimes even a crisp, cold glass of light wine can not quench the thirst of the 100 degree weather and with the heat index and humidity, it is a battle to cool down. I am always in search of a libation that fits perfectly with the place and occasion; here’s what I found. (This might surprise you because it is made with beer not wine).

The fun folks over at Thirsty Girl sent out their monthly newsletter and it had a recipe for a summer time drink that has the power to really cool you down and relax you at the same time.

Let me share the recipe with you! I made this last night and it was refreshing! Give it a try!

The Ultimate Summer Shandy

1 cup sugar

3 cups water

4, three-inch strips of lemon zest

1 cup fresh lemon juice

2 fresh sprigs of mint

6, (or 12) pack of very cold beer – Pale ale, Weiss Beer, or Pilsner works

To make the simple syrup: In a small saucepan bring sugar and 1 cup water to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and stir in zest. Cool sugar syrup to room temperature.

Transfer syrup to a small pitcher and stir in remaining 2 cups water, lemon juice, and mint. Chill lemonade until cold. (Makes about 4 1/2 cups lemonade.)

Pour 1/4 cup lemonade, or to taste, into each of 4 chilled beer glasses and top off with beer. Cheers & enjoy!

Try it and let me know what you think. Also, I would suggest you check out the www.thirstygirl.com website. You don’t have to be a girl, you just have to be the kinda person who drinks in all aspects of life…some of my favorite Thirsty Girls’ are men!

Have a great weekend and find a cool place to relax.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

As I am learning about wine, I am trying to figure it what makes a wine good. I know I say drink what you enjoy and that is still true. But as I read to better understand what a “good” wine is to a judge, I am finding out the very first factor considered is the body of the wine. Body is all about texture. It is the tactile sensation of thickness sometimes referred to as “weight” or strength.

The best way to describe body is the “mouth-feel, thickness and viscosity” of the wine. This is all about texture and the weight of the wine when you are tasting. Body does not include the taste or smell of the wine, it is only interested in the feeling of the wine in your mouth. Easy way to describe the texture/viscosity is to think about milk, cream is heavier and thicker than skim milk, so cream has more body and texture.

There are two main sources of body in wine alcohol and sugar. Alcohol feels thicker in the mouth than water. If you took a sip of water it would feel light and if you took a sip of vodka it would feel rich. The higher the alcohol in a wine the more full bodied the wine will feel to you. Though residual sugar can affect the overall body in the wine, if you think about dessert wines, they feel thicker kinda like maple syrup, so that would feel full bodied in your mouth.

What creates body? I have read many articles and books and after breaking it all down it is all about Sunshine and Ripeness, so that means the climate of the vineyard. The sweetest grapes make the most full bodied wines. And the warmest and sunniest wine regions are those that grow the ripest, sweetest fruit. With that said the wines from cooler, cloudier regions, like France and Germany, will always be more light-bodied.

Many factors lead to creating a great wine, body is one of them. But many wines have different styles that are not as full bodied and they are terrific. Think about basketball players, all sizes and shapes but with very unique results..like would you rather have Dirk or Kobe, or Shaq or Carmelo, all are great but all are completely different.

Well, that is what I have learned about body….I hope you found some interesting facts here and will think about it tonight when you are relaxing and open a bottle.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning,

I would like to think I am wiser than I really am. The only reason I think I am wise from time to time, is I know when I do not know something and I am brave enough to ask questions. I guess life give you some lessons and you learn from them and the next opportunity you are smarter to some extent.

When I figured out I wanted to make wine and not just wine for my friends and myself, I bought property in California. I was bold enough to spend my life’s savings on a massive piece of land in Cazadero, CA. I was smart enough to make sure I could live on the place and grow grapes. I was so young and bold that I dreamed of building a vineyard and winery that would make Angela Channing blush, from it’s mere size. (If you do not know who Angela Channing is, rent some old episodes of Falcon Crest, 1980’s at the peak of extravagance). She owned a vineyard, was driven around in a Rolls Royce and her grandson played by Lorenzo Lamas, he was just a kid back then.

Anyway, I had a vision of acres of vines, award winning wines and a tasting room, packed with customers from all over the world. I would be dressed in 5 inch Nine West heels and silk blouses with shoulder pads… pouring samples and I would be so charming and I would sell out vintages, years in advance. I would live in the mansion on the hill and some day I would pass the winery on to my niece and nephews. We would all be dressed in jeans and matching t-shirts during harvest and I could spend weeks working with designers on labels and I would jet set all over, invited to winemaker dinners and of course I would wear a size 6 and of course I would be a millionaire.

Fast forward 10 years and my vision of a winery and a vineyard have changed. I am not sure if I stopped dreaming or if I got real, or if I have now ask enough questions that the fantasy I once had flew out the door.

First lesson: Once you spend your life’s savings, you have to reload.

Second lesson: Wearing high heels in a winery for more than an hour is stupid.

Third lesson: Getting to the point where you can actually get wine on the market takes way more information than I had.

Fourth lesson: Getting wine to the market takes twice as much money than accounted for.

Fifth lesson: I do not have a driver or a Rolls Royce.

Sixth lesson: There are folks out there who grow amazing grapes for wine. Pay them for doing what they do best. Create a partnership, quit reinventing the wheel. If you have never been a farmer, there are costs, time and effort involved that you will never understand until you start growing the grapes.

Seventh lesson: Understanding licensing, distribution, state to state sales etc, can be super confusing. Hire an EXPERT.

Eighth lesson: When you want to develop a piece of land, expect some folks to say no…that can not be done, that has never been done…

Ninth lesson: Get a lawyer who shares your vision and trust each other.

Tenth lesson: I will never wear a size 6 again.

Any dream is a great dream, but I can only be the perfect Tammi Ramsey, I don’t wanna be Angela Channing, her life is too dramatic for me.

As you can probably tell, I am running into a few road blocks, but I will find a work around that is perfect for me and my wines. I can not wait for you to try them, love them and tell your friends about the wines.

I do everything with a big smile and few deep breaths and an open heart and total flexibility…Thanks for letting me vent and I will keep you posted on how I work around launching this business!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi