New Year Quiet Time

Its been another year at Hard Row / Balsamroot. Our second full year and the best one ever. With the economy in the dumps we were expecting the worst. But the new name and the great new wines have kept us growing and improving this past year.

Its a quiet time of year. The highways over the mountain passes have been closed so not too many visitors to the tasting room although yesterday and on New Year’s the limos were out and about. Wapato Point Resort also is booked full so we get folks who are staying there dropping in. Many of the other wineries in the area are closed for winter. But we’ve got the bonfire burning and on some of these cold but sunny days its fun to sit around it and roast a marshmallow ( or three) and RELAX with a glass of wine. Sounds good.
My New Year’s resolution? To get our wines out to the Seattle-area so they are available at wine shops and restaurants. If you have any suggestions of places where you’d like to see our wines, please let us know. Think I’ll wait until the weather is a little better though.
The December wine club wine has shipped and should be sitting in your wine cellar if you have not already opened it and drank them. Save the Barbera for a special occasion.. it is really one of those bottles that deserves it. And the o8 reds, in the barrel, have finished malo-lactic fermentation. Yeah!! So the two big  tasks of December are behind me.
Don and I will be heading up the Echo Ridge today.. for the first time this season to do some x-country skiiing and see the new yurt up there. Rudy’s got the tasting room covered.
The snow make the hillsides so beautiful and peaceful. I need this time of year just to relax, ski a little and maybe sit outside with you all around the bonfire and enjoy some vino. Hope to see you at the winery soon.