Someday We Will Laugh About This Week
January 03, 2010
The skies are cloudy over the vineyards of Glenora and along the shores of Seneca. Not only has winter arrived on the calendar but it has arrived in “weather conditions” as well. Our temperature is a chilly 10 degrees made to feel even colder (the wind chill is -6) by the wind coming out of the west northwest at 12 miles per hour. The weather gurus are predicting a “carhart week” (the heavy clothes worn by the vineyard team) as the temperature range this week goes from a high of 25 to a low of 9. One has to wonder what the temperature is on St. John or the BVI’s--of even more wonder is why we aren’t there?
In the vineyards—there are lots of big hay bales on the vineyard headlands at Knapp, and Vineyard Manager Chris has started unrolling them out between the rows of vines. The hay will provide mulch (organic matter) for the soil which helps in retaining moisture in the summer and providing some substance for the vines and thus we need to use less fertilizer—we are green!!
In the Cellars—The Knapp Team led by Cellar Master Rick (also known as Doc), along with Executive Chef John (at this time of year, or anytime for that matter, everyone wears a lot of different hats) bottled Cabernet Franc on Thursday. They, along with help from the retail team are keeping our still “running from 7:15 AM to 5 PM every day. The Glenora Team spent most of their week working on the holiday label transposition project. Cellar Master Tracey feels if all goes well we should “scrape by” in time for our self imposed Monday deadline for completing the project.
The big news of the week for the Glenora Cellar team was the announcement made by Wine Maker Steve that on Thursday morning he was initiated into the esteemed ranks of Grand Fatherhood as he now has a grandson—Bruno Stephen diFrancesco. Steve’s grandson came into the world weighing in at 8 pounds and 13 ounces—a big baby but not as big as the smile on Steve’s face! Congratulations!
While it is always a bit sad to see the holiday season and the festivities end it is great to be able to “undecorated” our retail shops, both of which have been in Christmas garb since mid November (for the first of the Holiday Shopping Spree and Deck the Halls wine trail events). Of course we will soon be decorating for the Seneca Lake Wine Trail’s Pasta and Wine Weekend—Jan 15-17.
The Ultimate Comfort Food Wine Dinner, at Knapp that will be taking place on January 16th has sold out!! Consequently we are offering another opportunity to partake in this event on January 30th. The dinner consists of 5 courses each paired with two wines—at a cost of $38.95 it is a real bargain—for more information www.knappwine.com
At Glenora, our Finger Lakes Famous Pasta nights will be returning at Veraisons this coming Thursday evening and will be held each Thursday evening through April. Once again each “nite” will feature a guest chef with part of the proceeds from the dinner going to a charitable cause designated by that week’s guest chef. For more information and a list of the guest chefs - www.glenora.com
The editor would be really remiss to not note that we hosted our 11th annual New Year’s Eve celebration at Veraisons on Thursday evening. As in all the years past the Inn, Restaurant, and Kitchen teams did a fantastic job of creating an event and ambience that presents the Excellence of Glenora in an outstanding manner. Also of very special note is the fact that Helen Hobart, server extraordinaire, has been in the restaurant serving for all 11 of these celebrations. Helen’s dedication (and smile) to Veraisons and Glenora is very much appreciated. Thank you Helen!!
This is the time of year when we look back at the previous year to “see how we did”. All in all 2009 was a good year. We will have more year end reports finalized this coming week. We did see a 7.4% increase in visitors in our retail shop at Glenora. This is the first time in a couple of years that we have seen a increase of that size—most likely due the extra effort given by the retail and administrative teams (promotions, newsletters, e-grams, social media, and our website—and most of all courteous customer service). Again thanks to all!!
Thought for the week: Self-Esteem - Above all things, never think that you're not good enough yourself. A person should never think that, because in life people will take you at your own reckoning.
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