International Pi Day—Einstein’s Birthday
March 14, 2010
As a result of “Springing Ahead” (our clocks and the time change) it is now dark again as the Gazette goes to press. It probably is just as well as from what we can see of the sky it is overcast and it is raining along the shores of Seneca and in the vineyards of Glenora. Our temperature is 37 degrees and the wind is out of the north at 6 miles per hour.
In the vineyards—still pruning and pulling brush. The unpredicted (at least last week at this time) warmer weather with some rain has resulted in the loss of most of the snow in the vineyards. It would be nice, for the vines; if the frost were to remain in the soil (this helps keep the vines dormant longer) however the forecast for the upcoming week does not look positive in that arena—today’s rain is not helping either.
Production report: Once again the bottling lines were up and running at Knapp and Glenora. The Knapp Team bottled their 2008 Merlot and the Glenora Team bottled Alpine White, Cayuga, and Chardonnay. For the Knapp Merlot fans you will be pleased to know that the 2008 is an exceptional Merlot and is an estate wine. It would be wise to purchase what you can as soon as possible as this wine will most likely be one that sells quickly—and remember we will not be seeing a 2009 Estate Merlot as a result of last June’s hailstorm. The next estate bottled Merlot at Knapp (Mother Nature willing) will be the 2010 vintage, most likely released in 2012.
While Glenora is a privately held company (no outside stockholders) we do feel it important that Team Glenora (those folks who work with us) be aware of budgets, expenses, and profit, or lack thereof, on a company wide basis not just for their department, At our semi-monthly managers meeting it was noted that our income for the first two months exceeded budget by 8% while our expenses were under budget by 8.5%--both great numbers and a tribute to the Glenora team in terms of sales and expense controls—and of course all of that is a result of quality wines, foods, and customer service.
At the same managers meeting the ad-hoc branding team (Kerry, Mark, Tracey M., Joel, Leslie, Sherry and Barb) presented their report. Their journey (their words) started on December 21st of 2009 and culminated on Friday, March 12th with the report. A big part of the charge to the committee was given the understanding that Glenora has many programs and entities we needed on strong and unmistakable and consistent identity (message) to effectively communicate who we are and what we do, as well as having a consistent visual logo. This report will be presented to all members of the Glenora Team during the next two weeks. The ad-hoc branding team is to be commended and thanked for a great report along with the time, energy and effort they gave as a team and as individuals.
The Lounge at Veraisons Restaurant at the Inn at Glenora has been named. Many thanks to everyone who submitted name suggestions. As one can imagine there were plenty of great suggestions and names that were suitable (along with a few that seemed to be a bit off the wall—“Hector View” being a good example). In any event the name selected is “The Harvest Lounge”. The reasoning behind the selection of this name was that “The Harvest” is of significance to us is several ways. While is signifies the end of the growing season for the vineyardist, it also signifies the beginning of vintage for the winemaking teams—both monumental events in our businesses, and reasons for celebrations The name was submitted midweek, last week, by Karen Mooney. We will be presenting Karen with her gift certificate for a two night stay at the Inn and drinks at The Harvest Lounge.
On the road—as usual lots of activity but truly a unique one (at least the name) called CUDS that was held yesterday in Ithaca. The farmers in our readership know that cows have 4 stomachs, and whatever hits the first stomach is given a shot of intestinal juices and then is regurgitated back up into the cow’s mouth were it is re-chewed so that it can travel on to stomachs 2 thru 4. That is why one usually sees cows chewing even when they do not seem to be putting something into their mouths – they are chewing their cuds which is the regurgitated material from stomach one. So the CUDS tasting (wine that is) was sponsored as a benefit for the Cornell University Dairy Science club. Hey, even the editor could not make that one up!
Another challenge—a case of Glenora’s Brut 2002 to the first person who submits the exact numerical value of the mathematical term of Pi when used to determine the area of a circle (we need this information to accurately determine the volume of our wine tanks other than by using a flow meter). Rumor has it that TTB (the US government’s Tax and Trade Bureau is in town.
Thought for the week: Communication - "The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate." - Joe Priestley 1733-1804
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