Nestled In

The leaves have long fallen and the sprinkler lines are drained.  The sharp east wind blows in across the lake.  We bustle about wrapping up outside projects while looking skyward for snow.  Inside the cellar, fermentations have finished and new wines begin to age in fresh oak barrels and stainless tanks.  It is time to breathe and reflect.

Thank you for your support this year.  The winery had its best year in sales ever and we hope to continue this trend in 2012.   Check out Facebook for some lovely pictures of the vineyard the day we harvested Pinot Noir.  The 2011 vintage will be smooth and rich in flavor.   Don’t miss the chance to taste it during Spring Barrel Tasting weekend in May!  

2011 saw great progress on our new production facility and cellar.  The walls are up, the roof is on, the windows in, and much of the rock work on the exterior, complete.  The stately granite arch above the main door greets visitors to the valley.  By next year the space will be ready for fermentation!   Stop in for a tour the next time you are around.

Speaking of winemaking, I’d like to formally welcome a new staff member to Tunnel Hill.  You may have met Michelle Fanton this summer in the tasting room.  In addition to Colly and Kathy Jo, Michelle has become an indispensable part of our team, both in the tasting room and in the cellar.  She grew up in Seattle, did her schooling in winemaking at Cornell, and worked in several Northeast wineries before coming back west.   

Michelle will be wearing many hats this coming year as she manages tasting room and wine production.   (Could be a summer of pure chase lounge time for yours truly!)   Michelle and her husband Chad (who also works with us on the vineyard crew) live in Manson with two big, lumbering dogs.  We appreciate the talents they bring to the farm and look forward to a productive new year with them on the team.

May you and your family enjoy a very happy holiday season.  Take time to appreciate the stillness of these long nights.   Roll around with your kids or grandkids on the carpet.  Surprise a neighbor with a plate of cookies (or a bottle of wine!).  It is time to be grateful of all we have.   

See you in 2012!

The Middle Ground

My wife, Rachel, and I talked over dinner the other night about local food and artisan wine.  Ten years ago, I would have been full of rhetoric about why big corporations and big business are so bad (and why local is better).  My early years back on the farm were fueled by this conviction.  But, like the few bottles of our 2006 Pinot that still remain, I’ve mellowed a bit.

I’ve come to see more acutely the benefits of local food and artisan wine.   The foods are fresher and more diverse.  The wine is more unique and of higher quality.  The economy is composed of many smaller businesses versus just a few big ones.  My thoughts on this front haven’t changed much.

What has changed is the sense of what I really know in the world.  I ate a peach from California the other day and it looked like most things that get shipped in – faceless and nameless.  That is, without an origin story.  When drinking wine it is a little better.  The label shows the winery name, the appellation, and the variety.  But even with wine, there is much to be desired.  Was there any other type of wine blended with the listed varietal? Who is behind the label?  Is it a stand alone business, or is it like so many wines these days: owned by one of the few global wine corporations?

The point is I don’t have these answers.  And they can be hard to get.  So, I’ve come to assume a stance of “don’t know” about things produced beyond this valley.  Things on this farm and winery, I know.  Things in this valley, I know a little.  Beyond that, I don’t know.

Now some of you are scratching your heads wondering why all of this pondering about a simple peach or bottle of wine.  Just enjoy them already!  And you activists in the crowd, those who are compelled to go out and find the answers, to expose injustice and poor practices, are on the other side of the fence.   Take a stand!  Yes we can!  Buy Fair Trade!  (or Organic, or biodynamic or sustainable…)

I am arguing for the middle.  Some place where conscientious folks can dwell without turning into neurotic consumers.  Some place where we enjoy the healthy food from our CSA box and also an occasional bag of M&M’s.  The Lake Chelan wine on the weekends and a few Costco wines mid-week (as one recent customer described her cost-conscious strategy). 

And I am open about not knowing a lot of things.   It is a place of ambiguity and uncertainty, but also of spaciousness and a certain peace.  I know I sleep well after a long day’s work.  I know I need a good night’s sleep to enjoy tomorrow.  I know our economy is stronger and more resilient when it has more farmers and vintners rather than fewer. 

Beyond that, it’s a mystery. 

Update on Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 2:25PM by Guy Evans

Here’s a poem by the Lebanese poet , Kahlil Gibran that speaks to this sense of knowing and not knowing, of ambiguity and certainty.

 ON GOOD AND EVIL

Of the good in you I can speak, but not of the evil.

For what is evil but good tortured by its own hunger and thirst?

Verily when good is hungry it seeks food even in dark caves, and when it thirsts it drinks even of dead waters.

You are good when you are one with yourself.

Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house.

And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself.

Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast.

Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance."

For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech,

Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose.

And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps.

Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping.

Even those who limp go not backward. But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good,

You are only loitering and sluggard.

Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

And in others it is a flat stream that loses itself in angles and bends and lingers before it reaches the shore.

But let not him who longs much say to him who longs little, "Wherefore are you slow and halting?"

For the truly good ask not the naked, "Where is your garment?" nor the houseless, "What has befallen your house?"

An Invitation to the Tunnel Hill Family

Today, I’d like to extend an invitation to join our family.   Now I’m not talking about the rougher side of farm life – the endless weeding, patching up old tractors, or the occasional rodeo when the cows get loose.   No, this is about the finer side of being in an agrarian family – sneak peaks of upcoming vintages, special parties with great wine and food, good deals on everything from wine to heirloom tomatoes, and a chance to get intimate with grape growing and wine making.

Sound fun?  I hope so, because this year we are kicking our wine club into high gear.   Do you already enjoy our wines?  Do you like our style?  Do you want to support a farm family with four-generations of deep Chelan roots?  Then you may be a great candidate for the club. 

The format is simple:  each spring after bottling, you receive four wines, including the new vintages not yet available to the public.  We can ship them, or you can pick up at the spring party in May.  Imagine a warm night, apple blossom, barrel tasting, family only event – a chance to see old friends and make new ones.  Then, the cycle repeats once again in the fall.   You’ll receive four wines in September and receive an invitation to the fall wine club party.  These fall parties are not to be missed.  Crisp air, a nip or two from the new vintages already bubbling in the tanks, and a meal featuring all that our farm, The Sunshine Farm, can offer in the fall.  Which is to say, quite a feast!

If that isn’t enough, any time you stop into the winery, you and your guests enjoy free tastings, discounts on bottles of wine, even bigger discounts on cases, and for all the loyal Sunshine Farm Market customers reading today – 10 % off any and all purchases.  (See, don’t you feel like a member of the family already?)

Here at Tunnel Hill, we have a tradition of doing things well, doing things right, and doing right by those who help us along the way.  In short, we like to build community as we build our farm and winery businesses.  Certainly it is hard work, but it is authentic, soulful work that never leaves me lacking for a sense of purpose.  If you’d like to rub elbows with this world, to sit at a big table and hear stories about the old days in Chelan, to imagine years to come, or if you just want to enjoy a good estate Syrah as the sun sets, then be sure to sign up for the club.

I’d like to invite you to join our family. 

I hope you will.  We have a good time.



CHELAN WINE ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES 10 YEARS

The party was a sweet one.  Steve Kludt, grandfather of the valley’s wine industry, gave a moving retrospective of the early years.  He paused several times to let the tears in his eyes subside and his voice steady.   His dream had been to stand before a room full of Lake Chelan winemakers and vineyard owners – a cadre of professionals set on creating a world-class wine region here in the valley.  And at the front of the room that night, Steve’s dream came true.

The occasion was the ten year anniversary of the local wine association.  Since its formation, the industry has exploded:  over sixteen wineries, hundreds of grapes planted, and in 2009, the creation of the Lake Chelan American Viticulture Area (AVA) – a distinction that quite literally put Lake Chelan ‘on the map’.

 I joined the wine board last year, and since then we have been busy setting our sights on the next ten years worth of work.  I had the opportunity to follow Steve at the microphone to articulate this vision.  We have work to do:  promote our industry – because there are still a lot of wine lovers who don’t know about Lake Chelan.  And elevate our game – because we can still improve our wines, our service, our experience. 

The evening was especially moving for me because I had lost my grandfather at the age of 88 just a few days earlier.  That night, I spoke about the future of the wine industry in the context of his passing.  He was the second in the four generations of family to farm in the valley.  He benefited from the hard work his dad had put in, starting the farm just before the Depression. 

“You know Guy”, Gramps would tell me, “Your great-grandfather really did all the hard work.  I just wish he had lived a little longer to see the fruits of his labor.”

Today, we are doing the hard work of establishing an industry.  It is my hope that like our original family apple orchard, our winery and the local industry to which it belongs will bring prosperity to many in the valley.   In the room that evening, celebrating with Steve Kludt and others, I sensed we were well on our way to making this a reality. 

COME TO YOUR SENSES

I’d like to introduce you to our new byline at the winery: “Come to Your Senses.”  Think of it as a personal invitation—to breathe deeply, to slow down, to leave the madness and the rush of the world behind.  Some folks who aren’t enthusiasts scratch their heads when they hear all this talk about slowing down and paying attention.   “What’s the fuss about?” they ask.  “It’s just wine!”   But longtime wine enthusiasts know the story—appreciating wine offers the chance to return to oneself, to each other, to the earth. 

Yesterday I topped off our 2010 Pinot Noir and marveled again at the alchemical process that has taken place.  Another year of transforming grapes into wine.  Sure there are chemists who can chart out the process in a maze of double bonds, reductive processes, and ester formation.  But even for this budding winemaker, who is beginning to understand some of this complexity, the conversion is pure magic. 

We say “Come to your Senses” as an invitation to appreciate this magic.  Wine need not be complicated.   All that is required is attention to what you see, smell, and taste in the glass.  And the more a person pays attention, the more they will notice.  The object of our attention grows in depth and beauty.

Next time you enjoy a bottle of wine with friends and family, take a minute to think of all the forces at play in its creation.   Bring to mind the field crew who cultivated the grapes, the crew in the cellar who crushed, fermented, aged, and bottled the wine.  And the sales staff—whether that be in a grocery store or a tasting room—who brings the wine to you with a smile.  Then smell the wine.  All of those people are in that aroma.  And taste … ah … what an expanse!  Know that you are tasting the sun, the water, the exchange between roots and soil in the earth.  And smile!  Look around the table at those you care for.  Treasure their presence, their health. 

If this sounds a bit like a meditation, you are right.  Appreciating a good bottle of wine is definitely a meditation—the act of coming back to oneself and the world in appreciation.  And it is simple—I do it every time I lift my glass.  I notice the weight of the wine, feel the cool touch on my tongue and lips, savor the flavors as the wine slides into my mouth.  This appreciation offers a gateway into something of depth, something of beauty.  Come to your senses at Tunnel Hill.  We are glad to be on the journey together.