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Episode 3, What pairs well with frozen pizza?

As part of Mike’s new found knowledge, was a growing confidence of food & wine pairings.  This had always been of high interest to him, and was another of his recurring questions on our tasting journeys.  Now, he did not hesitate to offer suggestions to friends, co-workers and sometimes complete strangers.  While “browsing” for a possible new vehicle at one of the local dealerships, he handed out one of our new business cards with a suggestion for pairing on the back.  I hope the salesman took his advice, but not sure the 5 subsequent messages on our business line about cars for sale was a great exchange!

After he had devoured book #1, our family thought his new hobby was a great idea, and provided him with 3 more books as Christmas gifts.  One was written by a Master Sommelier, and this became his 2^nd book of choice.  Apparently book #1 really wasn’t the only wine book you would ever need, because the new book brought new ideas and challenges.

My biggest complaint about book #2 was the suggestion to sample wines, four at a time.  It was quite a shock to see four open bottles one morning, all with less than a glassful missing.  Not a big deal I said to myself – we still have lots of family here for the holidays and the wine will disappear.  But, after the family was gone, and he was on the 3^rd purchase, I felt it was time to protest:  “Honey, with the economy the way it is right now, I’m not certain we have enough money in the budget for all this wine”.  His Solution?  Take it out of the grocery budget.  OK, sure.  Slash the already slashed grocery budget.  Does anyone have a suggestion as to what pairs well with frozen Pizza?

Now that his purpose was defined, Mike wasted no time in the learning project.  Step one was to purchase a book that advertised it was the only wine book you would ever need.  By the end of his first night’s reading, he was reporting new found  information to me:

Regarding Port (he is a Port lover) – Although Port comes from Portugal, that is not where the name comes from?  It actually comes from the city of Oporto on the Douro River in Portugal. The difference between a Vintage & Tawny Port is mostly due to how they are aged & bottled.  If a port is “declared” suitable to be offered as a top of the line Vintage Port it is removed from the cask after two years, bottled, then aged for at least 10 years in the bottle.  A Tawny port is aged in the cask from 10 up to 30 years, then bottled.  “Tawny” refers to the pale brown color from so long in the cask.

While this and other information that followed was interesting, I was beginning to think he would be providing me with more wine information that I would ever need.  Plus, he was now looking at our wine glasses critically, since we apparently did not have the appropriate type for a certain red.  I couldn’t see his point of view, after all they all matched, which was a step up from a few years prior.

Stay tuned for episode 3, what pairs well with frozen pizza?

Episode 1 – The beginning……..

It all started with the crazy idea that we may want to have a wine related business.  Mind you, Mike had always been the more inquisitive (and sometimes we all felt maybe obnoxious) one of the group on our wine tasting trips.  He would ask “do you have a cab with a peppery finish?” or “I’m looking for a chardonnay with a hint of butter”  He would slurp the wines slowly through his teeth to make sure he was getting the full flavor.  While the rest of us were outside loading the cars with our purchases, he was still inside engaging the tasting host/hostess with questions.  This was a little quirky, and a little cute, so we humored him.

But the “obsession” did not start until we talked about a business.  At this point he decided to get serious.  On our first wine purchasing trip, he diligently completed the tasting note worksheets I prepared, with comments on aroma, bouquet, finish, body, etc.  This was great, since my notes seemed to have a lot of comments sounding like “smooth & tasty”.  After this trip he came away with a new sense of purpose:  He wanted to be able to talk knowledgably to customers about wine.  Not a bad idea if this will be your livelihood.

Stay tuned for episode 2, More than you want to know………

OPENING

With construction well in progress, we looked forward to opening.  We hoped middle of June, but nothing ever goes as smoothly as we hope.  As June wore on, we just wanted to be open before the 4^th of July weekend.  Preferably a few days prior so we would at least have a couple days to figure out what we were doing.

When it looked like a June 29 or June 30 opening was possible, we contacted all of the Skagit County and La Conner permitting agencies for final inspection.  We were overjoyed when we received approval late afternoon on the 29^th.  We all stayed until midnight the 29^th for a 30^th opening, but Larry still had some finishing work to do, plus getting construction materials moved.  If you looked in our window that night you would not have imagined we would be ready to open the next day.  But amazingly, with the construction materials out, and another very late night, we went from “under construction” to “ready to open” in a short period.

Exhausted but very excited, we opened our doors at 10:00 AM July 1^st.  It was hilarious when people in town noticed we were open.  It seemed as if we were a mushroom, just springing up over night.  There had been nothing in our space for so long – over 4 years – that having a nice little wine bar in operation seemed like a big surprise!

We were certainly glad we had a couple days prior to the 4^th of July weekend to practice, and we really appreciate all the people who stopped in through the weekend to welcome us.

We are having a blast meeting new people and talking about Washington Wine.  Each day we find ways to be better  – our motto is to be like a fine wine, improve with age.  Come on down & visit – have a sip on our deck and enjoy the view!

We finally received all of our permits on May 28 for the remodel.  We were ecstatic!  Finally things would get moving!  So we would not make the Memorial Day opening – if we could get in by mid-June we would be seasoned pros by the Fourth of July.  Construction began June 1^st, and we have been thrilled at the daily progress.

I mentioned that the building was waterside, but probably did not mention that it was over water.  This is a bit of a challenge for contractors who have to access equipment beneath the building.  No mere crawl space for them, there is plenty of room under our building – if you are working during low tide!  Our plumber recalled his first experience working under the building, standing on a ladder as the tide was coming in.  There was not enough water for him to worry about, but a sudden barking startled him so much he fell off the ladder.  A seal had decided to join him in his work.  He wasn’t sure in the long run if he scared the seal more than the seal scared him – maybe equal

Another interesting aspect of a building in La Conner, is that most are historical.  This presented a few challenges for Larry our friend & contractor.  He had noticed for a while that the floors seemed to slope here and there, but shrugged it off.  Not until he was ready to frame the bar did this matter much.  Obviously the bar top itself would need to be level, so any slope would mean an adjustment in height.  He was quite surprised to find that there was a 2 ½ inch difference from one end of the bar location to the other – this in only 12 feet!  So, we now have a level bar that is 40 ½ inches at one end, and 43 inches at the other.  All tall people up front, short people in the rear!

I want to mention how great our merchant neighbors are – one even agreed to store the Wine Fridge that was delivered when no one was in shop.  He said no problem, but would really prefer for it to be stocked first!

HURDLING

Hurdle #1 – Permits

We thought the idea of a Wine Bar featuring only WA boutique wines would be a hit.  We had just leased     our space, 1100 square feet on First street in La Conner.  The bonus was that this location was waterside, and included a deck large enough for outdoor seating.  What could be better?  The location had been retail before, but that was not a problem.  We would put in a bathroom, build a bar – French doors out to the deck and we would be ready to go, right?  Oh how naïve we were (and to think that was only 3 months ago).  Guess what people, permits are required!!  O, so many, so different, and so confusing!!

Permit #1 – Liquor Permit

We focused on the liquor permit first, as we made the lease dependant on being able to obtain this permit.  Knowing that it takes at least 45 days to process, we thought we were being smart in tackling this first.  We also thought it would be relatively easy, since we already had a permit for the online wine store.  That part was true, but (yes there is always a but) the requirements for a Wine & Beer Restaurant are MUCH more involved than an online store.

Hurdle #1 – Food

Appetizers & Wine – what could be better?  Meat & Cheese plates, cheese & fruit plates, easy for us, no cooking involved so it should ease the health department requirements (see permit #4).  NO was the response from liquor board.  A Wine & Beer Restaurant must serve at least lunch type fare, hamburgers, sandwiches or the like.  OK, but hamburgers did not sound good with fine wine, and we did not want to cook.  So we were now on a search for a tasty, classy, different (Paninis were vetoed as being everywhere these days) sandwich  that would satisfy the food requirement.

Hurdle #2 – Bar Service

W e also planned to have seating at the bar (we are a wine bar afterall), so showed this on the plans submitted (remember I said make multiple copies of your plans), I received a call from the board.  Did we plan to serve the wine at the bar?  If so, we would need a barricade built behind the bar restricting minor access.  This was a hurdle for us as our space was narrow, and building a barricade might not leave enough room for a walkway.  We now started kicking around ideas on how to change the layout, restrict minors by time, do away with the idea of bar seating altogether.  None of these sounded like perfect solutions for us.

Hurdle #3 – Deck Seating

OK, this one was minor, but again due to submitting the plans.  You must have a barricade for ouside seating, and of course the deck had a railing already.  But it was 40 ½ inches high – the liquor board requirement was 42”.  What in the heck do you do to add 1 ½ inches??

Check back for Permit #2 – Building Permit