Well, another spring release has come and gone.  This, however, was no ordinary spring release.  It started out Friday with yours truly doing a little charity work with one of our local elders, Marvin Wood.  I had heard that he was a Petanque fan and that he was interested in helping out with this years tournament.  I assumed he was a retired gentleman just looking to get out of the house and mix up his normal routine a little. WRONG, the old goat is actually a shark.  He thrashed Horacio and I in multiple games, including one game that ended in a 13 to 0 beating that has Horacio paying him off with his next 3 paychecks, after which he showed me a special little trinket reserved for those who have just taken a 13 to 0 beating.  Shame on you Marvin.  But I'm not bitter.

After the morning lesson in Petanque, I figured the day could only get better.  And I was right.  It started out with beautiful weather for our bridge club party.  This is a party we put on to thank those folks who have joined our wine club and have been great supporters throughout the years.  Sarah Guerin cheffed us up some wonderful lamb sausages and pork loin along with an array of delicious salads and deserts.  We wined and dined for an hour or so with our 2007 Riesling that we made from a small block of Riesling vines above the Petanque course.  We only make a few cases for special events and hot days.  We also poured our 2005 Pepper Bridge Cabernet that was the wine we released this weekend.  All in all, a great success. 

After lunch, we got down to business.  The Petanque Tournament.  This is serious stuff folks.  It started out with 40 people, 20 teams, 10 courts and a lot of balls.  Within an hour, we had it narrowed down to 8 people, 4 teams and only 2 games left.  The first game decided 3rd and 4th place.  Not a big deal you say?  Not for 4th place, but 3rd place wins a prize, which is always better than not winning a prize.  And believe me, Lisa puts together a great assortment of prizes.  The last game was a close one, but Gary Hammond and Gordon Wicher pulled it off.  This is the second year in a row for Gary.  Cheers Gary.  Carrol and Bruce Becker came in second, and Mike Marshall and Robert Pintar came in third.  Everyone else had a great time.  And thank you Horacio and Marvin for your help with crowd control. 

On Saturday, we opened up the winery to the  public.  It was a great turnout.  Probably the busiest release weekend on record.   Horacio and I poured 2005 Pepper Bridge Merlot and 2005 Pepper Bridge Cabernet until we couldn't lift a bottle any more.  With all those people coming and going, it never got overly crazy, it was just a constant stream of guests. Horacio and I had plenty of time to answer questions and chat.  No one had to wait for a sample.  It was a perfect day, until Marvin's (the Petanque shark) wife and daughter showed up to pour a little salt in the wound.  But there are no hard feelings, in fact Marvin is bringing over his buddy next week to give Horacio and I another shot at winning back a little dignity.  And if we lose, Horacio and I will just write it off as volunteer work.  You know, like The Big Brother program.  I will keep you posted on the outcome.  Thanks for reading.