I'm Ten Years Cancer Free!!!

( Me and my team in 2011 kicking some cancer ass! )

In the last week or so plenty of people have asked me what it felt like to turn 40. Well, it really didn't matter to me in the stereotypical way people think of it. Let me illustrate.

Then: I was diagnosed/treated for cancer and turned 30 in the midst of it. Yuck!

Now: I turned 40 on Monday and was given the good word just today that I am free of cancer for 10 years running. Hot damn!

Which one would you choose? See why turning 40 is so awesome for me? I'm better now than when I was 30 and so happy to be here to say that!

This is cause for celebration, and trust me I'll be doing plenty of that; so should you if only because celebrating a great story even when it isn't your own makes us human. But there is more to this than hoots, hollers and cheering.

The war on cancer has not been won. We've barely advanced our pieces on the board. My cause for celebration is a reminder of the battle we wage and why all of us need to get involved. It's a fight for life, and none of us are safe.

Fight back for Hannah, Bill, Pete, Rhonda and Noah who carry on their own personal battles. Celebrate all the survivors who remind us that hope is not lost. Fight back for your children, spouse, mother, father, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors, co-workers and yourself. Remember those we've lost and whose presence at our side as we fight propels us forward to victory. Get involved for any reason you want, but get involved.

Click below to make a donation to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY13NE?px=1344507&pg=personal&fr_id=52043

Thank you!

Jason

My Half Full Glass - Christmas Edition

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I'm sharing a special edition of My Half Full Glass this week. There was a fair bit of drinking at my house over the Christmas holiday. But I didn't do the majority of it. I know that is what some of you were thinking. 

By the time the day after Christmas came we had entertained at least forty people, and they all enjoyed something different. When I overheard guests talking up something from the bar I made a point to take a taste it and find out what the buzz was all about.

The Whiskey Bar

I put together a whiskey bar for the first day of our holiday open house. It was a smash hit! I selected several Bourbons, two Scotches, a Canadian, an Irish and a Rye whiskey as base liquors. Next to those bottles I placed sweet vermouth, simple syrup, Drambuie, ginger ale, bitter and garnish.

Above the bar I listed the recipes for popular whiskey cocktails, specifically the Manhattan, Sazerac, Old Fashioned, Rob Roy and Rusty Nail. As guests arrived I let them know to serve themselves. I had expected it to be a fun way to make the bar work during a busy party, and I was right. Other than refilling the ice I never had to make the drinks or help guests navigate the bar. I wholeheartedly suggest this trick for your next party. I repeated the same format with gin the next day, but with a smaller crowd I didn't see as much activity. The only regret is that I didn't take any pictures of either bar. I guess you had to be there!

Two Orange/Vanilla Meads Walk Into a Bar

The opportunity to try the recently released Moonlight Meadery Summer Love side by side with my own version (a new attempt using the recipe that Moonlight also riffed on) came during our Christmas celebrations. I didn't taste them blind so the feedback can be assumed to contain some bias. To be fair I don't care which one people like more, both are a source of pride for me and when someone smiles drinking one of them, I win!

The overwhelming feedback focused on two key differences between these meads. The first is that the Moonlight version is a bit spicier and that bite came across as a sharp edge to some. Having used Tupelo honey, and not Orange Blossom as I did, an element of spiciness is to be expected.

The second difference, and the one that got the most attention, is that my version was perceived to be creamier and smoother. I again recognize this difference, but in this case don't know why and furthermore how I might reproduce it in another iteration. Food for thought.

Everyone who tried both meads found the experience interesting. For my friends who have been with me along this nearly ten year journey the existence of a commercial product that I had influence on is not a surprise, although it feels like a long time coming for my most faithful fans.

Not Bud Light Lime

One of the Ancient Fire Top 10 Moments of 2012 was riffing on Bud Light Lime after finding refuge with one on the Kid Rock Cruise. This beer has officially exceeded any expectations I would ever have for homebrew. With just enough of a sour kick, this beer brings so much to tickle the palate. 

The base beer is a very simple wheat ale, and is ridiculously easy to make. I make can two of them in just over 3 hours. This is a great summer beer and will likely pop up on the late spring brewing schedule for just that season of enjoyment. Keep an eye for summer party invites, especially if I mention the lime ale.

Strawberry Riesling Wine

My niece Ashley gets a mention this week. She loves my homemade wine. She specifically likes my fruit wines and this is huge for me, because I always hope they come so good that smiles are assured. These wines tend to be the freshest and most interesting wines I make primarily because the fruit is fresh and the composition is more elaborate than a typical grape wine. Ashley, thank you for being such a huge fan, it really does mean a lot!

Over the Christmas holiday I opened no less than five bottles of my Strawberry Riesling wine made in 2011. This wine was a project hatched after talking to my mother about a similar wine she enjoyed on a vacation to I can't remember where. To make it I took half of a recipe for my flagship Strawberry wine and for the other half I used fresh Riesling juice. The result was a hugely drinkable, light, fruity wine that is medium to off-dry with moderate character.

As we sail into the New Year holiday I wish you all a happy and safe end to the year. It would be irresponsible not to mention that making arrangements for transportation, designated driver, cab, etc, is a must during those crazy New Year's celebrations. Have fun, be safe and get home to start the new year with maybe only a headache.

Cheers!

Jason

Top Ten Ancient Fire Moments in 2012

My friend Richard Auffrey has gotten me in the mood to offer something of a year in review. Each year in his blog entitled The Passionate Foodie Richard shares "top ten" lists in a number of different categories. I'm not prepared for that. And I'm not sure I'd just go and steal that idea, especially from someone who executes it so well. I'm a different guy which means I need to do something different.

As a beverage blogger I also stick my neck out on a weekly basis, offering my thoughts on drinks, food and occasionally the beverage business. I'm also the producer of award-winning home fermentations and do a fair bit of travel in search of new and interesting beverages. Taking all of this together it occurred to me that the highlights from those adventures in 2012 might make for interesting reading. If not, at least it will satisfy a sense of vanity having shared a bunch of "I did that" moments. Choosing what of my adventures should make the list and in which order they should go in was hard. Don't read too much into it. So here goes!

#10 - Kid Rock and Bud Light Lime

Margot and I went on the Kid Rock Chillin' The Most Cruise this year. Four days of music and partying. Of course that meant we saw, and to a lesser degree participated in, quite a bit of consumption. And not necessarily the good stuff. I'm not a Bud/Miller/Coors fan, but one of the nights I enjoyed a Bud Light Lime whilst sitting out on the deck watching the party rage on. Margot asked what I thought of it, it wasn't my first one but I think she was making some fun conversation, and I ultimately quipped that I could make a much better version of the beer at home. And in fact I did with an overwhelmingly positive response! The beer turned out to be one of our most well received brews of 2012. You might think it would be a warm-weather-only beer but it turns out that it is a very smooth drinker and is also good with food. We served it at our two-day Christmas party that wrapped up last night, proving that it even brings a smile in cold weather. Kid Rock is right, sometimes it is "the simple things in life, like when and where."

#9 - Award Winning Fruit Wine Making Tips

I was invited to speak at the WineMaker Magazine Conference again this year. The topic in 2012 was tips for making award winning fruit wines, something I am happy to say I have done five years in a row. I live in an area with lots of farms and farm markets so access to ripe and fresh fruit is something I am blessed to have. Fresh, ripe fruit is one of the most important requirements for making good fruit wine. On top of that you also need creativity, curiosity and a taste for fruit wines. During the 75 minute session the questions were rapid fire and I struggled to keep up with it all. Being able to share the breadth of experiences this occasion allowed was a real delight. The sharing from members of the audience was not lost on me and several projects later in the year were inspired by their participation.

#8 - Roses & Gold - A Man's Best Friend

In 2011, for the second time, I made a Rosé style wine from Concord grapes grown in a friend's yard. I didn't set out to make a sophisticated wine, rather I endeavored to use the fresh grapes to make a bright pink, slightly sweet wine that would put smiles on a lot of people's faces. The first attempt had come out OK, but the result in 2011 wowed everyone who tasted it. The grapes were more ripe and my basic process for making it resulted in a hugely pleasurable wine. Wanting to get feedback on my new wine I entered it into the WineMaker Magazine annual competition.

I was present at the award ceremony and as the first couple of categories were called none of the winners were present. When they got to the Concord wine category there were winners for Bronze and Silver, but again no winners were present. When the Gold medals were announced my name was called. What a great way to kick off my competition results, by both winning a Gold medal AND the first medal awarded in person that night. When I later reviewed the judging notes I found that I scored highly in color, aroma, flavor AND overall impression. I had scored big with a well made, balanced and delicious wine!

#7 - Tasting a Flight of Homemade Strawberry Wines

We can't move on from the WineMaker Magazine conference trip before sharing one more Ancient Fire Moment. In 2010 I attended my first WineMaker Magazine Conference and during that trip I shared my homemade strawberry wine. I went on to win gold medal for that wine. Once word had spread about the wine I also fielded a number of requests for the recipe and tips for making it, which I happily shared. In 2011 I didn't medal for my strawberry wine at this same competition, but was happy to see that I was back on track in 2012 with a Gold medal. This wine has been a special project for me since 2006, and the only one that I really feel like I "know" how to make from experience.

( Brother Mark, me, Amy and Brant comparing notes on homemade Strawberry wine. 

Thank you to Tim Vandergrift for this great photo with Daniel Pambianchi photo-bombing us! )

During the 2012 conference swap meet I was approached by two of the winemakers who had asked me about my recipe and process for the strawberry wine. And each of them was brandishing a bottle. With my own bottle in hand an impromptu comparative tasting was undertaken. What an amazing experience! All three of us made something a little bit different, due to both production choices and that we live in three different locations, each with access to different fruit. We each shared our production process and contrasted how what we knew about how the wines were made might have influenced the distinct outcomes. Some experiences make you realize you have found your people, and this one screamed it!

#6 - Staring at the Pacific Ocean from the Rocky Cliffs of the Oregon Coast

Living close the coastline we are a bit spoiled. With only a short drive we can walk along the New England shore and stare out at the Atlantic Ocean beyond. In 2012 my pursuit of new wine experiences took us to the Portland, Oregon area for the Wine Bloggers Conference. I had heard that the Oregon coastline was absolutely beautiful, very different in appearance to New England and not to be missed. On a day after the conference Margot and I planned a trip out to the coast. The drive itself was quite beautiful, first through the farmland of the upper Willamette Valley, then through the big pines of the Van Duzer Forest Scenic Area and finally the coast. Wow! The rocky cliffs and abrupt end to the land at the Western edge of Oregon is breathtaking. We stopped in many places along the way to take it all in.

#5 - Friendly Faces

In the last several years I've met a number of other area wine & food writers with whom I have forged stronger ties since. Being able to spend time exploring the world of food & drink with them this year certainly wasn't just one experience, but these moments would not be fairly exchanged for any object of value, they are the stuff life is made of.

So as I look back at another exciting year, I wish the happiest of times to Richard Auffrey (Passionate Foodie), Adam Japko (Wine Zag), Marie Payton (Life of Vines) and Todd Traskos (Vermont Wine Media). I can't wait to be out drinking and eating with all of my friends again in 2013!

#4 - Collaborating with Moonlight Meadery

Pro-am collaborations in the brewing world have been news-worthy in the last couple of years. I've always thought it was a pretty neat concept, but didn't believe I had ever made anything that might be of interest to a commercial producer. Then I made an orange and vanilla infused mead. And it took a top place in a regional competition. Michael Fairbrother from Moonlight Meadery asked if I was interested in commercializing the recipe. Really? Are you serious? I really did ask those questions. And the answer to both was yes.

A new mead named Summer Love recently went into the bottle and has been flying off the shelves from what I hear. The experience of making a mead based on a recipe of my own with Michael and the team at Moonlight was so much fun, something I would have never dreamed of.

#3 - Fighting Cancer with Wine

For a number of years now my Relay For Life team has hosted wine tastings to raise funds in the fight against cancer. In 2012 the team reached a new milestone in our efforts, having eclipsed $100,000 raised since 2003. (Not all of this was raised through wine tastings.)  In the context of larger fundraising efforts, $100K isn't a huge number, but when you consider it was raised by a group averaging 10 people each year, and in a very grass roots fashion you start to see why it is significant. When I first started making beer & wine I never imagined I would be able to combine it with a message of hope and do so much good in this world. I shared the history and current activities of my Relay For Life team in a series of posts this year, the most information I have shared about Relay and my fundraising efforts since the inception of my blog. My Relay thank you post, after the 2012 event, sums up the year we had and includes the link list to all the stories I shared. If you haven't read them I encourage you to spend the time. The people that stand with me in this fight are very dear to me, and sharing their stories was one of my fondest memories of the year.

I never set out to be recognized for my efforts fighting cancer, but awareness of my passion spread and recognition came nonetheless. In 2012 I was honored with a Mass General One Hundred Award. This award is given to individuals whose efforts in the battle against cancer have impacted lives and advanced the cause in a meaningful way. I was nominated by a friend (anonymously so this was a surprise) who felt my passion and energy deserved to be shared. Marie, thank you again for helping create a moment that made 2012 an incredible year for me!

#2 - Last Man Standing

There have been several competition moments in this top 10 list. All together it might seem like I am hugely competitive and getting recognition from competition is a primary motivator for me and my homemade creations. Not exactly. Competitions generate feedback and that feedback is hugely useful in determining what I am getting right and what I getting wrong. Adding the response from tastings to competition feedback gives me a more complete picture of how I am doing. I win in competition less than half the time I enter and the feedback is at least as useful when I don't win as when I do. I'm not actually as competitive as it might appear.

( Watching the Best in Show judging at the NERHBC was both exciting and nerve wracking. )

Winning Best in Show and Meadmaker of the year were highlights for me because they confirmed that the hard work and resources that I plugged into my projects in the last year were very well spent. I guess you could say I've learned a thing or two and I've used those lessons to get better. This type of recognition is motivating and that is why this was one of the top Ancient Fire moment in 2012.

#1 - Sharing My Creations

This isn't so much of a moment as it is the aspect of my mad science that brings me the most joy each year.

Trust me, all the hard work that goes into the beverages I make has to be followed with something fun or it really wouldn't be worth all the time! I love sharing the beverages that I make. Only a few of my friends recall family members who made their own beer or wine and most often the stories trend towards "it wasn't very good."  I think home brewing and wine-making has come a long way and while it still takes lots of hard work, I am always pleased to see these same people react so positively to my beverages. There is truly something special when you can hang out with friends drinking home brew, whether it be my own or someone else's. I make a lot of different beverages, and much more than I can drink. Sharing my beverages at tastings and as gifts brings me great joy and helps with my "inventory problem!"

( Margot and I brewing up another batch of beer to share with friends. Cheers! )

To my family, friends, co-workers and neighbors I wish you the very best during this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Jason

My Half Full Glass - November 22nd, 2012

Fine wines and also an extensive spirits inventory.

Cave B Tempranillo

A friend passed this bottle of Cave B Tempranillo along to me after a trip to see the Dave Matthew's Band in Oregon earlier in the year. I hadn't come across this label on my recent Oregon wine trip or the research that preceded it.

I couldn't come up with anything hugely notable to say about this wine, but it was well made, focused and has decent flavors so I drank it happily. It is lively and straightforward, likely a good match with charcuterie and cheese.

Tasting Room.com  - Wine For Dudes 2

TastingRoom.com sent me the "Wines for Dudes 2 " sampler curated by Gary Vaynerchuk. I'm not a Gary Vee fan, I'm not opposed to him either, I just came a bit late to the wine blogger party and missed his early online exploits. Assuming he had a good deal of play in selecting the wines in the sampler I was excited to see what his tastes might offer my own.

Looking at the lineup (above) I immediately thought that the party is in the first three bottles. A rosé from Syrah, a lightly oaked Cali Chard and a Rhone-style red blend that was described to be light. I can see these three wines being a killer trifecta for a cocktail party, summer BBQ or even a more formal dinner party. So how did they work for me?

The Bugay '10 "Long Stem Rosé" Syrah from Sonoma was surprisingly floral. Wine for a dude? Maybe a dude that was looking to get laid! No seriously, I like wines that are effective at grabbing ones attention and this wine is no slouch in that regard. It is light, fresh, mildly fruity, but the floral aspects are its main act. I could definitely drink this by the bottle. Maybe I will!

Next up was the Francis Coppola '09 "Director's Cut" Chardonnay, also from Sonoma. I've had some Coppola wines before, but I think just the reds so giving the Chard a spin was of keen interest. It's oakier than the tasting notes suggest, but not in a ruinous way. This wine would satisfy the "I only drink white" or "I only drink Chard" folks that wander through my house from time to time, and this wine is better than that magnum of plonky Chardonnay that I would expect them to drink on a regular basis. I'm fifty/fifty on this wine. The hit of baking spices in the finish is nice and drinking it in the early fall where I can relate to the pear and vanilla (aromas AND flavors) coming through also made sense.

The third wine in the first half of the sampler is the Twisted Oak '09 "*%#&@!" Red Blend, a blend of Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache, and the nose immediately made me think of the Rhone reds I enjoyed in France in 2011. The mélange of fruit, funk and oak is a place of action for me. It signals something interesting ahead, and this wine doesn't disappoint. It's not a big wine, and for that I am grateful. It has just enough body and nuance to make it worth drinking, but not so much that casual drinkers will be turned off by it. Finding interesting dry red party wines is a crap shoot and this happily goes on the list!

The second half of the sampler feels like a different party to me. With two Zins and a Cab I'd have to be selective with the guest list or send the riff raff home (you are sensing the sarcasm and snark, right?) before I broke these out! I have a mix of beverage loving friends and my experience tells me that many of them who are not specifically interested in wine wouldn't dig a good Zin or Cab, and that is OK by me. Pushing them out of their comfort zone is unfair so I'd be more apt to share the next three wines with friends who were more used to exploring the world of wine with open senses and opinions.

The first Zin is the Easton '06 from the Shenandoah Valley in California. I'm pretty confident that this is my first Shenandoah Valley wine, and I even had to look up where in the California it actually was! There is a certain rusticity in the mouth on this wine. A bit woody, peppery with some dry soil in fact. This is a drier more restrained Zin and one I might easily pair with some slow cooked venison on a late Fall day.

OK, so the second Zin is going to be different? How do I know? The deeper color, so much purple, tells me that there is going to be more concentration. Will it be jammy and fruity? I bet it will! This is the Jake-Ryan Cellars '07 Zinfandel from Mt Veeder in California. Lots of plum and chocolate in this little filly! This is the one wine from this group that I could expect to stand up to the actual barbeque, say pulled pork with a moderately spicy sauce. That is something I do for my friends once or twice a year and when I can pull out a wine (homemade beer and BBQ is a staple) that can pair well with it I have a chorus of happy party goers in front of me!

End of the line now. We finish with the Feather '07 Cab from the Columbia Valley in Washington State. The tasting notes say CA, but we all know that ain't right! This is the wine I am savoring after everyone has gone home and the party cleanup is done. Mellow and warm this wine helps the transition from party host to exhausted person on the couch. It's a pretty wine with all the Cab attributes you'd expect, but from a place where Cab doesn't get super huge and obtrusive. This wine would be one that would emerge from your cellar in time and still not disappoint.

Cheers!

Jason

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Sweet Dreams

I don’t know how many times since I started making my own fermented beverages (2003) people have asked me if I was going to go commercial. I’ve toyed with the idea, I still often daydream about it, but I’ve never convinced myself that I am really that serious about it that I would make the jump to being a commercial producer. Despite being a driven individual I do have a sense that some things in this universe reveal and work themselves out in their own time, and I firmly believe this is one of those things.

Short of commercial aspirations, my motivations continue to be to learn about the art of fermentation, make tasty “house” beverages, and pay homage to my New England roots by applying fermentation to preserve the bounty of the harvest. Each year since I began I’ve experimented with different mediums, flavors and techniques to keep things exciting and to keep the learning rolling. Six years back I made my first mead, honey fermented into a wine like beverage, and while it came out good and went on to win a medal, nothing about mead really grabbed me then so I didn’t make another one until 2011.

In December of 2010 I walked through the front door of Moonlight Meadery for the very first time. I immediately met Michael Fairbother the owner and meadmaker. Michael was busy at the tasting bar for the grand opening in their new commercial space. Michael carefully explained what mead is, the different styles and his personal history with mead-making to the assembled. On the back of the tasting bar was an impressive lineup of different meads, their product line has grown quite a bit since, ranging from dry to sweet, and unflavored to those infused with fruits and spices. As I tasted each new flavor my mind was racing. How are these different styles made? Is honey a canvas waiting for an artist to release its secrets? Could I successfully make more mead?

( Vanilla beans ready for my mead. )

Madagascar, a mead flavored with vanilla, really caught my attention. Real vanilla flavor can be an intoxicating experience. It is decidedly savory and earthy, and when blended with the slight sweetness of the mead it is allowed to express an inherent warmth and a gentle bitterness.

I left Moonlight Meadery that day with neurons firing all over the place. I wasn’t immediately sure of what to make of the experience, but I did know that I needed to educate myself a little bit more on mead. Tune in next week for post with an overview of mead leading up to mead being the topic for #winechat on October 3^rd.

A few months later inspiration hit. Having recently returned from a West Coast trip that involved several beer tastings I had orange flavor on my mind. I enjoyed several Wit beers with varying degrees of orange flavor, including a sublime offering from Santa Barbara Brewing. Orange and vanilla, what a killer combination! When I was a kid I was allergic to chocolate so in the hot weather a creamsicle was, and still often is, more my style. I figured if I used orange and vanilla in a fermented beverage it would be a like an adult creamsicle, oh how delightful!

The recipe for my first mead in five years was decided (and the final product can be in the top photo). The process went smoothly, you can find the original recipe and some of the details at the WineMaker Magazine blog, and the result was beyond my personal expectations. A little orange, a little vanilla and whiffs of wildflower honey. Only slightly sweet, my new mead came off as complex and was immensely drinkable. As competition time rolled around I happily entered my creation hoping to get some useful feedback on where I could go with it. Boy was a surprised went it took first place in its category! The feedback was overwhelmingly positive from friends, both those who are knowledgeable about mead AND those who just love my fermented creations. This mead has gone on to take additional competition accolades, a very humbling result indeed.

I knew I could make it better though. And I planned to do just that in 2012. Before I set about planning my attack on the second batch I got an email that would serve to take this whole experience higher. Michael Fairborther, whom I have gotten to know both through the Brew Free or Die home-brewing club and my love of the products he creates, was interested in the recipe. But it gets better. He wanted to make a commercial version of my recipe in collaboration with me! And, wait for it, I would get to write a short paragraph to go on the side of the bottle as well as give the product a name! I was in shock.

Everyone who knows me knows that I make the beverages I do first and foremost because I want to drink them. I’m pragmatic about my craft though. I’m not the best brewer or winemaker out there, and I’ve purposely kept my process low-tech and simple which hasn’t always been the best decision. I’ve made my share of crappy products and I try my darnedest to keep on top of the various batches of stuff I have going on so nothing goes wrong, or at least terribly wrong.

So it took me a bit to wrap my head around the fact that a successful commercial producer wanted to collaborate with me. If this person thought my recipe was likely to make a commercially viable product I had to think beyond my own personal goals and see this as a vote of confidence that my inspirations and efforts were bearing grander results.

I decided to name the mead Summer Love. I choose the summer theme primarily because of my initial inspirations (creamsicles) and added love to marry with Moonlight’s own theme of Romance By The Glass. The idea that a product born from a recipe of my own would soon be available commercially was exciting to say the least.

( The mixer was a bit under-utilized for such a small batch, but it sure beats hand mixing! )

Time went by and I set about making my second batch, which is going to be better based on my pre-bottling tastings, and then the call came in. Honey was available and the desire to make a pilot batch was at hand. We finalized the details of the recipe based on the batch size, 40 gallons, and picked a date to make the new mead. As an aside, the name “Summer Love” has had unintended humorous consequences in Tweets and Facebook messages. Saying you are making summer love with somebody is a door wide open for jokes. Laugh freely, we do, it only adds to the story that this new beverage has around it!

( Chopping oranges for our creation. I didn't get a pic of me mopping the floor. I should have! )

I can’t really romanticize the process of making the mead, because I already knew how to make mead and a 40 gallon batch isn’t really a stretch in terms of equipment and process from my own enterprise. But, I had a blast doing something I love in a different way with people who are even more passionate about it than I. That's that's real life and a story worth telling!

( Me, Michael and Rick. Thanks for the fun day guys! )

I've spiced the pictures from the day throughout this post and they tell the story better than words. I very much enjoyed being able to spend the time with Michael and Rick bringing this new beverage to life. I was on site to work and I did anything and everything I could to help, including mopping the floor.

( Oranges through the port hole of the fermentation vessel. A rare artsy shot from me! )

Hopefully Summer Love will be finished and in the bottle for the holidays. The last report was that the fermentation was complete and it would soon get dosed with vanilla and be allowed to settle and age. I will definitely be letting everyone know when Summer Love is available so we can buy it all up and enjoy something new and different from Moonlight Meadery and Ancient Fire Wines!

Next Monday I will be posting an overview of mead, including a little history, notes on different styles and additional details of my mead-making projects from 2011 and 2012. If you would like to learn more about mead, and from Michael Fairbrother directly, join Moonlight Meadery, Marie Payton and the crew from #winechat on October 3^rd at 9PM on Twitter.

Cheers!

Jason

Images from Oregon

While I further ponder over and distill my experiences from my #WBC12 and post-conference adventures to Oregon I offer the following photo journal of the trip.

Cheers!

Jason

Decibel Dan sharing his New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Dan is so much fun to hang with!

Even the bottle was sweating. A bit hot at Rex Hill on Friday afternoon!

Vines at Rex Hill. 

If you haven't met the winery dog, you haven't been to the winery.

Ryan Collins from Rex Hill talking to the group about thinning clusters from the vines.

I love gnarly old vines!

A beautiful place to spend the afternoon!

Michael Davies from Rex Hill talking about the soil profile in the vineyard.

Scott Schull from Raptor Ridge talking about vine health and vineyard practices.

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Our hosts from Rex Hill, Raptor Ridge, Ponzi and Le Cadeau setting up flight #2.

Mike Willison from Rex Hill with a whole lotta love for the group in hand!

Whites to cool us off!

Chef Dustin Clark getting the NY Strip just right for dinner.

Killer menu for the dinner at Rex Hill. The corn soup was out of sight!

We know you love us Mike, now open that damn thing!

Twenty year old Pinot that tasted much younger than that. A real treat!

A big thank you to Rex Hill, Raptor Ridge, Ponzi and Le Cadeau!

Another trip where I brought the Moonlight with me. And many folks enjoyed the selection.

This late night pic clearly needed a re-shoot. Or I needed to put the camera down!

Smiles from conference friends with full glasses. Cheers!

The cinnamon rolls from Grand Central Baking were so tasty! 

The biscuits they used for the sandwiches were as well. 

A beer truck. Portland IS my kind of town!

Margot (on right) with her friend Amy who ventured down from Seattle for a day.

Gotta get your Voodoo on whilst in Portland!

The Maple Bacon doughnut paired with homemade Maple Syrup Dessert wine. 

Breakfast of wine blogging champions!

Beer sampler at Bridgeport Brewing. This place has a great space, good food and delicious beer!

SakéOne was on my must hit list and I am so glad we went!

The koji growing room at SakéOne.

Happily fermenting saké. 

Enjoying the saké tasting at the end of the tour. SakéOne has an incredible lineup of products!

Thank you SakéOne!

Deschutes Brewing - and all their own beers!

Beer samplers are like taking the pulse of a brewery!

Hard at work studying my subject!

The Oregon coastline is incredibly beautiful and looks much different than home!

That is a whole lotta nothing out there!

Rogue Brewing was also on our radar for the trip.

Margot used to be able to drink that much beer!

Now she just drinks from the kiddie cups!

Loved sampling beers only available at the brewery.

I asked him if needed my address to get that stack of Dead Guy to NH safely. No dice.

More beautiful shoreline views. 

We definitely were enjoying our extended vacation.

Not for swimming, just looking at. 

There were a few seals in the water not far from the people.

The Yaquina light.

Gorgeous! 

Yup, still enjoying it!

Not too many birds on this day, but they clearly spend time there!

The vineyard at Sokol Blosser.

We stopped in at Dobbes Family Estate for a tasting and more of the story.

The soon to be released Viognier is a real stunner. 

Stackable fermentation vessels. I need some of those!

Margot the goofball. We do have a Sonic about an hour from us at home, but we haven't been there.

We got to visit with our friend Allison who recently moved to Portland from CT. 

Hip Chicks Do Wine

They are hip chicks and they do wine very well in fact. Very cool concept and excellent values!

Our vote for the best brewery in Portland. They are all so good though!

Lots of choices!

And I think I will try them all! Kentucky Christmas was the most unique one in the lineup!

No visit to Portland is complete without eating at Pok Pok!

The cocktails are inspired and refreshing. A Red Rooster.

The drinking vinegar sodas are so unique! Pomegranate. 

I can't remember which drink that is, but Margot enjoyed it!

Fish sauce wings. I've got the recipe and will be recreating this very soon!

Our server was so much fun and clearly a good sport!

Signing off with this. Portland we love you and will be back in 2013!