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Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 4 times

In 2010, there were 11 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 39 posts. There were 15 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 5mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was May 19th with 33 views. The most popular post that day was Notes from the RoxyAnn Wine Club Manager.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were roxyann.com, facebook.com, theoregonwineblog.com, culinarytravelsofakitchengoddess.wordpress.com, and blog.winerywebsitereport.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for play button, roxy ann bowen, button play, play button image, and international eastern wine competition.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Notes from the RoxyAnn Wine Club Manager May 2010
1 comment

Select Mobile Bottlers bottles 2008 Pinot gris June 2009

Hillcrest Growers & Craft Market June 2009
3 comments

Tuna-turned-salad | Crescent City California News, Sports, & Weather | The Triplicate September 2009

International Eastern Wine Competition Results June 2009

2010 Harvest

RoxyAnn Winemaker John Quinones responded to an industry survey with the Oregon Wine Board. Here is an exert of that survey.

When did harvest start for you? With which varietals?   Oct 4th.  Merlot and Viognier.

When did it end?  Nov 4th.

Please describe the effect that weather had for your harvest.   We had ideal weather through September and the first three weeks of October.   Rain in the last week of October forced us to pick some grapes early (due to the potential for rot), however most of what was left were Bordeaux varietals which had no problem being left out to ripen.  They were picked in November with nicely developed flavors.

How would you describe the fruit composition or flavor profiles of the grapes in general?   Good color, lower than usual tannins, more red fruit character than black fruit.

What was most notable about this year’s harvest?  In 24 years of Winemaking I’ve never picked grapes in November.  It was a challenging season.

What are your initial impressions?   We do have some exceptional lots of nearly every varietal, but there are also some very average ones.  Overall, the consistency is off across the board.

Will 2010 be a grower’s year or a winemaker’s year, and why?   Both – I think they are equally important every year.   One never does well without the other.   This is a year that will showcase the talents and skills sets of both growers and Winemakers.   People that hope things turn out right every year are at a significant disadvantage over the people who understand how to compensate for less than ideal vintages.  This will be a year that will set people apart.

First things first… The term Claret is an English term, from approximately the 1400′s, to describe a Bordeaux blend (any combination of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Carmenère).  The 2007 RoxyAnn Claret is a blend of Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab franc and Malbec.

For our golf fans, this week is the week of the British Open.  The Open is played for the Claret Jug.  Research revealed some great history of the Jug.  Here  is the entry reprinted from About.com:Golf

Origins of the Claret Jug

How the Claret Jug Came to Be the British Open Trophy

By Brent Kelley, About.com Guide

http://golf.about.com/od/historyofgolf/a/claretjug.htm

“Why is the British Open trophy called the “Claret Jug,” and what is it’s history?The trophy awarded to the winner of The Open Championship is officially known as the Championship Cup, but it is much more commonly called the “Claret Jug” because, well, it’s a claret jug.

Claret is a dry red wine produced in the famous French winemaking region of Bordeaux. The British Open trophy was made in the style of silver jugs used to serve claret at 19th Century gatherings.

But the winner of The Open Championship hasn’t always received the Claret Jug as the trophy. The first handful of winners were awarded a belt. That’s right, a belt. Or “Challenge Belt,” as it was designated at the time.

The first Open Championship was played in 1860 at Prestwick (now called Royal Prestwick, it’s in Troon, Scotland, just down the road from Royal Troon), and that year also marked the first awarding of the belt.

The belt was made of a wide, red Morocco leather and was adorned with silver buckles and emblems. This (seemingly) gaudy “trophy” might still be the British Open trophy today but for the golfing prowess of Young Tom Morris.

Prestwick hosted each of the first 11 British Opens, awarding the belt each year, which the winner would have to return to the club. But Prestwick’s rules included one that stated that the belt would become the permanent property of any golfer winning the Open Championship in three consecutive years.

When Young Tom Morris won in 1870, it was his third straight victory (he would win a fourth in 1872) and he walked off with the Challenge Belt.

Suddenly, the British Open no longer had a trophy to award. And Prestwick didn’t have the wherewithal to commission one on its own.

So the club members at Prestwick came up with the idea of sharing the Open Championship with the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers. Prestwick proposed that the three clubs take turns staging the Open, and chip-in equally toward the creation of a new trophy.

While the clubs tried to figure out what to do, 1871 came and went without an Open Championship being played. Finally, the clubs agreed to share the Open, and each contributed money for a new trophy.

When Young Tom Morris won the 1872 Open, the trophy had not yet been commissioned. So the 1873 winner – Tom Kidd – was the first to be awarded the Claret Jug.

That original Claret Jug from 1873 has permanently resided at the R&A since 1927. The trophy that is presented to the British Open winner each year is a copy of the original, which the winner gets to keep for a year before returning it to the R&A to be passed on to the next champion.”

The British Open Championship Cup

A bottle of RoxyAnn Claret

At RoxyAnn Winery

With Chef Mario Chavez

An Evening of Tapas

Featuring RoxyAnn wines

RoxyAnn Recipes

Chef Mario Chavez

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Spanish Cheese Plate

Manchego, 100 % sheep’s milk cheese,

Quince paste also known as Membrillo, thin sliced Jamon Serrano

(meaning mountain ham very similar to prosciutto)

RoxyAnn 2008 Reserve Pinot Gris

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Fresh Watermelon Gazpacho

Serves 8

1 seedless watermelon

1 bunch fresh mint

1 cup orange juice

1 yellow pepper

2 cucumbers

1 Spanish onion

1 jalapeno

Salt and pepper

1 lime juiced

Blend or process half the watermelon with the orange juice,

Transfer to a bowl and chill, the other half and the remaining ingredients,

Cut a fine dice all about the same size.  Transfer to bowl and season to taste add fresh mint at the end.

RoxyAnn 2008 Viognier

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Poached pears in phyllo with Sherry glaze and dark ganache

Serves 8

1 bottle Spanish Sherry

4 pears, peeled halved and cored

1 cinnamon stick

1 lemon zested

1 clove

1 package phyllo dough

2 oz butter

1 cup sugar

6 oz dark chocolate

½ cup heavy cream

Simmer pears in Sherry with the lemon, cinnamon, sugar and clove

They are done when a knife goes through soft, remove and let cool,

Reduce poaching liquid until thickened, make ganache by bringing cream to a boil,

Add to chocolate and stir.   Once cooled take pears and wrap with buttered phyllo and bake about 15 minutes at 400.

RoxyAnn 2008 Night Harvest Viognier

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Paella

Serves 4

1 cup Arborio rice

4 cups saffron stock

2 bay leaves

1 onion

1 cup roasted red peppers

1 cup roasted garlic

1 cup green peas

1 cup tomatoes

½ cup olive oil

4 chicken wings

4 prawns

2 oz calamari

2 oz halibut

4 mussels

2 oz chorizo

½ oz fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

2 cups white wine

Brown chicken, add extra oil, add rinsed rice, sauté until translucent,

Next deglaze with white wine, add peppers, garlic bay, toms. and onion add part of stock till covered and continue to ster.  Add stock little at a time until all is used and  keep sterring, add seafood at the end add thyme and season to taste, add chorizo and peas at the end,  finish with a coating of paprika.

RoxyAnn 2007 Honor Barn Red

I started at RoxyAnn in 2005 when we were in the “Old Tasting Room”, and became the Wine Club Manager in 2006.  Needless too say it has be a fun, challenging, yet thrilling, ride so far.

The RoxyAnn wine club has seen tremendous growth since its inception.  When I started in 2005, we had 75 members and we had to hang ring up all the sales on a cash register and attach the receipts to the boxes.  In 2006 we upgraded to a POS system, “CRE”, and then its companion software “SmartClub” for the wine club.  This allowed us to run all the credit cards and UPS shipping labels automatically which made it easier to manage the releases as we grew.  This allows our members to stop in and pick up their release, sign for the wine and enjoy.  No fuss, no muss!

photo by Michael D. Davis, Studio D Photography

It is always fun when we do our release parties each quarter.  We usually have 500-600 people show up for food and wine pairing and just general social fun!  It’s a great time to see familiar faces and meet the new ones.

My job, as Wine Club Manager is to ensure each release comes off without a hitch and to ensure great Customer Service as needs, requests and problems arise.  It is a challenging position, but one that I enjoy.  We have started the weekly newsletter emails and I appreciate the feedback we get from our members.  It is such a joy to see our members utilize their membership by visiting us with regularity, taking part in our cooking classes and stopping by to listen to music or watch a movie with us.  The late afternoons are unique in that we are in the city limits and we have regular guests stopping in for a glass or bottle of wine and usually a fruit and cheese plate.  The social aspect of our wine club is surely the most interesting part of membership.

As the club grows, there will be new challenges; we look forward to meeting them head on, while never losing sight of the fact that the Wine Club is the life blood of the Tasting Room.  We value and appreciate our members, as well as our non-member guests, tremendously.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, I would love to hear them.  I can be emailed at wineclub@roxyann.com, or by calling 541-776-2315, ext 307.

Cheers,

Joe Spagnualo

Wine Club Manager

During Hillcrest Orchard’s early years workers watered the trees from a horse-drawn tank wagon until irrigation district water became available in the 1920s. Through the same period, crews used horses and mules to operate farming equipment. As trees came into bearing at Hillcrest Orchard, employees picked the fruit and hauled it to the railroad in Medford for shipment back East. Reginald Parsons organized the Pinnacle Packing Company, for which a building was built in 1917. For years, Hillcrest sold fruit to Pinnacle, one of the major fruit packing houses in Medford. Mr. Parsons remained a co-owner of the packing company until his death. In later years, Southern Oregon Sales (S.O.S), a local agricultural cooperative begun in 1926, packed Hillcrest pears for shipment as well as fruit from other orchards.  In New York and other large cities brokers sold the fruit at auctions.  Both domestic and European purchasers bought Hillcrest pears and apples from these busy centers.

During the Depression and World War II years the Parsons family retained their employees and kept the fruit trees in healthy condition. By 1938, Reginald Parsons had gradually removed all the apple trees and replaced them with pears since the latter were more profitable. As the older pear trees declined in production, workers replaced them with new stock. Today, some of the orchard’s earliest pear trees remain standing, producing Hillcrest “century pears.”

Widely recognized for its architectural and historic significance, Hillcrest Orchard was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The eleven historic buildings included on the Register and their construction dates are:

RoxyAnn stands tall ove Medford, OR

But, where did the name RoxyAnn Peak come from?  The peak is approximately 30 million years old, stands 3,573 feet above sea level and over 2000 ft above the Rogue Valley.  The mountain was known to the Takelma Indians for thousands of years  as Al-wiya.

In the 1850′s,  John & Roxy Ann Bowen settled property at the base of the mountain.  Historical anecdotes relate that the name stuck because Roxy Ann was a tough-minded, progressive frontier woman, and as such, was quite memorable.  The winery is named for the  peak, which honors Roxy Ann Bowen, wife of John Bowen and mother of Samuel Bowen, whose donation land claim is now part of Hillcrest Orchard.

RoxyAnn Peak looks out over the Rogue Valley

Next time, I will explain the origins of the Historic Hillcrest Orchards