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Here at BOW, we sometimes like to write about what we're up to. This Blog page is our chance to report from the front line of wine making and we hope you like our silly little thoughts!

BOW Journal

Planning and Anticipation...or is it Anticipation n Planning?

Posted on: Thu, 25th February, 2010

This week has been one of planning and anticipation.
I think that an important secret to running a winery is always looking out 3-6 months ahead and really psychologically existing about six months in the future is what is required. We not only need to anticipate and to plan for, we also need to be immersed in our future.
Let me give you a few examples.

Our vineyard is under snow. Yet this week we ordered our vines to replace loss and to infill. Seven hundred fifty of those little gree....

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The Californian.

Posted on: Fri, 19th February, 2010

So you may know that I am a Californian; grew up in the beach. Big winter waves and while colder than the rest of the year, a sit by the sea is a doable proposition in the coolest of months. Take the dogs. Make a run of it. Listen to the roar of the crash of the ebb of the flow. Smell salt, taste salt.
I have been to the Atlantic Oceanside in winter once, twice now. It’s nice, but it is not the beach in Santa Cruz. We took the dogs; ostensibly a good idea for this vacation – Sharon’....

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The magic words...

Posted on: Fri, 5th February, 2010

Another amazing weekend in the country! Just like the weekend before Christmas, it's Groundhog Day! It's deja vu all over again! It's Snowmas! It's the Snowpocalypse! I am getting familiar with the words "accumulation of 18-24 inches". Do you think that they ever have this problem in Napa?

Folks, there's more than a few reasons why we work harder for excellence in Virginia.

Anyhoo, obviously only the hardiest will be out and about this weekend. We all know that. These people have....

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The Forest Walk.

Posted on: Fri, 29th January, 2010

It is so quiet in the 400 acre forest behind us. While the wind throws itself at the Western front of the stand, I am walking quietly along the Eastern path with my feet pushing through damp leaves sounding swooshes and a sub-rosa of calming crinkleness. I think of rice crispies. The branches are bare having left their leaves beneath; bare enough so that the interior processional of the forest is made clear. The grey squirrels forage and leap, theirs is a constant if not meek background rus....

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Contingency & Surprise

Posted on: Fri, 22nd January, 2010

In the winery business, Contingency and Surprise become your constant companions. Contingency: "So you have enough wine to get through the wineter Brian?" Surprise: "Another weekend with less than perfect weather. You've fixed the driveway, but who will show up?"

Now don't get me wrong. I have spent my life living with Contingency and Surprise. That is why it made perfectly good sense to open a winery. Indeed, I am the master of Contingency and Surprise. Brian: "Contingency, we alwa....

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Haiti

Posted on: Fri, 15th January, 2010

An unimaginable week in Haiti. Another lovely weekend at BOW. Strange how incompatible the two seem.

But they are not incompatible this long Martin Luther King weekend. Three dollars from every bottle sold will go to the Red Cross. $3 from every bowl of chili. $3 for every bowl of spaghetti and $3 for every s'mores we sell tonight. I'll go on line Monday night and make the donation.
On a decent winter weekend we'll sell 400-500 bottles of wine...maybe more. Maybe 100 bowls of chili....

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Grinchey...

Posted on: Fri, 25th December, 2009

Sharon and I love the Grinch!

"You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch / You have termites in your smile / You have all the tender sweetness of a seasick crocodile / Mr. Gri-inch / Given the choice between the two of you, I'd take the uh... seasick crocodile. "

"You're a monster, Mr. Grinch / Your heart's an empty hole / Your brain is full of spiders, you have garlic in your soul / Mr. Grinch / I wouldn't touch you with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole."

"You nauseate me, Mr. Grinch / With a na....

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Christmas Claire de Lune

Posted on: Sat, 19th December, 2009

Claire de Lune and Christmas. I am listening to Claire de Lune and thinking of Christmas. Last nite when I returned home, the lovely Sharon had put up the Christmas tree. She had help from the puppies. "It's a Charlie Brown tree" she sighed. Remember the little sad tree that Charlie Brown chose? Our house tree is quite modest this year and she felt it was too small to fit the collected family ornaments. Alas, I cannot be accused of modesty and I agree. Our little tree is about a third th....

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The loveley wineter begins this BOW weekend

Posted on: Fri, 4th December, 2009

Forecast: "Season's first flakes Saturday." Per the Washington Post, cozy wineter has arrived. Just in time to curl up with puppy Peanut. (We renamed her from Pinot because of the confusion over name and the word "no" and because she is a little nut. Peanut is also a good mutt name and she is a very sweet mutt.) Justice has been great; playing with and watching over her. Barley is keeping form with his sad-sack personality and doesn't really want to have anything to do with it. Each nigh....

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Thanksgiving Turkey

Posted on: Tue, 24th November, 2009

So my favorite part of Thanksgiving is making the turkey for my family. I am the cook in this operation. Sharon has an adversarial relationship with food which extends from eating the stuff to cooking the stuff. When we first were together I'd have a big dinner ready for her when she got home. She dutifully ate it for the first 2 months, knowing it was my loving gift to her, but finally she made it absolutely clear that I was not to keep it up as she couldn't get in enough hours at the gym t....

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Tired today but also happy.

Posted on: Fri, 13th November, 2009

Sorry for the late weekly missive; tired today but also happy. Last night Sharon and I shared a late evening at the fantastic Iron Bridge Wine bar and restaurant in lovely downtown Warrenton with several BOWFriends and other winery owners. It was a nice time and people were in a mood to feel good. The harvest is finished and most the work in the cellar has been completed. The holidays are around the corner and we're all looking to taking a bit of time off. John and Holli Todhunter of Three ....

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We make wine so that others may drink and find the pleasure of our lives in each drop.

Posted on: Fri, 6th November, 2009

Finally! A beautiful clear crisp fall weekend. Not just a Sunday and not just a Saturday but rather both days as it should be. The fire pits are lit and the smoke from the oak and walnut brings out the earthen memories of childhood running through forests of hardwoods and kicking mushroom caps. The mushrooms had it easy. We used to raise hell in the hills of my youth above Mendocino. One visit to our cousins house led to "tree crossings". Ten feet above the ground six of us leapt from thi....

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The Harvest of Significance

Posted on: Fri, 23rd October, 2009

It is a lovely weekend in the Piedmont. Looking out the office winedow I see the yellow orange and brown leaves carpeting the lawns. I watch them separate and fall from the trees. It is like they are harvesting themselves to compost the soils depleted by growth during the green season just finished. It is like the land is rusting to ochre from the greens of the summer. Fall is the fall. As the leaves fall from the trees, the Fall is clearly in play, making the hills a wonderful place to ex....

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It is the beautiful time here...Wish you were too.

Posted on: Fri, 16th October, 2009

This is a soft and indistinct morn. I like it that way. There is a quiet to the mist over the mountain; the Piedmont foothills are muted in the season's colors which match the pumpkins that we keep for the kids to decorate at the winery. Soon the fire pits will be lit, burning the weekend long. It will be warm in the winery and round the fires and in our hearts.

These days there are so many warm colors in the woods. The words that we use to capture these colors such as orange and red an....

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Some days....

Posted on: Fri, 9th October, 2009



Sharon and I entered this business to live our dream. We wanted to create and sell great wine. We wanted to create a place of community; where friendships would be created. Where families could come together. Where children and dogs and everyone would be welcome. A place where our staff would love what they do and we would all learn about the amazing wine and grapes thingey together....

We did it. We created our dream at BOW. We did it in three short and intense years. We got a hu....

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We live...

Posted on: Fri, 2nd October, 2009

I love the briskness of this cooler Fall weather and I enjoy greatly my complete immersion in the airs of this season. My skin comes alive as a primary sense, well above taste and hearing and almost equal to sight. We sleep with the windows open and the mornings are bracing. We lie quietly and the dogs linger in the bed because they are not overheated as they find comfort in our arms. Barley's nose is inches from mine, the puppy bounds in and out but remains longer each time till collapsing ....

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A Joyful Anniversary.

Posted on: Thu, 24th September, 2009

I wept with joy several times yesterday (I'm writing this on Thursday over a glass of fine and now very rare) BOW Cabernet Franc. It was our ninth wedding anniversary. I thanked Sharon for each day and apologized for the first seven years. She smiled which made me cry. So did she and we laughed and cried together.
Our deepest thanks to Kate Marterella, Pamela Zacha, Altrovese, and Anne Glass for the extraordinary gift of a private sunset gourmet dinner for two on the patio at Martarella W....

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The Golden Empress

Posted on: Thu, 17th September, 2009

I experience such a joy and completeness watching my wife work. There is a grace and strength to her that gives me awe. Her efforts are never with complaint and the work ends when it is done, not when she is done. In all fairness, Sharon is a much harder worker than I.
This is good. Now is the harvest and it is her time. She leads by example and by her fierce determination to treat the grape right. Although new to this endeavor, she knows the simple yet hard lessons of life. Prevention....

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9-11

Posted on: Fri, 11th September, 2009

So today is 9-11. Patriot Day. A day of loss and memories and resilience. We were living in Arlington as the plane flew 100 feet above our house on the way in. We were lucky to not have lost loved ones, but we have friends who did. They are in our hearts along with all those who perished that grim day. You are also in our hearts because we all suffered. Eight years on it is still fresh and immediate...

I am sorry that today's email is going out a little late. I've been driving all ov....

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Grapes and Ceramic animals.

Posted on: Thu, 3rd September, 2009

In so many ways the harvest has arrived. Temperature is perfect for the crush, the bees are out, there is that morning crispness and it is our favorite time of year! We so love our jobs these days. For example, this week I was freed from the office chair as I drove (twice) to Delfosse Vineyards in Faber VA (Just south of Charlottesville) to drop off empty and then pick up the filled yellow harvest lugs. Each weighs 35 pounds full; about 1300 pounds when stacked on a palette. Up to eight to....

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The Harvest

Posted on: Fri, 21st August, 2009

Friday and the routine is about to be shredded, just when it had finally been established. I've handled the inbox yesterday, paid the bills Wednesday, dug out Tuesday, and debriefed Monday. Assorted meetings and a bit of hands-on work went into the winery. I made it a week of fighting the dumb proposed ordinance and carved out a few wins. On the whole it was a good week!

But next Friday, one week from today the special things begin. Barring rain or meteor impact, we should bring in our f....

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Grapey Haiku

Posted on: Fri, 14th August, 2009

In the BOW world, Friday is Monday and Thursday is Friday. I thought I'd write a poem about our weeks at BOW.

How I love Fridays! (ode to the week)

Let me mark the days as Friday begins with the story of our lives.
The day unfolds as I connect with my tribe. The web's a hive and I dive right in -
with an abandon to share our dream...

'Round six I make my commute to the house of joy
our winery where dreams are made.
The lovely Sharon joins me there to carouse with joy with ....

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A Vacation Story

Posted on: Fri, 7th August, 2009

We took a vacation this morning. Well actually, I did. Sharon went to the gym.

Awoke to one of those rare and precious country August morns almost cool and absent the terrible humidity. The bedroom window was open and the sheets were cool with just a touch of breeze gently caressing. The air was deeply and enjoyably breathable. My vacation was...just...letting...myself...lay...there.

It has been a very enjoyable 18 hours. Although we host friends at the winery all weekend long, we ....

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Our story...Part I

Posted on: Fri, 31st July, 2009

Sharon and I moved to the property on August 1st, 2006 from Arlington, VA. I grew up in Santa Cruz California, and Sharon in and around the town of Souderton, PA. We met at Georgetown in 1995 in a graduate program in international affairs. While it wasn't love at first sight because I'm a bit slow on the uptake, it was love at about 15th sight. A month after our engagement in 1999, we brought home our first beloved golden retriever, Bauregard S'notworth the Trouble (Bogart, who we lost to ly....

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Of Sharks and Cows

Posted on: Sat, 25th July, 2009

While I write, there is a violent storm drenching the Northern Piedmont and the show is just outside my office winedow. It is 8:20pm and the sky rakes a brackish brown with muddy greenish hues. Leaves and branches blast past. The rain falls so thickly that I can only see about 200 feet, just beyond the house and the yard. The sound is a solid crashing and drenching and groaning and lightning cuts the miasma. Now and then. It's very much like scuba diving in murky waters with the awful thri....

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A good evening...

Posted on: Fri, 17th July, 2009

I'm doing something that has rarely happened these past several weeks. I'm sitting at my desk writing on Thursday eve rather than Friday mornin'. That means I get to write as I enjoy a glass or two of fine wine.

I'm sipping Breaux Vineyards' 2008 Barrel Select Chardonnay. This is a nice wine . It didn't go thru malolactic, but its time in oak provides a pronounced butterscotch with lite smoke. Our friend Dave has made another very nice wine. If you haven't been, go to Breaux. You'll ....

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Of Travels and Family-

Posted on: Fri, 10th July, 2009

Well, the Rick-Meister-meister is off in France meeting barrel makers and quaffing fine cheap wines. Sharon looks a bit lost without her man Friday, but the work goes on in the basement as we prepare for 3 bottling days in rapid-fire succession at the end of the month. We look forward to the return of our friend on the 16th, refreshed and ready for the harvest!

Meanwhile the vineyard looks lovely from afar and challenged in some places up close. We've had a bit of powdery and black mildew ....

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July 4th

Posted on: Sat, 4th July, 2009

I have the window open to a brisk and fragrant morning breeze off the vineyard. Sitting here listening to the beautiful Eva Cassidy's "Songbird". If you don't know her work, check her on itunes. A voice from heaven taken too soon.

So the 4th is here. Sharon and I have enjoyed many a hearty gathering on this day over the years. In the early 2000s I was running a nonprofit program training Japanese how to do business in the USofA. Each year we had a party on the 4th at our house in Arling....

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I'm still overwhelmed...

Posted on: Fri, 26th June, 2009

First, I just need to tell you something. I'm still overwhelmed. Sharon and Rick made a red wine downstairs at BOW. The wine is pure BOW and pure Virginia: 100% Norton. It was kept in stainless steel tank and Virginia oak barrels. It was loved and reviled and it challenged them with its woody-tart sweetness.

About a month ago we sent this wine and nine others off to one of the largest and most prestigious wine competitions in the United States: The Indy International Wine Competition....

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I like these Late Spring Weekends...!

Posted on: Fri, 19th June, 2009

I like these late spring weekends. We are busy yes, but with all our great staff covering things, I get to spend a lot of time hanging out with friends old, new, and future. I jump up and run away when something goes kabloey, but otherwise I'm able to do what I prefer: catching up with folks. It's the same for Sharon, she brings the dogs down for a while and takes people downstairs to give them personal tours. We actually see very little of each other during the day as we head in different d....

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One year anniversary.

Posted on: Fri, 29th May, 2009

We've been digging out all week long and trying to regain our bearings. Last weekend was that big. The ground shifted and everything that was then is now something different. The weekend changed it all. It was a great and wondrous one year anniversary and you may have been here. We were in awe of how many of you were here. If you missed it then you'll have to imagine five hundred people each day loving the wine and the patio and the dogs and the vibe and the weather and sunsets and the outd....

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Our Stars.

Posted on: Sat, 23rd May, 2009

We have arrived. The months of planning come together this weekend or it all crashes down! The high wire act of planning, preparation, and performance will be judged over the next ninety six hours. Are we ready for your visit? Have our efforts over the past three months borne fruit?

The 2008 Memorial Day weekend was our grand opening. That Saturday was our busiest day ever up until this past Saturday. We opened with a huge day of fun and future friends one year ago today with 5 employ....

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The magic of this time...

Posted on: Mon, 18th May, 2009

Memorial Day is our one year anniversary and the excitement has been building all week long as we have been bringing out the new wines. We're tasting them again and again to write down a bit about them for the tasting sheets. We're interviewing and training new staff and new equipment is arriving each day. This week it was a lot of new very cool ice buckets and the new computer system and some new lighting. Last week it was the barrels and stereo system and rolling racks and the new picnic ....

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Humbly submitted scattered images from last Saturday, "Peeps Day" at BOW.

Posted on: Fri, 17th April, 2009

The Peeps...the peeps Oh the march of the peeps! When the peeps came marching home. The horror...there was Peeps horror! Gooey horror. A peeps crash-up and the toy ambulances got sticky loading up the little peeps bodies strewn everywhere. And there was chocolate! An awfully chocolate fountain moltenly spewing over the little yellow and pink and purple and blue peeps. Drowning them in a miasmic ooze...a veritable La Breya tar pit of sweetness into which the little peeps were dropped mercilessly.....

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Much ado at BOW!

Posted on: Fri, 10th April, 2009

Six serene faces all gaze with focus and intent over a sweeping landscape. Their journey has brought them here together in this singular place and time and they are bound in their camaraderie. In this moment they know who they are.

Music swells-

Fade out.

Another remake of the Magnificent Seven? The Seven Samurai? Ocean's Eleven?

Well it's a bit overdone, but yesterday just before sunset Sharon, Rick, Kristin, Kathy, Lisa and I were there on the patio standing at the wall and....

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A Beautiful Barrel Oak Winery Weekend!

Posted on: Fri, 3rd April, 2009

It's a mighty beautiful day out my open office winedow. Woke up to rain but now the cloud deck is at 1000 feet and moving fast to the North, breaking up and bringing Spring temperatures up from Tennessee and the Carolinas. There is the lightest fresh breeze entering and the outdoors permeates my space, dragging my senses pleasurably outside. The trees are budding red and green but are still mostly naked. The tightly rolled balls of nascent leaves provide color but do not yet fill in the spac....

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Join Us.

Posted on: Thu, 19th March, 2009

It's a great weekend to be at BOW. The weather will be clear and crisp yet redolent with the warmth of early Spring's blessed nascence. There are flowers blossoming. There are trees budding red and blooming green. The harshest of winters is rocking back on its last leg. The fire pits will be lit on the patio to remove the remaining chill and folks will gather in community and good cheer. Lasting friendships will be made. Tonight Robbie Limon will sing here for the first time. Everyone who has he....

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What a week! Bottling week! Panic week! A week of Expo! A week of wins!

Posted on: Fri, 6th March, 2009

Let's reverse order the review. BOW won gold for the '07 Cab Franc in the Governor's Cup. Here's how one of the judges described our efforts: "This great vintage really was the best ever for this classic Virginia red grape, and so it was a tough competition to name the best in the field (there were three gold medal cabernet francs, one of which was from ’06). This winery is another industry newcomer, making an impressive start with a juicy, rich, fruit-driven wine where the oak is in the backg....

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Imagine-

Posted on: Thu, 26th February, 2009

A Winter's day playing with Spring's notes like our two dogs wrestling below in the yard. A still-crisp warmth flows through opened windows and rooms weary of their chill. The doors of the barrel room are opened and beckon. The big doors are open in the tank room gulping in the sun's rays; illuminating the furthest shaded corners. It's a drying trend also; the dampness has left the air. Its touch is cool yet warm, dry and crisp, and smells refreshingly of Spring.

At the winery's front entranc....

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The Back Story on BOW's New Patio

Posted on: Fri, 20th February, 2009

If you've been to BOW in the past few weeks you've probably noticed a large ring of rock and boulders off the end of the outdoor patio. This area is our new patio. Once the ring of rock is in place we'll grade the inside and pour concrete. This will more than double the area we have for patio seating. Perhaps more importantly, we'll also put in a large outdoor tasting area where guests can taste and purchase our wine under cover of a large tent. Just off the edge of the patio will be the newest ....

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The Game is On!

Posted on: Fri, 13th February, 2009

In the spirit of the 25 things phenom sweeping the FaceBook Nation, I thought that this week we'd share some not so random thoughts from several vantage points.

So here's the game. Which of the below are:

A. From our FB 25 list,
B. From our guests,
C. From past emails.

Let's see how well you know us.

Please Enjoy!

1. I came to your winery this past Friday and enjoyed it tremendously. This was my first time at a winery. My mother and I were visiting my sister in the Manassas are....

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It's Kinda Like That...

Posted on: Fri, 6th February, 2009

Each Monday at BOW we have our gathering of ideas, gripes, queries, excited observations, and occasional bewilderment. We call it our staff meeting. We've held these since before we opened our doors and I occasionally wonder whether we should be spending precious funds in the slower winter months asking people to come in for a few hours of generalized jawboning. (Sometimes the jawbone is cordially persuasive, occasionally it's used as a club, more often than not it is used by staff to inform and....

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Snow Daze

Posted on: Fri, 30th January, 2009

Wednesday was the first open day that we had ever remained closed. Snow and ice and a tractor flat conspired to make the driveway impassable and I didn't really mind.

The calls started coming in at 7am. "Hey Brian, sorry to disturb you, but are we opening today?" We have a good staff of people. They care about the winery and they really enjoy the work and the customers. They wanted to work. "No, we're staying shut today" I replied. "I don't want any one risking their neck to visit BOW. I've a....

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Music

Posted on: Thu, 22nd January, 2009

People have asked us what we care about at BOW. Of course there are the dogs. But that's not really an answer. We answer that we care about community and charitable causes, our customers and staff; the wine and the music.

BOWMusic.

Notice how we have music most the time you're here? That's our iPods burning it down. We record onto them and set them to shuffle. Keeps the mix interesting and fun and surprising. The staff tries to get me to pull out my pod and insert theirs. To do that they....

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Today was a perfect day.

Posted on: Thu, 15th January, 2009

We met Chris at 11am. He came up to the office for the first time and took in the big view out the window westward toward the beautiful Piedmont. Sharon was just back from the gym (she has kept to it religiously except during the harvest and I envy her willpower). Chris had driven up from Crozet, South of Charlottesville. He's our vineyard consultant and a really great guy. Probably early 60s but looks a lot younger. Maybe the wine-tinged good wholesome living? Great drawl and tall, outdoors rug....

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BOW Holidays

Posted on: Tue, 16th December, 2008

We hope that this is the wonder-full time of year for you. We are still recovering from the work load and doing well after an extraordinary summer and fall at the winery. Our staff and customers have given us so much support as we have worked to improve the winery at every step. Of course, the holidays are always a mixed bag of joy and life's challenges. I continue to exercise Sharon's nearly unlimited patience and how she puts up with me I really don't know. Around us are so many friends, some ....

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Christmas at BOW

Posted on: Mon, 8th December, 2008

So it really is Christmas at BOW! The big tree is up and the little loft tree is ready for the ornaments that you can bring in and hang in exchange for a free basic tasting. The winery is now decorated with fresh greens and gold and burgundy globes reflecting the light of the high surrounding windows. When the shinny balls turn they throw points of sunshine . The ornaments seem alive, casting motes of mirth across the walls and floors, beckoning our cheer. These days we often hear our guests cat....

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Flemish Turkey

Posted on: Mon, 17th November, 2008

At this time of family, love and hope, we thought you might enjoy a short story about the Flemish Turkey.


I was a young and naive sixteen and I'd been in Flanders living just south of Antwerp with a wonderful host family for about four months when a package unexpectedly showed up at the kitchen door. It was a large frozen turkey from the States sent by the student exchange program. I was one third of the way through my year abroad and I'd forgotten that the holiday was a week away. That ev....

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Chocolate Lab Day.

Posted on: Tue, 11th November, 2008

Our alarm went off at 6:30 this morning. We rolled over and looked westward out our window at the beautiful Piedmont, once again lit by the sun rising out of the East. Dawn finds the hills a duller brown and mostly bare with the fall. The leaf drop is stark; the gentle roll of the mountain flanks are revealed and the neighbors become easier to find nestled among the tree stands and meadows. Hello Kate! Hey there Steve. Good mornin' Gary! After the verdant summer and the golden fall, the story of....

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