Dezel over at My Vine Spot opened up my eyes to the proposed HR5034 bill. Everyone needs to be aware of this and say NO to HR5034. As Dezel writes:

"A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of being included in a short CNN clip along with Rachel Martin of Boxwood Winery which focused on House Resolution 5034. HR 5034 is a bill that could potentially remove our ability to purchase wine from out of state wineries via direct shipping. It seems wrong in a sense that people can buy drugs and pornography over the internet and have these items delivered to their front door, yet the National Beer Wholesalers Association, with support from the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, wants to put a screeching halt to the licensed and regulated interstate shipping of wine and spirits from source to consumer. Small family businesses started from the ground up by hard-working Americans who do not have enough production for a wholesaler to be interested in would be crippled by the passage of such a bill. Small mom-and-pop farm wineries rely on shipping a percentage of their wine production to out of state consumers who support and enjoy their limited production hand-crafted artisan wines. Social media has assisted in establishing a market for these wines, and many producers, especially those out west, have successfully built brands and forged real relationships with people like me who patronize their business. If I want an Oregon Pinot Noir, a California Cabernet Sauvignon, or a Washington Merlot on my dinner table from a small US producer, I believe I should have that right. These small producers have limited to no distribution, and not by choice, therefore, direct shipping is the only way I can get their wine and the only way they can remain viable as a business.(NOTE: If you cannot view the video please click on the following url:

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/07/30/caifa.grapes.and.wrath.cnn

I am always interested in trying new forms of marketing for Weekend Oasis. So, for the month of August, I am trying a very traditional form of advertising: outdoor billboard advertising. I selected North Eastern Pennsylvania for my trial. Pennsylvania guests make up a large percentage of my previous guests, NEPA is off I81, so you can quickly get to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, and I am remodeling Project Hillside in NEPA so I've had a few other out reach programs in NEPA to date. This is a digital billboard, so I was able to work the price down quite a bit. It is at a major intersection in Kingston, PA, at a stop light, so a fair amount of people should see it. So far, it's been a very slow start. Traffic had a few blips, but other than that, the results are pretty much non existent. I will continue to monitor and report back on the progress of the billboard.

Finger Lakes

Cayuga Trail

Amber and I enjoyed a recent trip to the Finger Lakes. We toured 4 vineyards and enjoyed some great wine! Be sure to check-out the Backyard Winery Finger Lakes wine review I just posted

WOW! What a surprise I got! Amber got me a new Nikon SLR Camera. This thing is amazing. Over the past few months I've decided to remove every photo I had in the old "JAMZ Gallery". It was hard to come to terms with realizing the gallery was a complete waste of space and nobody was able to find anything worth looking at. Well, I am happy to announce the new gallery is on-line! Click Photography" at the top to visit it. I hope you enjoy my photos.

This month marks the 1 year anniversary of me swinging a hammer at Project Hillside. The progress on our home remodel is amazing. Nothing beats sitting in the hot tub with a nice glass of wine looking at a house that we are solely fixing up, ourselves. Be sure to check-out the 1 year update: http://projecthillside.com/content/project-hillside-happy-birthday

The wine cellar is underway at Project Hillside

Backyard Winery

Zinfandel

I started a new batch of wine for Backyard Winery. We are making a Zinfandel infused with oak chips. Learn more, click here.

July 4th at Project Hillside was a blast! Check-out a few pictures and video from the event, click here

The Billionaire's Vinegar

My first book on the Nook and I loved it! A lot of my readings and research lately have been centered around wine and wine making. Naturally, this booked pulled me in and had me turning the pages (I guess "clicking" the pages) as quickly as I could. The primary focus is around bottles of wine from the late 1700's that Thomas Jefferson ordered. They went up for auction at a Christies wine auction and yielded the most money for a bottle of wine. I loved this book. It opened my eyes up to the facts about old wine, the history of wine, and how Virginia truly was the first part of the United States to start making wine. Thomas Jefferson was an amazing wine enthusiast and learning about his journey's all over Europe was fascinating. If you have a passion for wine, read this book.

About 2 years ago I rented my condo to a local. He needed a place for a few weeks. While sweating in the desert in Vegas I get a phone call. My house cleaners tells me someone busted down the door and broke into the condo. After a few more calls I found out the person renting my condo is the brother of my house cleaner. He was at the local bar, had an issue with another guy, and that guy drove over, kicked the door in, punched a hole in my wall, and had words with my guests. He calls his sister, my house cleaner, to help "clean the mess up". They call the sheriff to try to pass it off as something else so they wouldn't have to pay for damage. I ended up having the tenant leave, firing my house keeper for not being up front that her brother was renting it (she has a different last name), and ended up eating the bill to fix the door, wall, and changing the locks. What a mess. I remembered this because I was having a conversation with other VR Owners in a group I'm part of and she had a local tenant from hell that REFUSED to check-out. Lesson learned here, be VERY careful if you rent to locals ..