Today I met so many interesting people. For lunch we hosted several affiliates from one of Vermont’s top ten restaurants, The Kitchen Table Bistro, along with KC from the Shelburne Vineyard. The Kitchen Table Bistro in Richmond has a fabulous selection of American dishes and an equally great selection of wines, including (of course) Eden Ice Cider. They are very careful to support Vermont and buy locally as much as possible. Although you won’t find it on their website, The Kitchen Table Bistro has done just a fabulous job in house promoting our novel beverage, so in appreciation we served up lamb from Eleanor’s neighbors at Hope Farm with Hope Farm’s last wheel of sheep cheese (although they will continue selling their succulent lamb meat), in addition to Cabot cheddar and foie gras. Steve Atkins, the restaurant’s chef-owner, was incredibly nice, and he even took the time to ask about my college and major. Although he doesn’t say much, he has a great presence around him that must be great to have in the kitchen. His part-owner Neal Johnston and his wife Kelly Johnston are also very interesting. Neal came in for dinner one night and, with the help of a few connections and good timing, left as the Dining Room Manager. His wife is also familiar with the industry—she used to sell wine in Los Angeles and at the Playboy mansion. Apparently Hugh Hefner is quite charming and the bunnies love the wine Rabbit Ridge. KC and her friends were also quite charming. She makes wine, but hers is from grapes not apples, and had many experiences to share.
Directly following lunch, we departed for Montpelier for Eleanor’s monthly meeting of the Vermont Grape and Wine Council, of which she is treasurer. They are a group of wine-makers who get together to discuss how to best conduct business and maintain the pride of fine wine in Vermont. Inaki sat in the meeting, but English is his third language, after Basque and Castellan Spanish. After the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, he told me his head was spinning from the inflow of knowledge and English.
Ken and Gail Albert, owners of Shelburne vineyard, joined us for some Mexican cuisine at Julio’s. They are quite warm and friendly people and are generously selling Eden Ice Cider in their fancy new tasting room in Shelburne. According to Eleanor, they are her best customers. Vermont law was recently changed to allow wineries to sample other Vermont producers’ wines, so the Legers do not have to take on the added cost of a tasting room and publicity but still have the chance to get their product known.
Tomorrow, we will either tour a mead-making facility or file paperwork (bet you can’t guess which one I’m gunning for). For those of you, like me, who have heard of mead but don’t know what it is, mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey and water. In this harsh climate, honey, and apples, is a great ingredient for wholesome Vermont goodness. While ice cider is a baby in the industry, mead is the “ancestor of all fermented drinks.” If we ask the gods nicely, maybe tomorrow they will let us in on their divine secret, the ability to turn honey into wine.
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