Merry Christmas from Schram Vineyards

Since we didn't send Christmas cards this year with the idea we'll be sending out something after the new year, post baby arrival, we still wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas!

If we had sent out cards this year, I probably would've sent one with this picture, taken post-harvest in September.

And maybe this one too if I had tried just a little harder to get the dogs positioned juuuust right in front of the tree.

Tux has been putting on a few pounds the last several months too. Isn't he sweet gaining sympathy baby weight with me?

But, I have still outpaced him!

In case we don't get around to taking and posting any more baby bump pictures, here is the latest, taken last Saturday in front of the Christmas tree at almost 37 weeks.  Full term!

Merry Christmas from the Schrams!

Aaron, Ashley, Tux, Belle, and Baby Boy Schrambino due in January  any day now!!

Tis' the Season for Spilling Wine

I've been meaning to do this post for a while and with red wine flowing like water at Christmas parties right now, figured now is as good a time as any to share my experiences getting out red wine stains. 

I've recently dubbed a new nickname for my husband.  In addition to the Gentleman Farmer, Jack-of-all-Trades, I've started calling him a "Loose Cannon."  And I mean that in the most adoring way.  A man with as many hobbies and projects as him, he's bound to have some accidents. 

And he has.

Like earlier this year when he hit his thumb with a mallet out in the garage and then had a can of black spray paint explode in his face. 

Oh, did I forget to post about that last JUNE?  You can tell by the expression on his face that Aaron was not happy that I found humor in this situation. 

Is it funny yet, honey?

No?

Sorry, where was I?  I just needed to back-up my new nickname for him with a visual.   

Anyway, when he's drinking wine, the loose cannon term is no exception.  He just spills.  Not that I don't.... occasionally.  But if Aaron is wearing a white shirt, it is pretty much guaranteed he'll drip red wine on it, or get some on the rug...or dribble on the couch.  


Yes, I am bringing another one of him into the world VERY SOON. 


So while some women carry a Tide-to-Go Stain Remover Stick in their purse, I carry, "Wine Out: Red Wine Stain Remover."  Actually, I think this was one of Aaron's stocking stuffers last year.  Maybe I should have put this in my wine gift ideas list!

It is just a little spray bottle, but works great for getting out wine stains from carpets, clothing and table linens. 

It has worked wonders for clothing.  On some materials, the stain might initially turn a blueish color, but once it gets thrown in the wash, it comes right out!  I've used this several times on a white linen shirt and I couldn't even tell where the stain was once I take it out of the wash. 

I've tried it a few times on our living room rug, which is a tan colored patterned rug that hides stains pretty well to begin with.  I say this only because I can't attest to how it would work on light colored carpeting and if it would leave any discoloration. 

Normally, I'll dump some club soda on the carpet right away to bring up the stain, since that is a little heavier material and the spill covers a larger area and that has worked well in the past, but involves a lot of scrubbing back and forth, which might rub the stain in further. 

But when I tried the Wine Out, I just sprayed over the stain, let it penetrate a few minutes and then absorbed the stain with a white towel and voila!  Gone. 

Just a little last minute stocking stuffer idea.  I got mine at World Market, before the store near us closed!  And if you do find a bottle, grab a couple...they are only 1 oz. and if you spill wine like we do, you'll want an extra on hand. 

Cheers!

Lots of Updates

Despite how I've made it sound in some of my recent blog posts, we haven't been totally lazy around here the past couple of months.  Even though we are being hit with a winter storm for the fifth, yes FIFTH, weekend in a row, and have taken advantage of staying inside and catching up on Netflix movies, we have gotten a few things done around here.  And since I haven't been so good at quick little updates lately, I'm putting it all into one post.  Here we go...

The Chicken Coop and the Workshop:

We've had endless discussions on what to do with the Chicken Coop.  It was our initial intention to make that our eventual tasting room.  It's cute and charming, but needs some work to meet our standards of what we envision our tasting room to look like, at least in the long-run.  After three years of consistent powerwashing, I think the poop smell is finally out!  That's the first step.  And since we are still a few years away from that anyway, Aaron decided it would be a good storage place for some of his vineyard equipment and tractor for the time being.  So he put on a garage door. Well, actually his contractor buddy did most of it. 

And to make his time more efficient out in the workshop, he had his electrician friend, Tommy, upgrade the electrical for him.  It's nice having friends in the contracting business. 

When it hasn't been bitterly cold, Aaron has spent his time insulating the workshop.  He comes in after being out there and tells me, "this is really a two person job..."  I'm not sure if that is his way of telling me that what he is doing isn't exactly safe or if he is actually asking his nearly full term pregnant wife to help him install insulation.  Either way, I don't like the sounds of it.  Sorry I'm not more help, honey.  Just please don't make me a pregnant widow!

The Vineyard:

I just went back and looked and realized a did a post on December 10th last year about growing grapevines in Minnesota.  We tend to get a lot of questions about now...when we get a blizzard and windchills are predicted to be -25 below!  "How are those grapevines doing anyway?"

If you want a refresher on what I said last year almost to the day about how these grapevines survive in these conditions, that link is here.

I thought I would post these pictures Aaron took last weekend after we got about 8 inches of snow.

Because as beautiful and fresh as it looks here...

We are adding another 12-14" on top of all of this...

I have yet to venture out and take any pictures of the current blizzard!

Aaron's finger:

It is healing.  Slowly.  He did have to give up his dreams of being a hand model as it looks like it is healing slightly crooked.  And he says that finger gets colder a lot faster than the others.  As if Aaron didn't already have enough to talk about to people, he now has a built-in conversation piece on his right hand.

Cars:

We went to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving with the dogs and took my Jeep Liberty.  When we travel with them, we don't have room for our luggage in the car because, well, they take up a lot of room.  So we have to pull a little wagon behind the car just for our stuff.  It's ridiculous! Next time we go, we'll be adding a baby and a carseat. After careful thought, we realized it just wouldn't be right if we put the baby in the wagon.  I hear there are some carseat laws or something. 

So we traded in the Jeep for.....

a bigger Jeep!  What can I say...I like Jeeps!  I'm sure it will be caked in dirt in no time!  When they say dogs are expensive, you never really think of it in terms of having to upgrade your vehicle just to accommodate them!  Now we have a 7 passenger vehicle for our growing family, and a bigger engine with the tow package so we can haul grapes next year when we sell them to neighboring vineyards.  It was a win-win car all around.

You may remember a post I did a while back on Aaron's kit cars.  After several years of building this Porsche from scratch, and some recent help from our mechanic neighbor, the Porsche is now in driving condition!  I mean, can you think of better timing for us to finally have a cute little red two-seater to go joy riding in?  Right at the beginning of winter with a baby due in just a few short weeks?   We decided it will just have to be our "date night" car come next spring and summer when Schrambino's with a sitter.

Dogs:

They haven't gotten a lot of blog love lately, but rest assured, they have been getting lots of love.  We seem to be totally negating the theory that you should ween your dogs off getting lots attention before a baby comes along so they get used to being second fiddle.

We are doing the exact opposite.  We think they know something is up because they have been especially needy and cuddly lately.  I woke up in the middle of the night (a common occurrence these days), and noticed neither dog was in their dog bed.  Instead they were sprawled, stretched out at the end of our bed, spooning.  If it weren't 2am, I would've taken a picture. 

They've also continued to eat shoes and gloves and some throw pillows, but we love them anyway.  We might be sending them the wrong message by giving them empty plastic jugs as chew toys. 

Don't judge us.  Any toy we buy at the store gets destroyed in about 15 minutes.  Kong?  Phef.  Please.  But this jug.  This jug has lasted weeks! 

Despite all of this, we feel pretty good that their adjustment to a new baby will be good as they have reacted favorably to the babies they have been introduced to recently.  They've been sniffing around the nursery getting used to some of the new smells and helping me get things set up.  Behind all that puppy energy, they are really gentle giants.  Protective gentle giants.  How could you resist these faces?

Schrambino:

Expected arrival is exactly one month from today!  We have no indication of whether he will be early, late or right on time, but we're as ready as we're going to be for him to come!  All I know is he is an active little guy and he's been pretty good to me this pregnancy.  Right now I am enjoying just hanging out with him on the couch admiring our Christmas tree as the wind whistles outside. 

We couldn't find a traditional angel for the top of the tree, so Schrambino is filling in this year. 

Yes, those are grapes at the top of the tree too.  I added those in this year! 

We can't wait to meet our little Angel! 

Gift Ideas for the Wine Lover

One of the best parts of being "wine" people is that we have no shortage of wine gadgets and paraphernalia. Back when Aaron and I were dating, I had fun getting him wine chillers and cool wine racks.  But now that we are married with a vineyard, he has things like wine tanks and vineyard equipment on his Christmas list.  You might remember my gift shopping dilemma for Aaron from last year.  Needless to say, I kind of miss the fun little gifty type stuff that is easy to wrap and put under the tree.

Growing up, when my dad owned a bowling alley, people would always buy him anything bowling related.  After 27 years, I think he tired of getting bowling ball ties and bowling pin ornaments.  Because really, how many ties does a bowling center owner really need?  Me?  I love getting wine items because we do actually use them.  Maybe I won't be saying that in 27 years when I have wine stoppers coming out my ears, but right now, I think it's fun!  I love to test them out and see what things are really useful, what works best, and what I love so much I want to give as a gift to someone else.  Some things are great for day to day, while others I break out for special occassions.  

There are plenty of nice wine glasses, decanters, fancy wine stoppers and beautiful wine gift baskets that make great gifts, but thought I would share of a few my favorite wine gadgets that we actually use consistently on a regular basis. 

As you are doing your Christmas shopping, maybe you have a wine lover on your Christmas list who would like one of these. 

1.  Wine glass/bottle holder steady sticks

If you live in Minnesota, the weather outside hasn't exactly been screaming "picnic", but when the snow does finally melt next spring, these picnic wine holder steady sticks are pretty slick for when you are picnicing or enjoying a glass of wine outside.  Aaron and I use them when we have a campfire and don't have a flat surface to place our wine glasses. 

And they have one for your wine bottle too, so you don't have to worry about that tipping over either. 

Amazon carries several varieties of these.


2.  Electric Wine Bottle Opener

By now you've probably seen these electric wine bottle openers all over as they have slowly been becoming a hot item the last couple of years.  I admit when I first saw these, I didn't like the idea of them.  There is just something about manually uncorking a wine bottle that adds to the experience of opening a bottle of wine.  But I got over that pretty quickly when I tried this out a few times.  It is so easy and I've never had a cork get stuck or pieces fall into the wine bottle.  Just with a push of the button the cork is out in about 3 seconds. 

You can get pretty fancy with these if you want and splurge on a stainless steel one and spend some extra dough.  But ours is from Target for $19.99 and still going strong after 18 months of use.  Can't beat it.


3.  Countertop Wine Opener

Maybe you're not sold on the electric opener and would rather give a little more of a statement piece, or a more authentic wine opener.  Then go for the countertop rabbit wine opener.  Super easy, no fuss opener at the pull of a lever.  No twisting or holding the bottle in awkward positions.  A great piece to set on top a bar!  We used ours so much we finally had to replace the corkscrew on it. 

4.  Wine Aerator

For those of us who don't have the patience to wait for a bottle of wine to "breathe" before drinking it, the aerator is a must.  Because really, who actually decants wine or waits more than twenty minutes before pouring a glass?  I could give you my description of it, but Crate and Barrel does much better on their website.  Here is what it says, Breathe life into wines instantly, with or without a decanter. The simple act of pouring wine through the aerator increases pressure as you pour, drawing in and mixing just the right amount of air to help wines open up to their full potential. Without a battery, charcoal, or filter, the Vinturi aerator gives you the same enhanced bouquet, fuller flavor and smoother finish you'd get from 1½ hours of decanting. Aerator comes with a convenient stand and velvet storage bag.


5.  Wine Pourer and Stopper

I remember my first time going to a wine tasting and thinking the wine pourers were so cool.  It just made the wine look prettier and crisper.  I thought they were something special just to wineries, until I realized that wasn't the case. 

Back in the day, all of 8 months ago when I was still drinking wine, Aaron and I had no trouble polishing off a bottle of wine just the two of us.  But for those occassions when you open a bottle and need a wine stopper to preserve the wine, this wine pourer and stopper in ONE is awesome.  The lever just opens and closes, so you can pour a glass and then close it up so it doesn't oxidize. 

For entertaining, I like to use these clear dripless wine pourers.  Maybe pair a couple of these with a pretty wine bottle coaster for a gift!

You might recognize these from our unity wine pour from our wedding picture.

I could keep going, but this should give you a good start.  Happy Christmas shopping!