Barney's blog

 Hmmm, could just we finish a 6 liter bottle of Gloria? Just Adam, Emily, Tony, Ox, Mags, Shane and I? I'm not telling, and I'm really not telling how many bottles we opened after the Gloria. Except to say that I rode my bike back to the shops to get the car in the morning!

 Whew, we had a soft opening today and the staff did great! We are officially OPEN and I can't wait for you all to meet the incredible strong crew we have.

Josh, Amanda, Marvin, Amy and J get a chance to see what the platters look like and taste some more wine.

We've been trying to gently taste them through 40 odd wines and still have them remember what they've tasted!

Its great to see them so excited about what we serve, as professional servers we certainly respect what they think and their feedback.

They didn't talk too much at first, they just ripped into the platters. Then they got it and started talking about all the different tastes and how the cheeses and accompaniments went with the variety of wines.

Well, we are so close we can taste it! Thanks a ton to our new crew who are helping get this thing open! Sadly, the merchant processing company lost our applications so we were delayed yet again - hard to open with no credit or debit cards. Shooting for this weekend and will surely be open next week.

Wow, we really passed final inspection and have a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) and did they even look at that absurd thermostat in the drain that measures the rinse water and tempers it with cold water? Of course not. I guess we have to open a restaurant now! Ripping through the final varnishing and pos inputs, running to Denver three times a day, getting sprayed in the face with beer and CO2 and the exploding soda tap, watching my 20 year old random orbital pack it in after 20 years on the last table needing sanding, training some great young people, answering the question "when are you opening" twenty times, etc etc.

Thanks to every god out there that Maggie, Tony, Ox and Adam are here and sharing this stage of the process.

 Ok, we have jumped through more hoops than a circus lion and are hoping to get our final inspections on Tuesday. Most fun was adding a thermostat to our dishwasher drain so we can add cold water each time the dishwasher drains. That way the 0.8 gallon of hot water after running 130 feet underground won't over flow the 750 gallon grease interceptor. Now I'm no math guru but this seems a bit overkill.

Maggie and I spent a few hours down in Denver at Sysco's test kitchens. Good fun and some ideas were bounced back and forth. But give Mags a kitchen and ....

We sincerely appreciate the time and inpuit from Jon and the guys!

So most people would agree that its a nice perk when a salesman stops by with two cases of wine (mostly California) and leaves them with us to taste. We love it, and always learn something when tasting. However as Adam, Ox and I tore into it, our palettes got pretty tired pretty fast. There's so much alcohol in so much CA wines, and it overwhelms you and the acidification (adding acid) is often shocking.

I know you may not feel sorry for us, but it is work and the bottom line is none of these wines will be served at Wine & Cheese. And none of them even left the building, not one was taken home! Maybe we're spoiled?? This work in the trenches is hard!

 Getting closer and closer! Dave has most of the pouring station done as well as the bar and bar back. Mural is almost done on the arch, lights are in and working. HVAC is operational, water is being turned on. We also have one refer in for our "work" wine.

Doors came in and the outside ones are in. Thanks to Reagan and Dan. By the way, Reagan isn't a leprechan, she's 5'8" so you can see how HUGE the doors are! They are gorgeous but we'll need to keep up on the finish.

I think a well stocked liquor store's bargain bin may be the greatest place to find new discoveries. We were at Liquor Mart in Boulder yesterday and there lurking amongst all the declassified KJ juice was a pink bottle having its cork tied on with a piece of string. I saw none of this kitchy marketing but rather thanks to the clear bottle, I saw the tell tale pinky orange color of Pinot Noir as a rose.

Whew, no child labor laws when its your own son! Barney and I went down and painted the walls behind where the racks are going to be.

He did a great job! But I'm not sure this is what he thought summer vacation was all about.