Controlled Chaos

This weekend was Harvest Festival in Paso Robles, California.  It is our busiest weekend of the year, and it is also my anniversary with the Thachers!  I gave them a sappy anniversary card, you know the type with a little old couple on the front.  I take it seriously, I have worked for them for two years...this is big, this is the most committed relationship I have ever had!  It all began two years ago this weekend!  I met Michelle when I was asked to babysit her daughters one day while Michelle opened the tasting room (I think this is the last time I was asked to babysit...hmmm I think they think I am better behind the bar??).  Michelle was nine months pregnant with their son, and was going to need some help in the tasting room, especially during Harvest Festival weekend.  Jan Simpson, of Whalebone Winery, suggested that she call me to help.  

At that point, I didn't know anything about wine!  Michelle met me in the tasting room and told me a little about their wines and I tasted through.  She said it was going to be really busy but she and Sherman would be there to help if I had any questions....

Well, she called at 6pm the night before, and said, "Katie, this baby is coming, we're headed to the hospital, and you're on your own tomorrow!"  And so, my roommate Heather, a couple of the Thacher's friends and I, did our best!  I find that people are generally pretty happy if they have wine in their glass, so that was the main objective and we figured everything else out!  

I think it was just my initiation into Thacher Winery!  It was a little crazy, or as we like to say, "Controlled Chaos!"

It was the first few months of being open, which served as muse for the name "Controlled Chaos," the first Thacher Winery blend!  The blend is very Californian, and has been a big hit.  42% Zinfandel, 37% Mourvedre, and 21% Grenache.  A double gold medalist at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, and just mentioned as an "Outstanding California Red," by the Wine Spectator (who also gave it a 90), Controlled Chaos has taken the world by storm!  

It was chaos, those first few months, and how much control...well that is debatable! Construction on the winery was completed in August of 2008, and up until then, Sherman was a bit of a desperado winemaker, shuffling around renting space from other wineries.  Once he had his own space, it was really nice for him to spread out, and so he took on more fruit than he had in the past.  While Sherman was busy in the winery, Michelle was planning the grand opening of the tasting room (Labor Day weekend), and taking care of their two girls, who were then 5 and 2!  So needless to say, they had their hands full!  

It only got crazier when Cody was born on Harvest Festival weekend, and of course that was my first weekend as well!  Somehow we all held it together, and as Michelle always does, she made it look graceful! 

It has been a fast two years, so exciting and so much fun!

Now hopefully, when you crack open a bottle of our Controlled Chaos, you will know the true story behind the name!