A clarification

The owners of Green Creek Wineries read my review of their harvest festival and took issue with it in a very sternly-worded email. I want to make it clear that I did very much enjoy my time there and their wine was delicious. I did not take the tour that was being offered because it was very crowded and planned on making a return trip to tour the facilities and buy some more of their wine.

It seems I was mistaken about the jeweler. I was told she makes her own jewelry, and if so then she is highly talented. I saw a glossy-page catalog and made the assumption that the jewelry was from the catalog, not that she produced the catalog from her hand-made jewelry. My own personal taste still says that the jewelry is overly big and gaudy, but it was so well made that I assumed it was factory-produced.

They also challenged me to come up there and prove my own musical ability before judging someone else's ability. I don't have to do that. The musicians did not play much while I was there and when they did play I was not very impressed.

I do wish I had stayed long enough for the stomping; it looked like real fun.

The owners also took umbrage that I said they "bill themselves" as the inventors of the first red chardonnay, which they call Chardonnay Rosso. I phrased it that way because I haven't verified it. I'm not implying that they are lying or just pulling a PR stunt; I have no information one way or the other aside from their claim. I thought it was a neutral enough phrase. Oh, and I don't prefer red, so please don't go telling me that inventing a new red is ad oculos a great thing.

I wasn't put off by the presence of the politicians and their entourages. If anything that told me how important the festival was and I was delighted to see that the winery was so important.

I did have a good time, and enjoyed the wine. However, responding to customers or potential customers with anger is not the way to win people over. I'm much less inclined to visit them now, but did want to clarify my experiences just so nobody got the idea that I was bored or didn't have fun.