Wineries and Brewery Tours

This weekend was filled with drinking. Friday, Putnam had a company event at the Nashoba Valley Winery in Bolton, Massachusetts. We tried a number of their wines including a dry pear, a blueberry merlot, and a strawberry rhubarb. A nifty fact that I learned during the winery tour is that red wines actually get their color from the skins of the grapes that they were processed from. Cool huh? ...here are some wine bottles.

It was a frigid fall day in New England. Below is a shot of one of the houses on the property. A lady at the winery told me that it was a fantastic year for foliage. I didn't get the opportunity to really capture this, but I hope this shot can give you a glimpse of the cool oranges, reds and yellows before they are lost to winter. 

Since this was a company event, it was a great opportunity for me to shoot people. I really enjoyed this picture of my colleagues Irena, Blaire and Maria as they pick at some fresh grapes. Delicious. 

You can't have any fall event without football. David here put a wicked spiral on a pass to someone deep down-field while Paul looks like he's blocking Remco in the back field. 

The event was a great change of pace from the office. It's nice to be able to take a day off from work and enjoy some quality time with your colleagues. After looking through my pictures on Friday, I learned that shooting people is infinitely more difficult than shooting still objects. Not only do you need to control the exposure of the frame, but you also need to make sure you can capture the emotion of your subjects. Every picture should be able to tell a specific story.  

To end this post, I want to teach you Sam Adams' 5 step beer tasting and evaluation process. Keep in mind, my buddy Eric and I woke up early and trekked outside of Boston to get you this information! 

Step 1 - First, examine the appearance of the beer. Clear the condensation off the glass and observe the  beer's color, clarity and head. Looks good? Great.  

Step 2 -Next, put your nose deep in the glass and smell its aroma. What does it smell like? Heaven? or maybe just the hops that the beer was made with? 

Step 3 - Taste the beer with the front of your palette. Your tongue has sweetness receptors at the tip, so don't chug your beer all the time! You're missing some of the best flavors and aromas that the brewer has to offer. 

Step 4 - Taste the body of the beer. Focus near the middle of your tongue and you'll be able to taste the lightness or richness of the flavor. 

Step 5 - Finally, swallow the beer and taste the dry, bitter or sweet taste in the end. What's cool about beer is that, unlike wine where you should spit when you're done, you need to drink the beer to understand it's real flavor. Repeat and enjoy.