The Schmoliday Mis Mis Party

hehe you could call it the "Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Winter Equinox/ sorry if we forgot your particular holiday party" or just "Holiday Party"

Or, the "Let's just have some fun and not take ourselves so darn seriously Party"!

How about simply calling it the Aliquot. I had thought about the event in terms of the pell mell of crush, the mystery of fermentation to dryness, then the cellarmaster's genius in coaxing all the lots to the perfect state for transfer from steel to endless terms in the barrel room. The final phases in spring exist only in the winemaker's fancy at that point. It remains winter. Sometime as the edible plants in the garden grounds begin to flower and long before most actually are ready for picking to become part of the salad, the plans for timing each barrel batch for bottling and blending are developed. So, year end turns into a time of reflection and appreciation, although with much arduous work to handle the barrel aging processes delicately and with dispatch. It is a lot like the other feasts of the shortest days of the year, a time to relish our labors for their as yet inchoate final outcomes, a perfect bottle of wine for the table. In actuality the bent wine thief begins to appear in the barrel room later than end of year, in most years; and many wineries have employed this scurrilously named pipette-like lab instrument with ample fanfare during tours and scheduled events; yet, I would be reluctant to name the party the WineThief, as a trifle plebian. Aliquot has sufficient cachet for the in-crowd to appreciate, and adequate simplicity for understanding what aliquot is as a concept for balanced preparation of very young wines for tasting in lab sessions. Maybe it is only the years I spent in the world of physics that give Aliquot a ring of truth as a name for a winter party. In reality, it is an event some folks would regret having misced.

You've done it again John; thanks to you I've added a new word to my lexicon!

I always want the parties to stand the test of posterity. Thank Cornelius S. Ough for encouraging us to have good enology lab technique.

I think George Costanza's dad got it right....Festivus....a holiday for the rest of us! Now just where are we going to put the pole?

Wilma:

The "End of the Year Employee Celebration" is bad on a number of levels. Not the least of which is the fact that if you shorten it to the EYEC Party it sounds like the "Yuck" party.

How about just, "the party". That's it. Sort of like, "prince" or "Madonna".

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Tom...

Actually, I think I like the idea of the Yuck Party. But then again it could end up sounding like the F___ party if someone has an extra glass of wine or two.

These are all great ideas guys. Thanks for the comments and have a fantastic holiday season, no matter what you call it.........