About Chateau Bon Chien Wines
Children play "house" or, maybe, "Cowboys and Indians". Some folks play sports or act in community theater. Me, I play "Winery". :-)
My name is Tim and I live in Frederick, Maryland. I created Chateau Bon Chien in 2001 when my wife gave me my first wine kit to help me get over the loss of my best bud of 14 years, and tres bon chien, Sherman. (Thanks to Paintshop Pro, that's his picture that graces my labels.)
I typically make about 25 cases of wine each year in 10 to 20 gallon batches. I focus on mid-atlantic vinifera (both reds and whites) but have been known to bring in Napa and South American grapes too and also enjoy making the occasional fruit wine and cordials just for fun.
Because it's a hobby and my batches are small, I enjoy several luxuries that a commercial operation doesn't. Most important, perhaps, is that I've got no cash flow problems or product managment problems. If a wine's not ready to bottle, fine! I'll just buy a few more carboys and wait a few more months. I'm not trying to get product to market to turn a buck to drive the business. Therefore, I can do what the wine needs, not what the business needs.
On the down side, I can't sell either -- at least, not without going to jail. So I give a lot away and my family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers benefit. :-)
Not enough? Check my blog for more in-depth information.
Many thanks to the guy at 5ThirtyOne for the tutorial that helped me pimp this page to look the way it does!
Vienna, Austria, Nov. 2006 
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