One of my besties came to visit me!
AND we went on a wine tasting tour!
Such fun!
My friend Heidi came to visit me for the Fall edition of the Roam the Rogue winery tour. You may recall that my friends Kelsey and Jennifer came to visit me in May for the spring edition of the Roam the Rogue tour. Heidi wasn't able to join us that weekend, but she came down for the Fall edition! YAY!
As usual, my darling hubby played chauffeur for us ladies! He is such a good sport!
So here's how it went down. Heidi headed down Friday evening; we ordered pizza from our favorite pizza joint, Kaleidoscope pizza. We hung out at the house and visited, watched the last couple innings of the world series (Congrats to the Cardinals!) and drank a little vino. A very lovely evening of catching up.
Saturday we drank a little coffee and then got ready to hit the wineries. We headed out to Butte Falls, Oregon to have breakfast at the Butte Falls Cafe. Chris and I had lunch there during his vacation week in July. Breakfast was delicious and then we headed out to our first stop.
LaBrasseur vineyard was the first stop. We tasted a 2010 Marli Joy white and a 2009 Ember red. We stopped at this winery on Chris' vacation in July, too. A lovely family owned winery; very friendly and worth the drive. There was a very nice chatty lady also on the tour that we had some good laughs with. Her name was Jolene.
Next up was Crater Lake Cellars in Shady Cove, Oregon. Most of the wineries were only tasting two or three of their varietals, but Crater Lake had several options. I tasted both a dry and a sweet Riesling, which probably were my favorites of the tour, and a spicy Syrah. Chris also had their 2009 Grenache. We bumped into Jolene again and had more good visits and laughs with her. Also, super funny in a "it's a small world" kind of way: Heidi ran into a client of hers that lives down here! So fun. This was our first time at Crater Lake Cellars.
Then we be bopped over to Agate Ridge Vineyard in Eagle Point, Oregon. This was also a first time visit for us. We tasted 2009 Marsanne and a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. Heidi picked up some little trinkets from this winery. They had a great bunch of great little gifts in their tasting room. The tasting room is in an old farm house. Very cool. Beautiful scenery, too.
After that we headed across the highway to The Butcher Shop to pick up some steaks and 30% off fresh seafood! I got some rib eyes and some fresh, local salmon and some halibut! I had brought the cooler just for this purpose. I love the Butcher Shop!
Then we took off for Cliff Creek Cellars. This winery was on the Spring tour. There we tasted a 2010 Pink Pink Wine Rose and a 2005 Syrah. This is also a family owned winery and we got a chance to chat with the owner and get a lot of history about the winery. I ran into a classmate from the community college. We sat in the sun, sipped wine and told stories. It was very lovely. The sun was shining and it really was a great day.
Next to last stop was Folin Cellars. Folin Cellars is a very "Tuscan", California style winery. It is very beautiful, with a big colored concrete patio, gorgeous views of the north side of the Table Rocks, and just a lovely ambiance. We took a few fun pictures here. We also tasted a 2007 Tempranillo and a 2007 Syrah. I am NOT a fan of Tempranillo. It is just...I don't even know how to describe it. Chris does like it and he says it has an earthy flavor.
Our last stop of the day was Del Rio Vineyards. There we tasted a 2009 Chardonnay, a 2009 Pinot Noir and their signature Rose Jolee. I really enjoyed both the Chardonnay and the Rose Jolee. The Chardonnay is not oak-y at all and the Rose Jolee has a bit of carbonation and sweetness. Refreshing. Del Rio paired the Chardonnay with a Wild Mushroom Soup that was very tasty. I got the recipe and will be, as usual, adding my own little tweaks to it. I'll share it with you when I do!
We had an excellent day tasting many different lovely wines. We were good girls and didn't over imbibe. We skipped the last three wineries on the tour: Daisy Creek Vineyards, Ledger David Cellars and Roxy Ann Winery for a couple of reasons. First, when we did the Spring Tour we had a somewhat negative experience at the Daisy Creek tasting room. They were very unorganized, slow to pour and too busy chatting with (by appearances only) their *preferred* clientele. (We were dressed casually.) They also were a little militant about their snacks. So, we didn't really want to go back there. The other reason was that by the time we wrapped it up at Del Rio we had been tasting from about noon to 5, and the tour was over at 5. Whew! What a day! We skipped Roxy Ann because Heidi has gone tasting there with us before, and we can go back there anytime and taste for free!
The weather was fabulous for us. Dry and sunny, but not too hot. A really perfect fall day.
But wait! That is NOT all!!
After we got done with the wine tour we came home and did this:
Ha! Aren't they great?!
From left to right: Heidi's pumpkin, Chris' two pumpkins and then my two pumpkins!
After that we were ready for bed!
A lovely fun time was had by all! It was great to have Heidi visit for the weekend, as usual. We had lots of laughs and tons of fun. I'm already looking forward to our next visit!
In the meantime, today was spent cleaning house, doing homework and watching football, of course!
Sad day for the Seahawks and the Cowboys! Sheesh! Great day for the Rams and the Eagles!
I also made a yummy soup for dinner, but I have a few ideas for some tweaks, so will let you know about that one after I make it again.
Well, before I turn into a pumpkin, it's time to head to bed! Have a great week all!
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