Lucky Lady

 Day 6: Wherein we reach California!

Yeah, we stayed at the Rancheria Resort Casino. And you can too.

Consider it my public service to you.

Here's the thing though... we had breakfast in the casino. Because, well, it's where we stayed. Is anybody not familiar with these Indian (non-Vegas) type casinos? You know, the kind where people reincarnate from 70's truck stops and discos just long enough to play the slots (the women) and $5 black jack (the men) while smoking and drinking cheap alcohol in plastic cups at ten in the morning, with their hair piled high (the women) or hanging low (the men) or hidden under trucker hats with awful sayings on them (the men and the women) once there's an audience (of, say, two people on a wine tasting tour) and then evaporate back into time never to be seen again because they can't possibly still exist in 2011? Those casinos? Yes, that's where we had breakfast. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't any Keno to be played while I nursed my coffee but I was able to adjust (oooh, look! shiny object!) when I saw corned beef hash and eggs on the menu. Also, I did have to put a quarter into a lobster-themed slot machine. I won. I mean, just by being able to play a crustacean casino game, I won.

There was more wine to taste though, so we couldn't linger. We took our money and ran. We ran all the way to Lake County, California and Gregory Graham wines. Gregory was getting ready for a big wine festival weekend but kindly agree to meet with us and pour some of his wines. So while his team cleaned and spiffed and shined and generally prepared the barrel room and tasting room for the onslaught of semi-inebriated tourists soon to arrive, Greg dealt with two not-yet-inebriated, not spiffed, not shined tourists like, um, well, us. So glad he did!  We tried 7 of his wines and pretty much loved every one. Favorites were the 2009 Red Hills AVA Rose' ((60% Grenache and 40% Syrah) and the 2008 Cinder Cone blend (Syrah, Cab, Grenache, Malbec).

Our next stop was Steele Winery & Vineyard...where we tasted fifteen wines. Yes, 15. 1 and 5. 15 wines. For those of you keeping score...we are now at 112 wines tasted and we're half way through day 6. You see why this is epic wineapalooza mother of all wine tasting trips? But back to those 15 wines.

Chris with Steve Tylicki...and those 15 wines!

Steele Winery Tasting room

We loved Steele. Steven Tylicki, general manager,  grape grower, olive oil producer extraordinaire and jovial wine guy was our tasting guide, joined by Quincy Steele, the owner/ winemakers (not tough on the eyes) son who also has a label of his own (Writer's Block wines...love the name, love the wines; I bought a baseball cap, a fridge magnet, and several bottles of wine, including a few as gifts.). They too were getting ready for the big wine weekend (the one we were racing ahead of....we like our tastings a little more private; how else would we get to taste 15 wines??) but they gave us their full attention. And what did we love at Steele? Well....Steve and Quincy of course (and Steve's Olio Demendo  Olive Oil is very, very good!) but also:

2008 Writer's Block Tempranillo
2008 Writer's Block  Malbec
2009 Shooting Star Blue Franc (Blaufrankisch wine)
OKay, Okay, I also loved the Writer's Block Viognier.

We did finally tear ourselves away (Steve had to help us load up the car; and I know you'll ask so I'll just admit my failure...I did not get a photo of Quincy Steele. My bad.)

I think we all realize now, don't we, that it's going to take me longer to blog about this trip than the trip itself took. So you won't be surprised to know....this day is also being split into 2 blogs. Because there were 2 more wineries and then our drive to Geyserville Inn.  Busy, busy  day. But for now...go pour yourself a glass. We'll see you back later.

Such a Loser

So, no. It turns out I can't blog every day. Or every other day. I'd like to tell you I had a really good reason, like a fire in my backyard, but...oh, wait...I did have that.

A fire started in the field/ hillside behind my home and quickly swept across all the dry brush to endanger our homes (I live in a gated community of townhomes). You can read about it  (yeah, my house is one of those in the photo) here. and also, here. Sadly, one of my neighbors homes, 4 doors down, was burned pretty significantly. Chris fled with Seamus and our computers. I was at work and stayed there until things were brought under control. Then I came home and snaked my car through all the fire trucks and police vehicles to reach my home, my man and my beagle. Fire is out and we're all safely piled on our bed with the smell of smoke circulating about. You'll forgive me if I don't blog about wine tonight right? 'Cuz, ya know....I need to just drink some.

Update: No, seriously, this was outside my home! 

Extra Cheese, please

Day 5: July 27, 2011 Rogue Valley, OR

Remember how I mentioned Chris was smart enough not to make me wake up early and run about two days in a row? Right, so day 5 was another sleep in leisurely day. Plus, we were in Rogue Valley and it turned out there weren't really a lot of wineries in Rogue Valley that had wines from the Forgotten Grapes. BUT...there was a Rogue Valley cheese shop!! With all the wine we'd been tasting and still would be tasting, clearly we needed cheese. We bought some blue, some goat, some tasty local stuff and some really wonderful rosemary crackers and headed off to see what wineries we could see.

Our only stop turned out to be at Longsword Vineyard and Fly High Vineyard (they share a tasting room) where we had a pleasant tasting of their wines and our cheeses out on the patio.

And then we hit the road--a 4 1/2 hour drive down to Lake County, California. And that drive turned out to be spectacular fun for us.

We were a little too focused on the wine in planning our trip and thus, manged to be very surprised by this:

 

That's Mt. Shasta, and I'm guessing it's been there awhile. Still managed to be news to us. But it wasn't nearly as surprising as this:

We thought it would be more crowded. Sort of a popular destination, if you know what I mean.

We also were unable to resist pulling off the highway to see the "world famous sun dial bridge" at Turtle Bay in Redding, California. You can see why it's world famous, right?

These were the only turtles we saw at Turtle Bay though:

 I was a little disappointed that the museum was already closed. But...we had an exciting night ahead. Oh yes sirree. Because this is where we stayed:

Rancheria Resort Casino. Emphasis on Resort....no.... emphasis on "Casino"...well, no, emphasis on "Rancheria." But yeah, we stayed here. God I love road trips like this.

Dogs and Donuts

[Note from "real time"--as opposed to going back to tell you about our wineapalooza trip which took place a month ago--this blogging every day thing is a lot of work! How did I do it when I was working and going through chemo??  I'm thinking it will now be every other day. Besides, we had 18 friends over last night to try out some of these wines--18 bottles to be exact. I've got a lot of cleaning up to do today!]


Day 4, Part 2, July 26, 2011 in the evening....



After Steve Reustle made a call over to John Olson at Tesoaria, we hustled over to meet John. So, so glad we did. TeSoAria is in Roseberg, OR and is a small but  beautiful winery. Here's what their website says about them: "Our name, TeSóAria, encompasses the true spirit of what our vineyard and winery are all about, and defines the artisanal estate wines produced: Terra (soil), Sol (sun), Aria (air and music). These three words perfectly describe the terroir where the estate grown varietals and wines are produced."  That's a good description. John's passion is readily apparent. He was hard at work in the barrel room when we arrived but happily set up a tasting for us. His dog Bella (the ball -obssessed) was by his side, which made me happy as I was definitely missing Seamus by then. Once Chris explained Forgotten Grapes and his quest for the lesser known grape varietals, John lit up and out came the wines. 14 total. It may have been more. I couldn't keep up.  But here's some highlights of what he poured, and I'd encourage you to check out his website to read more about these really interesting and tasty wines. He's doing some great stuff.

2009 Dolcetto
2009 Bull's Blood (a blend of Pinot Noir, Baco Noir, Marachal Foch, Tempranillo and Hugarian Kadarka...nope, I'm not making that up)
2009 Tempranillo
2010 Bulls Blood
2010 Sangiovese
2010 Kadarka
2010 Barbera
2010 Primotivo

It went on and on! So much so that I had to bust out the appetizers...2 day old Voodoo Donuts! But let me tell you, the maple bacon bar was perfectly paired with the 2009 Baco Noir!

And notice all the 2010 vintages? That's because John started climbing up the barrels to have us taste barrel samples (this is the point at which I lost count of the wines. Crazy good stuff).

And I'll have to admit defeat here too. I had to stop tasting. Chris kept on, but I turned my attention to Bella and her ball. Bella has her own game of catch and I'm not sure I ever learned all the rules, but I'm pretty sure you can't be looking at her when she puts the ball down, and the ball must always be in her sight (or in her mouth), and she'll let you know when it's okay to throw the ball by putting it down in front of you and staring at it intently. But it takes her awhile to determine whether or not you are a worthy player. Funny, funny dog. But so cute.

Day 4 of Wineapalooza the Mother of all Epic Wine Tours was a doozy. So many good wines and interesting people. He had to push on though. We drove to the Rogue Valley that night, stopping on the way for dinner. We both had a craving for Mexican food. And margaritas.

Wine Guys

Wineapalooza Day 4: July 26, 2011

The easiest way to tell we were tourists in Oregon would have been to count the number of times I said "Look at all these trees!" It's really a beautiful state. And the drive from Florence to the Umpqua Valley (conveniently located on the Umpqua River) is gorgeous and serene. To wit:

And yes, I made Chris stop so I could get out and take a picture. He's an excellent traveler like that--doing all the driving and perfectly agreeable to stop whenever and wherever.

Of course we stopped for wine too. First was Brandborg Winery in Elkton. We had a great time tasting wines with Terry Brandborg himself. In fact, it was such a nice time we ending up tasting 12 wines. 12! Our favorites were the 2010 Fleur de Lys White Pinot Noir, the 2008 Reisling and 2007 Love Puppets Pinot Noir. (I also happen to love the name of the Pinot Noir--it's got a romantic story behind it having to do with a painting and Terry and his wife Sue's courtship; very sweet--the story, not the wine.)

Chris with Terry Brandborg

 

We couldn't resist heading over to the winery across the way from Brandborg. River's Edge winery sits....well, on the edge of the Umpqua River.

Eight wines were tasted with the 2007 Barrel Select Umpqua Pinot Noir as our favorite. It is hard to beat an Oregon Pinot Noir.

Our next stop was a doozy. We'd been visiting mostly smaller wineries--beautiful, rustic places with small productions. So we were not prepared for what Reustle Prayer Rock winery and vineyards looked like. The drive in was, in keeping with Oregon's custom, gorgeous. And then the winery appeared. And, well...wow. See for yourself:

Gloria Reustle gave us a tour of the winery and some of the most elegant private tasting rooms I've ever seen.

But as beautiful as the winery was...the wines were even better. Steve Reustle joined us for what turned out to be a 3 hour tasting. Steve is passionate about his grapes, his wines and winemaking. Chris is, as we know, also very passionate about those things. There was wine. There was talking. There was more wine. More talking. Repeat. A fabulous afternoon! The 2010 Gruner Veltliner was the favorite (and the 2009 reserve was also excellent). I also must give a tip o' the glass to the kitchen at Reustle Prayer Rock. They serve small bites with each wine (okay, not each wine we tried...that would be two meals worth; but each wine in the "normal" tasting) and everything was delicious. Loved, loved, loved the rice cracker with goat cheese, avocado slices, a drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.

We spent so long there (that's Chris still chatting with Steve) we thought we'd probably not get in another winery that day. But, Steve picked up the phone and called John Olson over at Tesoaria and asked him to stay open for us. Boy were we glad he did that. I'll tell you all about that tomorrow. Let's just say it involves not just wine, but dogs and donuts.

Reunions

Day 3: In which Wineapalooza heads to Florence...and gets a tasting break.

Chris knows me well. Which means he knows better than to try to get me to be up early and out the door doing "things" (anything, anything at all) three mornings in a row. So Day 3 started with a sleep-in. Breakfast in bed at the hotel. Much coffee. Check out was at noon, or I'd probably still be in bed at the Marriott in downtown Portland.  We had a leisurely day ahead of us though. We were going to meander our way down to Florence, OR where we'd meet up with my high school buddy and best friend Corby and her new husband...who just happens to also be her high school love. They dated the summer after we graduated from high school--he was three entire years older than us (really significant back then!) and the "cool guy in the band." She was giddy. But it didn't last (who could get over that age difference?? ;-) ) and they broke up. They each went on to marry other people, they each had a son, then a daughter, then a divorce. Then he looked her up and ....boom! They were back in love and before you knew it, almost 30 years after their first date, they were married and she moved up to Oregon with him. That was two years ago and this would be the first time I'd see her in her new happy life. So, I was excited to get there....but there was driving to do and wines to be tasted.

Our one and only wine stop that day was a good one--Ankeny Vineyard, in Salem, OR. (Notice the dog on the mural on the building? Yeah...you know I had to stop in.) Since we were only stopping at one winery, we knew we'd need some serious numbers. How about 7? We tasted 7 wines. We greatly enjoyed the Ankeny Sunset (bottle on the right above) which is a rose blend of 84% Pinot Noir and 16% Marechal Foch...which, you guessed it, is one of Chris's Forgotten Grapes. We also really liked the pure Marechal Foch (which Chris's notes call "zippy" and also brambly and "syrah like with a little zin kick."). Tasty stuff, but we had to get back on the road to get to this:

Kevin, Corby, Teresa & Chris

It was so great to see them! And, it's possible, there was wine with dinner. There was also quite a menagerie of animals at her home, so I got a kick out of that and got my animal fix (they even have two beagle mixes--but they're huge! twice Seamus's size!).

The giant (and old, but happy) beagle

The less happy (but pretty adorable) cat

Pet ducks! They're hilarious

The wild deer come right into their backyard! These two fawns weren't too far from mama

Mama deer getting a snack from Corby

A nice, relaxing vacation day. But tomorrow...it's wine time again. Tough, tough work...but somebody has got to do it!

Shine On Adelsheim!

Before continuing with wineapalooza, allow me one "real time" break-- I had my UCLA check-up (mammogram this time) yesterday. All was fine. And I graduated. I have been returned to "normal" and will only have mammograms once a year now. Just like folks who never had cancer! Woo-Hoo! Now, on with our regular programming....




July 24, 2011: Day 2, Part Two

Okay, I was wrong. But I can clear it up now. We didn't have that fabulous lunch (see post below) after Barrel Fence. Oh no. We went on to Adelsheim Winery and guzzled tasted another 7 wines before lunch. If you're counting, that means we had tasted 21 wines before breaking for lunch. I don't know if I'm impressed or mortified. No, wait, I do. I'm impressed.

Adelsheim was a winery that I put on our itinerary. A few years back they had a stainless steel Chardonnay (2007) that was my "buy cases of this I'm drinking it forever" wine. And we bought cases. Until we couldn't buy it anymore. Then I put Michael on it (he who lives in the region) and he couldn't find it. It was over. And I mourned the loss of that wine. That's the thing about wine---when a vintage is gone, it's gone. It won't and can't be repeated. Even with the same land, same vines, same winemaker... the weather over the year is going to be different, so the wine will be different. The barrels (or steel vats) are going to be different. The wine will be different. It's the fun, the glory, the agony and the great mystery of winemaking (and, uh, buying). Which is why I wanted to go visit the winery and taste every single one of their white wines in search of my new favorite.

Marketing Manager Catherine Douglas was our cheerful and informative tour guide,

out in the vineyard

and in the cave. And then in their "library" (the storage room for each of their vintages from way back to current):

and you know what I was looking for, right? Yeah, it was there. But, damnit (Willamette) I couldn't reach it. Or, well, steal it. I just can't.

But we did love the 2010 Ribbon Springs Vineyard Auxerois (yes, that's a grape and yes, that's a white wine, second from left in the above photo). Quite a tasty wine ("full bodied up front segueing into lemon; good minerality; finishes as a tarter lime mid-mouth" per Chris). Also, it was the 2009 Willamette Valley Chardonnay that came closest to my fond memories of the 2007 (as opposed to the 2009 Stoller Vineyard Chardonnay...but that was good too!).

So, right at this point we are 21 wines tasted. You'd think that'd be good for a day, but no.
We headed over to Cana's Feast, in Carlton where Wes gave us quite a tasting. I have to admit...I could not keep up. Plus, we were tasting in the barrel room, which is a nice private way to taste but, uh, they keep the temperatures where the wine likes it...call it 56 degrees. Yeah, I can't do that.

I cannot tell a lie...I ducked out and took a nap in the car. Michael and Chris though, they powered through another ten wines. 10!!! Their favorites were the 2008 Barbera and the 2007 Nebbiolo. I have to take their word for it for now...but bottles did come home with us.

Day 2 total wines tasted (well, by Chris at least): 31. Total for Wineapalooza: 36.