Kiss Me, I'm at Irish Vineyards

 Part 2 of Day 9 of Wineapalooza

Once again we were running short on time. It's not as easy to taste thirty wines a day as you might think. We did not have time to get to the winery we had originally picked out to visit next. We knew we'd maybe get one more winery in on this day if we picked one quick (I still don't get why tasting rooms close at 5...isn't that when drinking is supposed to start??). Chris let me pick and I picked a very obvious choice...Irish Family Vineyards.

I'm Irish. Chris is part Irish (and part German; so as he likes to say, he wants to take over the world, he's just too drunk to do it). It's like it was meant to be that Irish Vineyards tasting room was just right there. When we walked in we were greeted immediately by a very enthusiastic and smiling man named James, who instantly handed us glasses and began to pour the wine. I like that in a man.  Turned out James was the owner/winemakers dad. We got to chatting. And to drinkin.' And then to shopping (more on that in a bit...because I bought more than wine.)  We've now had several wine tasting experiences, on this trip alone, where we enjoyed the wine and the folks making it in equal measure. Irish was one of those places. James' introduced us to his wife and his son Russell (the winemaker)

The Irish Family

and of course we got to talking all things wine and Irish. This was a great way to end the wine tasting on Day 9. Russell loves Touriga wine, so obviously he has good taste. Other favorites included the 2010 Malvasia Bianca and the 2008 Alicante Bouchet. And the "Pog Mo Thoin" wine which is a blend of 7 grapes and means "Kiss My Ass" in Irish. Which brings me back to the shopping...


I bought shirts for my brother and my niece, because they're both Irish too and they were coming for a visit for their birthdays, shortly after we returned from Wineapalooza. I didn't know until I gave them the shirts and they unfolded them that the back of the shirts said "Pog Mo Thoin." So, yeah, I gave my 15-year old niece a shirt that says "Kiss My Ass." Yeah, I'm that aunt.

We had a nice meal in Murphy's at an Italian steakhouse and then set out for Madera...and that drive resulted in another of the "god I love road trips" experiences. Which, of course, gets its own blog post....

Is it the wine that makes wine guys so handsome? Discuss amongst yourselves.

Back soon!