I don’t know if you recall what happens to me when I pair wine with…well, with anything, really:
From “Maybe I Just Have a Hole in My Lip“
So while I may have a drinking problem, it is coupled with the fact that I don’t know a lick about wine. I drink it. I like it. But I’m stupid when it comes to tasting it. The only thing I know about “legs” and “complex aromas” happens in the barnyard. (And stays in the barnyard.)
Anyway, between my ignorance of wine and a conversation during our weekly Bull Session at Thinkhouse Collective, the idea of a blogger wine seminar was born.
Story Winery in Amador County was kind enough to offer an exclusive Blogger-Only Wine Tasting 101 class this past weekend.
They told us to wear “farm-friendly” shoes.
I’m not the least bit self-conscious that my foot is three times larger than everyone else’s. Really.
Also? I left the white shirt at home.
Aaaand I brought my 64-ounce 7-11 Big Gulp tankard, but they told me to put that disgusting thing away as we were to have our very own complimentary tasting glasses. Sweet! Free stuff.
With the bloggers all seated and ready to start, I went up to the front and did a thank you all for coming blah blah blah sort of thing. Apparently I saw fit to do a song and dance number, literally kicking off the event.
(Photo Courtesy of Eileen of Bringing Up Bronwyn)
After a little history of the place, they poured us one of their white wines and led us out to the vineyard.
These Mission vines are over 100 years old.
This is Brian. He’s the assistant winemaker. Helpful, knowledgeable, and all-around nice guy. He told us it was okay to like two-buck Chuck. We should drink what we like, not what snobs tell us to like.
You may have noticed that you can’t see the ground between the vines. That’s because they are in the process of getting certified organic.
We saw the barrel room and they told us how they made wine and that they bottle it all themselves.
And I learned a few things about tasting wine, like the 3 “S”s: Swirl, Smell, and Sip. And when you sip, you let the wine roll down your tongue.
And when you spit, you put some air behind it. Oh wait, maybe “spit” is one of the three S’s. Or maybe there are four S’s. Oh, crap. Now I can’t remember. Whatever. Maybe the other bloggers can tell you.
Their tasting room used to be a barn a million years ago, but I told them it was full of holes.
Turns out they knew that already. Apparently, woodpeckers have their way with it and stuff acorns in there.
But boy, do they have a gorgeous view of the Cosumnes River Valley.
Now, if you want a decent intellectual review of the class and the winery, you should check out what the other bloggers have to say. They can explain it way better than I can. I just came for the schoolin’.
If you’re ever in Amador County, you should stop by Story Winery in Plymouth. It’s a beautiful place and the wine was lovely.
Is “lovely” a wine term? Can I say “lovely”?
A big THANK YOU to Cinde Dolphin of (Marketing for Mavericks) and Marketing Director for Story Winery for helping us put it all together.
A Correction…
I totally screwed up the announcement of the giveaway winners in a previous post by claiming that Nicky of We Work for Cheese won a T-Shirt when in fact, it was Nora of Door in Face. I am now Margaret of Egg on Face. Sorry Nora!
Here are some Story Wine blog posts from other bloggers:
