A Sunday with a Headache by any other name...is still a Sunday with a Headache

Whoa...and what a headache I have. I blame myself though. But nothing that a couple of Tylenol and water and a little bit of coffee can't fix. I get ahead of myself though. Let me back up as to why.

Thursday night I got a text from The Yank asking if I wanted to join him and PhotoGirl for some wine tasting on Saturday.  PhotoGirl is looking for wine for a birthday blowout she's having.  Ultimately I said yes I'd go, but let me walk you through the thought process for me.

Since I've been working from home, I've discovered that going out and doing things - where it used to be an immediate YES - has become a thought process.

Leave the house?
Oh man, I'm not sure about that.
But wine tasting could be fun.
Yah but you have to leave the house.
I enjoy The Yank and PhotoGirl.
Yah but you have to leave the house.

And so it goes.

I really am not sure where this thought / feeling comes from. I do realize I could become a hermit a little too easily.

Anyhow, I did ultimately say yes and I'm glad I did. The two of them are a bunch of fun and really know their wines.  I learned new ways to explain how wine tastes, "gripping tannins" was perhaps my favorite description.

We hit 4 wineries in Woodinville. Woodinville, for those of you who don't know, is our winery town. There are about a 120 wineries in Woodinville (this is not a full list BTW) and growing.  These are all mostly small wineries who produce some pretty damn good wine.

Our first stop was diStefano - they had a cat that lived in this winery.  The Yank and PhotoGirl had some wines to pick up there. We tasted I think 5 wines there. But see here's the thing, The Yank and PhotoGirl SPLIT their tasting. I drank mine all by myself.   I do realize that you can toss the wine after a taste. And I do realize that a real taster doesn't actually swallow it. But come on. It's wine. And in most cases really good wine.

Then we stopped at Isenhower Cellars. I'd been here before. Seattle SIL got donated wine from this winery for her wine tasting parties.  Their wines are good to me and reasonably priced.  They had two vendors there sharing some food too - which was good cuz I needed something to soak up the wine.  They had a baker there who had cheesy bread that was - ZOMG so good - and bacon bread that was - you guessed it - ZOMG so good. There was also a cheese maker there who had some fantastic cheese.

We tasted I think 4 there. I bought a bottle of The Last Straw wine they had. Just loved it. The Yank and PhotoGirl bought a case of The Last Straw for her birthday.  Glad I could introduce them to a new winery.

After that we headed to Novelty Hill / Januik winery. This place was PACKED. "Rick" behind the counter was quite the character and while we paid for 5 tastings, we got two extra from him.  One was one of their reserved wines and it was delicious. It was $65 a bottle sadly, so I did not purchase one. It was like drinking a buttery goodness though.

Finally we ended our drinking binge (well my drinking binge) at Patterson Cellars. They had super friendly pourers (I'm sure they have a technical name) and kept the wine flowing. We tasted 4 or 5 there too. Good but not great wine in my opinion. The first taste was of a white wine that tasted like what I imagine sweat socks to taste like. Needless to say, I dumped it.

After we headed across the street for some much needed food and had a great dinner at The Commons.

By the time I got home I was so glad I went and can't wait to go taste some wine with these two again.  I was super tired when I got home and managed to stay awake until it was bed time.  Since I was gone all day I had to entertain the demons a bit - they weren't all that happy I had been gone all day.

And so that's why I have a headache this morning. Aside from all the wine, I did mix reds and whites and that is a big no-no for me. I'm not a white wine fan at all, but feel obligated to at least taste them once in awhile. I do have to admit there were a couple yesterday that I could drink if I had to.

The day started great yesterday too. I got to have breakfast with some of my favorite ladies.  I've known these ladies for 8 or 9 years now (since about 2005) and while we only get to have breakfast/lunch/dinner a couple of times a year, I treasure those times like crazy. These ladies are so grounded and often offer up some good advice, a great listening ear, and unconditional love.  I just adore them.  I can't wait until we get to spend time together again.  I don't have nicknames for them yet, but I'll work on it. KA and J - you know who you are and I love ya both.