The Newberg; Most Excellent Adventure

WWW's Most Excellent Adventure started at 7:30am Friday.
Lisa, Gayle, Jan & Kim laughed their way to Newberg, Oregon. We checked into our room (only $22 a night per person- we know how to save for the important stuff!). Then we set off to explore Newberg and find the most incredible restaurant (that set the tone for the WHOLE weekend), RECIPE.  www.recipeaneighborhoodkitchen.com
We had a marvelous lunch and promptly made reservations for dinner Saturday night- it was THAT good!
We got some good recommendations, figured out how NOT to pay tasting fees (crazy), and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Our favorites were: Bergstrom (Pinot), Canas Feast (Tapteil grapes), Stoller (Pinot), Owen Roe (Wa grapes), and Winderlea (view & Chard). Oh, and the grand finale- Pamplin Family. We were able to meet the winemakers, taste out of the fermenters, and go behind the scenes at a few places. It was a very busy time for them- bringing in the grapes, but everyone was smiling and having a good time. We also stopped at Heritage Roses, shopped at Goodwill, Grocery Outlet, Trader Joes, and the Woodburn Outlet Mall. Other culinary delights- Subterra (dinner) and Coffee Cottage- cappucinos, quiches and apple french toast.
I wish I had taken a photo of the back of the car on our way home! Our last stop was at MaryHill for the view, and dinner at Wine O'Clock.
Rykie & Stephanie joined us on the Saturday tour. What a blast we all had!
Next trip will have to include McMinnville- not enough time to see them all.

October trips

Besides going to Coyote Canyon's Vineyard, we are doing a road trip ...to Willamette Valley in Oregon! A first time for the WWW. The plan is to stop at Maryhill to see the view, then onto one other small winery in WA before crossing over the Columbia to Portland. We will stay in Newberg and tour & taste in Carlton, Dundee, & Newberg. The places I have chosen are: Canas Feast, Andrew Rich, Owen Roe, Torii Mor and Sokol Blosser. If we have time for the big guys (Erath or Argyle), we will stop there, too.
If you have any other suggestions, we are open to it. Please email me privately and I will give you the dates. The hotel will be @ $77. per person, double occupancy for the 2 nights. We are carpooling. Can't wait! www.willamettewines.com

2012 Prosser Tour

What a fun day! 14 of us went to Vine Heart Winery where we enjoyed Patricia's commentary of life on the farm and how George makes his wines. There were quite a few wines to choose from, too. Don't miss the smoked cheeses and summer sausages- yummy! Oh, and the ports.....:>)
Next stop was Pontin del Roza's new tasting room. We were all in awe at how beautiful it was. We need to go back and play bocce and sit by the fireplace!  The WWW all found new wines to enjoy here. Thank you Scott & his mom!
Over to downtown Prosser to the Sixth Street Coffee to pick up our lovely lunches- wasn't it great to go there and they had it all ready for us? WOW! Let's go back here again!
Last stop was the Winemakers Loft at Coyote Canyon. It was hard to decide which award winning wine we should have with lunch. Mike Andrews made a special trip into town, bringing us some nice bunches of grapes from his vines. He sat with us and poured some extra wines (that weren't open in the tasting room). Mike and his gals made us feel like we were royalty. We are really looking forward to our October trip to his vineyard!

Marti's Art

Mike sharing his knowledge & answering our questions

2012 Release Party

A beautiful summer night at  Cora's home. Good food, friends and wine- what more could you want?

Thank you Cora for hosting (and Lisa & Jan for helping).

Wine & More, Kennewick, WA

On July 17, the WWW had lunch and wine flights at the new Wine & More in Kennewick. If you haven't been there yet, you are missing out on some GREAT food, wine gifts and wines from around the world. Everyone LOVED the food! And as you can see, we shopped on the way in, & shopped on the way out.
When we were done, 6 gals came over for a swim and 4 others came as well. No photos of the bathing beauties......:>)
Wine & More is located at 3600 S. Zintel Way, Ste C. (509) 582-0120
 395 at Hildebrand on the east side of the highway next door to Z Place Salon & Spa. (across the road from Bobs Burgers). When they get a web site, I will share their link on here.

It looks like he's serving Pam Scott!

Pam & Cheryl

Chantelle, Ann, Lisa, Judi

Sandi, Linda, and Jacquie

A really fun day!

Our new hangout.....

Summer White Day

A fun day at Lisa's house. Cheryl brought white wine in a disguised waterproof container- what a hoot!

Columbia Crest 2 Vines Chardonnay took 1st place and a tie for 2nd went to Tapteil Bone Dry White Reisling and Cinder from Idaho.

Great food, fun times on the patio....

June 20, 212

May 23, 2012

Mad Housewife  Event

OMGosh! Great day with the guys!

Our little outing turned into a BIG outing! We started at the Grill On Gage. We felt like royalty as we sat at our long table and the food was already prepared for us. Every single dish was EXCELLENT! We can't wait to go back there again. Maybe it could be like our "Cheers" home away from home....:>)

2nd stop was at Market Vineyards where Erin and Allison told us all about the winery, the grapes, the partners, the wine club, how to properly cut the foil on a wine bottle and about each and every wine. There were more than a few Charlie fans in our group (and some Market members). I think we should seriously think about doing the Big Boss tour on Fathers Day weekend......

We did a little unscheduled stop at Hamilton Cellars. It wasn't on our list, but we had a 1/2 hour to kill before our next appointment. So we meandered through the little Queensgate Village over there to taste the '07 Malbec. Worth the meandering. Is that a word? Thank you Stacie!

Back in our carpool and over Badger Mountain to Canon De Sol Winery. It was a beautiful sunny and warm day, they had the large barn doors open, music playing, a little appetizers, and we tasted Victors wines and Analare's wines. I wish they wouldn't have teased us with the one white that was all gone! It's ok, we bought plenty of reds here. Wonderful people in THIS tasting room- we even nabbed us a new WWW member! Welcome Brenda!

Back in the cars down Badger Canyon Rd to Webber Canyon Rd and over to Benton City where we found Portrait Cellars off a private gravel road. Everyone said it was the highlight of the day. Eve and Ed Shaw make you feel like you are part of their family. The tasting room is in their home kitchen/ great room where you get to hang out with the darling pooches. We all marveled at Eve's art, book, posters, labels and Ed's magnificently crafted Red Mountain wines. He even let us see his basement facility. For those of you that visited here before- remember the awesome Reisling in the tank? We got to buy some and taste next years vintage, too. We are so thankful that Ed is feeling better and that they shared their wonderful gifts & talents with us.

You think we were done? Well, we definitely had our limit, but we had to go up to Tapteil to have a little Sunset Service on the patio.

A great way to end a GREAT day!

Pictures to follow.........

March in Walla Walla

Our trip started out on a snowy morning, but it turned into a beautiful day. We headed south to Milton Freewater to Zerba Cellars. Second stop was at Watermill Winery. We tasted their wines as well as their hard cider. Lunch was downtown Walla Walla at Sweet Basil's Pizzeria. And then we had time to do a little shopping (where the girls found vintage Chanel and Coach handbags at DeBouche). Our last stop was at Plumb Cellars and Mansion Creek- we went PLUMB CRAZY! You have to go there to see the "Julia Show"-she's a hoot!

Our last stop was at the Cugini Italian Market where we sampled cheese and homemade Cugini sausage with fennel. Some of us went back the next day for more!

Here are some photos...

Red Wine & Chocolate

A lovely luncheon at Jan Wisness' home today. Great food, decadent desserts and 18 red wines. The winners were:

First place tie went to Kiona Cab/Merlot 2004 and 14 Hands 2002 Merlot.

Second place tie went to Columbia Crest Distant Bay Merlot and Hamilton Cellars 07 Cab.

Third place went to Cooper Cab. Sauv. 2007.

2012 Blending Party

Here are the ingredients to our 2010 Vin Rouge du Rhone......