Jumping around in time a little… Boy, isn’t blogging without sequence fun!
To catch you up: Saturday we had brunch, went berry picking, drove to the falls, then stayed at the Edgefield. Sunday morning we picked up Alex and Adam after breakfast and drove out to wine country, where an afternoon of wine tasting and making Adam feel awkward was in front of us.
This, for the record, is Alex & Adam. I met Alexis while I was working at Poco (wine bar) and we bonded over Harry Potter. Her’s is the single most lasting-friendship I’ve ever made in a bar.
Okay, Adam feeling awkward was a byproduct. I promise we didn’t intend to. He has a really valid point though, a lot of wineries have *really* pretentious tasting rooms. There’s a really fine line between a pretentious tasting room and a really pretty, state-of-the-art tasting room. The schmancy tasting rooms, while beautiful to spend time in, are often staffed with people who make you feel less-than-welcome.
I think it took Jon and I a dozen or so of these experiences to get over it. The fact is that we’re 25 and, based on our age alone, it could appear that we’re kids trying to get drunk.
But really, let’s dissect that for a second. Why, why would someone drive all the way out to (any) wine country just to drink wine, when Trader Joes / The Shell Station on The Corner would accomplish that for a fraction of the price. Second, of all the hundreds of wineries that are in the area, the fact that we chose your tasting room to stop in should be a slightly bit humbling. You know, be appreciative not expectant.
And as just a final side note on that topic before I stop ranting, Jon and I know a lot about wine. We drink it all the time, we have good (not excellent, but definitely good) palates. A majourity of the “wine 101″ things that they tell you in these sorts of places are fairly basic wine-knowledge that we’ve got a pretty good handle on. And there’s a reasonable chance that we’re equally (if not more) likely to appreciate what we’re swirling and sniffing and sipping, than the 50 year old woman next to us.
We visited Rex Hill, which isn’t my favourite but I like quite a bit. They have this really stellar “essence table” in their tasting room. I’ve always wanted to steal this idea for a party or something. Basically, you have samples of all the different things that you may smell in your wines. For instance, if you could tell that your pinot is floral and soft, but couldn’t pin point what it was that you’re smelling, being able to smell pure forms of geranium and lavender would help you decide between the two.
Rex hill is an example of a tasting room that has all the right things to be approachable, but their staff is just slightly standoffish.
This is the four of us, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of the vineyard that we were at. I think the important thing to notice is how a beautiful background makes us all look prettier. 
