Finally, Pfeiffer

So last weekend we finally made it out to Pfeiffer Vineyards, after much anticipation. The website photo is deceiving … we thought we would be pulling up to this fantastic “chateau”

Wow!

Instead…… we rolled up to this building.

Oh........

Getting past this initial shock (we later learned the fancy building is where the owners of the vineyard live, and it can be rented out for special occasions), we entered the tasting room with open minds and open mouths.

The vineyard uses environmentally friendly practices to make their wine. And as aspiring environmental law lawyers, we appreciate these efforts (it almost legitimizes our wine consumption … almost). These wine barrels used as plant stands were also a nice touch.

On to the wine, they had quite the selection for tasting!

However….. it was kind of pricey, even just to do a tasting! There was a white flight (6 wines), a red flight (4 wines), or you could do both. Obviously, we did both. But, it costed us! (Or should I say it cost costed EF’s dad money.. thanks again!) It was $20 to taste all ten wines, but it included a lovely wine glass that we got to take home with us.

The white flight. Most of the whites were WAY too sweet for our palates. So not really our cup of tea.

The red flight was a big improvement. We even got to try a wine that was served at Obama’s pre-inaugural dinner! Super exciting, and delicious.

All in all, I am glad we made the ride out there. It was a beautiful estate, the owners are VERY active on the property – we saw them working on the fields and in the tasting room with visitors, and the red wine is fantastic.

This post is Ry Ry approved.

Happy Saturday followers!

A Happy 60th Birthday to EF’s Dad!

Ef's dad sporting some sweet eyewear whilst cheersing with her in his arms circa 1986

Happy 60th Dad, I know  how super pumped you must be that I put this gem up on the interwebs. You’re Welcome.

RyRy’s Corner

Welcome to our first, of hopefully many, RyRy’s Corner

Meet RyRy, EKs roommate:

This gem was procured from RyRy's phone. Sweet self-photo, buddy.

 

RyRy likes to smoke meat, eat bacon, and play and watch basketball. Here at Ryry’s Corner we share his insight into daily observations and life’s little mysteries. So let this journey begin:

RyRy pre-wine tour

I don’t like waffles. I only like Eggos.

RyRy’s general positive out lookout circa February 2011

There is no such thing as love

RyRy missing EK when we were on a studycation to Black Butte

I know exactly what not to do– dishes, bathing, get dressed…slave driver [EK] is gone for the wkend

TRIBUTE

Oh, Whitney, Whitney, Whitney…..

Here at the ol’ blog EK and I have chosen two of our favorite Whit songs to highlight her ever-diverse career.  And no, neither song choice is  “I will always love you,” but we aren’t animals, of course we love  the classic Bodyguard scene with Whit Whit in the plane and Kevin Costner with the broken arm standing on the runway.

 

 

 

And remember, Crack is Whack.

Tour de Wine

It started innocently enough. What could be classier than a lovely saturday spent sipping on pinots in the Willamette Valley? Well to start, we didn’t want to shell out the money to rent a limo to drive our group of ten around, so we cruised up to the wineries in this bad boy …

Off we went. First stop of the day? An old steady King Estate Winery. A very popular winery in the region, some might say the most popular, known for their Pinot Noirs and Pinot Gris. Their tasting room is warm and open, and for 6 wine tastings its a mere $5. If you buy a bottle of wine from the tasting flight, the $5 is waived. We couldn’t pass up this deal, so we each bought a bottle of wine. I bought the signature Pinot Noir, one of my favorites, for $24. 

Needless to say, after this first stop we were in knee deep in wine grapes and there was no looking back. So off our bus went to the next stop, Silvan Ridge Vineyards, just down the road. We had never been here before so we were excited to see what it was all about. There were more wines to taste here than most other wineries in the region, so our glasses didn’t stay empty for long. Silvan Ridge offers a 5 wine complimentary tasting, and if you want to try some of their reserve wines you can, for a price. The wine was OK, but my main memories from this stop are clearing out their supply of Ritz crackers, I’m sure reserved only to clear your palate and not as lunch, and some of the boys on our trip barrel rolling down the hill after the tasting . . . yes, we kept going after this.

Our bus driver informed us that we wouldn’t have enough time to drive to our last stop Pfeiffer Vineyards (EF and I are going here today), so we went across the street instead to Sweet Cheeks Winery. The wine here is good, and they offer free tasting, but they do not have the selection that other wineries do in the area. The patio area and view are both beautiful, and worth spending a sunny afternoon enjoying.

Oh yeah but the best part of this winery is? The cheese plates. After all that wine, this was the perfect way to end the tour. After four hours of wine, sun, and fun, we loaded back into our bus and headed home. I made homemade pizzas for the group on our return to my house, and a dance party quickly began. I will leave you with this picture, a testament to the state of our minds, and my house, at the end of the Tour de Wine.

Chin chin followers!

Yes, those are cheetos.