Throat Punch

2013 Grand Valley Winery Association hosted the 11th annual 

"Barrel into spring" tasting.

The event was held for two days with eight wineries participating.

The cost was $70/person.

The admission fee included as much wine and food as your body could handle!

Due to unfortunate circumstances, my group of gals, and some of Amie's that had planned on making a girls weekend at wine fest, were unable to attend.

 [Each person got a passport.  But each passport was at a different location which made it difficult for a large group to individually gather their passports and meet up at a beginning point to enjoy the day together.  Also, the tasting sold out before anyone in our large group could get their tix :(     

So, a heads up! If you plan on going in 2014 get your tickets early and buy them at the same time so all of your passports are at the same location]

Chelise had booked a plane ticket and bought her passport in advance.

She was excited to meet Amie and try a new adventure in an all day wine extravaganza!

We arrived at Amie's casa Friday evening just in time for the horderves and amateur wine tasting game to begin!

Amie and friends had made up a beautiful smorgasbord of fruit, cheeses, meats, and dips for us to devour.

We each got a paper that taught us about the swirling, swishing and tasting of wines.

It was a hilarious experiment and surprising how each of us have different tastes.

Chelise thought everything tasted like a leather thong and sandalwood!

She coined the phrase "throat punch"!

[you can take the girl off the farm but you can never take her bud light taste buds in a different direction]

Saturday morning at 10:30 we hopped in Subee and ventured through Palisade Valley.

We were each given our passports along with a 2013 wine glass and set free to roam about the vineyards sampling good eats and varieties of wine.

We learned about pairings and the difference between aged, middle and new wines.

[Aged wine is the best of course, but if you don't have the money to spend you should always go with the 'middle child'.  It is a good compromise because the youngin' is not mature and a bit bitter.

It was so cool for my pallet to acknowledge the difference between a 2012, a 2009, and a 2007 merlot.  There really IS a difference!] 

[Jordan-Amie's daughter, Sonja, Chelise, Me, Amie]

After completing six out of eight wineries, IN ONE DAY, we downed a few pitchers of "dirty hippie' at a local brew pub.

A few hours later, we walked to a distillery to get these mason jars full of bloody mary love!

Over twelve hours of non-stop eating, drinking and gut wrenching laughing, we were in bed at 10:00 pm.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!

 Thanks Amie for putting up with our crazy asses!

Love you long time!

[Don't know why you were in non of the pics!?]

Insider:  DO YOU SEE A MAN IN THIS ROOM?!?!?!

OWEN!  OWEN!  Get her a man!