The Wines

Remember in my last Hood River post I mentioned I’d been craving Buffalo wings? Yeah, Michael and I ended up getting them the next day! We went to Full Sail Brewery for a small snack since neither of us were that hungry for a big lunch after our breakfast that morning. We were a bit chilled from our hike, but the wings warmed us up immediately. We split one appetizer of them:

Now THESE hit the spot! They were so freakin’ spicy and it finally satisfied my craving for Buffalo wings. The one downside was that the carrots and celery were old. I know that most people don’t want the carrots and celery when they get wings but I kinda do…and they were nasty. If the chef was on Top Chef and plated those old veggies on the plate, they’d be sent home!

The wings were so hot, Michael said his face was on fire after eating them. I had a Full Sail Classic IPA with my wings. I’m glad I got a half pint of the beer because I wasn’t a huge fan of it.

One of my favorite activities in Hood River is wine tasting. It’s such a fantastic place to wine taste. It’s cheaper than the Willamette Valley tastings and less pretentious. It’s also better wine, in my opinion. We hit a few of my absolute favorite Gorge wineries. Part of our Groupon deal included a free bottle of wine at one of the local wineries. We went to Cathedral Ridge first and that’s where we got our bottle.

I’ve been a fan of Cathedral Ridge wine for years. I have noticed that they are getting stingier and stingier on their pours each visit I’m there. It’s not like I’m expecting a full pour by any means, but Cathedral is just so skimpy. It’s also very crowded. I wish they’d revamp their wine tasting room to make it a little easier for people to enjoy themselves.

After Cathedral, we went to my new favorite winery: Marchesi. I first discovered it last summer and LOVED all of their wines. It’s not often that I go find a vineyard where I love every single wine they offer. Their tasting room is super comfortable and fun and they had enclosed outdoor seating with heaters for the winter time. So smart! The place was packed, probably because it was such a nice place to relax and drink good wine. And have some snacks.

When Michael and I go wine tasting we split one tasting. It works best for us. It gives us both a chance to taste the pour once or twice but without getting wasted. I’m a lightweight so if I drank my own tasting, I wouldn’t make it to very many vineyards!

There was also a winery dog and two cats! One was perched on a seat in the tasting room and had no intention of moving. I had to scratch this kitty’s ears because she was so adorable and soft. Still didn’t move. She was very comfortable where she was.

Lastly we hit up Pheasant Valley, which I haven’t been to before. I wasn’t a huge fan, honestly. There was only one wine I really liked and we liked it so much we got a bottle.

In the end we went home with four bottles, one courtesy of Groupon. I am really really excited to open up that bottle of Uvaggio from Marchesi! I think I will save it for this summer.

After a lovely afternoon wine tasting, we snuggled into our hotel room to watch some movies. We ended up watching “Looper” (really good, but really weird) and a few episodes of “Boardwalk Empire” before it was dinner time. I wasn’t super hungry. Even though I hadn’t eaten a whole lot at breakfast and lunch, the bread and cheese at Marchesi filled me up. We did end up at The Waucoma Club for dinner that night.

I stuck with water (and drank an entire pitcher of it) and ordered a small cup of their black bean chili. That was about all I was hungry for! The Portland vs. Seattle soccer game was going on while we ate. The club was cute–part sports bar, part concert hall. It had a cool vibe but I was ready to go back to the hotel and relax.

Sadly the next morning we had to check out of our hotel and head home. Michael remarked that he didn’t want to leave and I agreed. Going back to reality is harsh. It’s so much better to escape and just eat and drink wine. 😉

We went to the Egg River Cafe for breakfast on our way out of town. It was a cute place and the food was okay. I got the Mexican Skillet –2 scrambled eggs with cheese, onions and peppers and chorizo. It came with sourdough toast and potatoes.

It was rather bland and I add tabasco to it to spice it up. The chorizo was great but the potatoes were undercooked. I skipped the potatoes and stuck to the scramble. It was enough food to last me until dinner at 7pm that night!

Back home in Portland I went for a swim. It was good to be home because I missed my furry family. Fat Kitty was excited that we were home and was glued to my side the rest of the night. I had a nice visit to Hood River and always have a good time wine tasting (that was definitely the highlight for me). If you ever visit Oregon or Washington, definitely find some time to try the wines. You won’t be disappointed!

QUESTION: What’s your favorite wine? Do you go wine tasting?