I’ll Take a Case of Wine Please

Over the summer Michael and I went to Hood River, Oregon quite a bit. We spent our 2 years anniversary there, we took his visiting family there for a day trip and we’ve previously enjoyed wine tasting in the Gorge. This last time we were in Hood River we signed up for the Wine Club at our favorite winery: Quenett. Being part of the Wine Club meant free tastings, discounts on wine (25% off), plus two parties a year where we can pick up our case of discounted wine.

The Wine Party was held in The Dalles, Oregon instead of Hood River. It was about a 20 mile longer drive, but it wasn’t too bad. The traffic was light and the rain was relaxing. The Sunshine Mill used to be a flour mill. They’ve converted the space to shops and a winery. It was a really cool space.

I love gritty, industrial, old brick buildings.

We could arrive anytime between 4-11pm. The drive took longer than we expected and we got a later start. We arrived about 6pm. The place was packed by then. People were wine tasting, munching on appetizers, and listening to the band.

To be honest, the food was a bit disappointing. They had a bunch of different kinds of cheese, crackers and salami (which were all pretty good) but there was also a bunch of food in crockpots that wasn’t very good. Ravioli that was a bit too chewy, soups or something–hard to tell, and some potatoes, rice and other unknown things in crockpots. But we weren’t expecting the food selection to be great and had planned on going somewhere else for dinner (before we even got there).

The wine tasting was definitely good! They had our favorite reds and whites available for tasting. We sipped our wine and wandered around the old mill.

I loved the chandeliers. They were made out of Christmas lights and old wine bottles.

We wandered around and checked out the the nooks and crannies of the old mill.

The band was pretty good. They played classic hits and then towards the end of the evening there was a local singer that sang original country songs. I’m not a country music fan (except for the Dixie Chicks) but the music was decent. He had a good voice.

While I love all of the Quenett wines, my tastes seem to change with each visit. Last time I was absolutely in love with their Viognier and the Nirvana blend.

This time, I was loving the Sangiovese and the Barbera–full bodied reds with a wonderfully smooth finish. They weren’t overpowering like some reds can be.

We were getting tired and had a long drive home so we bought our case of wine–a mixture of reds and whites–and hit the road.

The drive home through The Gorge was a bit scary. It was pitch black out and raining plus we’re in the middle of nowhere. But we got home okay and picked up a Papa Murphy’s deLite pizza. We were both tired and not in the mood to cook or go out to eat.

I put away all the wine we got.

Even with wine tasting I came in under my calories for the day. I don’t know how because I felt like I was snacking all day.

Instead of more wine, I had water for dinner. 😉

It was a good night!

On another note: Good luck to all the runners in today’s Portland Marathon! My heart goes out to you running in today’s UGLY rainy weather!

QUESTION: What is your favorite wine currently?