thirsty thursday: i heart wine tasting

i'm not sure if y'all have noticed, but i like drinking. especially red wine. what? you hadn't heard? well, it's true. i am a wine lover. give me a nice cabernet sauvignon (let's be honest, when i say nice i'm talking about a $10 bottle range; i'm not made of money), and i am a happy camper. that is why i am going to talk about wine tasting/vineyard visiting.

ahhh, the good ol' vineyard visits.
for me it all started with a family trip out to San Francisco right after i turned 21. my mother wanted badly to drive out to Napa Valley from San Fran one day. and we all thought "why the hell not?" my father drove, my under-aged siblings had to go with the flow, and my mom and i drank. it was fun for my mom and me, but i'm sure the sober family members didn't enjoy it at all. my dad looked pissed by the last vineyard we visited, or that's how i remember it because i was a bit trashy towards then end. ever since then, our family vacations consists of a vineyard visits (only if they are in the area, we don't plan vacations around them, we aren't that big of lushes).

what's so great about wine tasting?
oh, where to begin?
actually i've written about this before, back in the early days of this blog when i wrote random ass crap once in a blue moon, but i'll go over it again.

for me, it's all about the free wine glass. most vineyards will give you a wine glass with the cost of the wine tasting (some vineyards don't, and i secretly hate the ones that don't). i love the vineyard wine glass. i have so may of them i don't know what to do with them all. i am set for life on wine glasses. they go so well with my kitchen wear aesthetic of nothing ever matching. i'm cool with that, so back off type-A personalities who need everything to be matchy-matchy.

i love pretending to be classy. because that's what classy people do, right? sitting around wine tasting all day, talking about the help, and having too much money? or that's what i like to think. i love pretending that i know what they are talking about when they pour my sample and comparing it to dirt and twigs and odd fruits and animals. i just like to take my shot of wine and talk about its legs. because wine has sexy legs.

my absolute favorite is when i get to the "hot tub" wine. ha! the "hot tub" wine, i love it. it makes me think of the creepy neighbor couple who lived down the street from us in the 80s--you know who they are, the swinging couple. and it reminds me of franzia. i usually always try the "hot tub" wine and then discuss it with the person who is giving us our sample, detailing how the wine would be well-suited to the time we spend out in the hot tub we don't have.

by the time i'm done wine tasting, i've purchased way too much wine. well actually there is no such thing as too much wine for me, but seeing as i'm poor it usually means i've charged way too much on the credit card. but the good thing is i'm usually too trashed to care.

ahhhh. good times.
here is a list of links of some of the vineyards i've been to. i recommend that if you get a chance to visit a vineyard you do so. it's a lot of fun. and remember to drink responsibly! xoxo.

in Napa:
Beaulieu Vineyard
Grgich Hills Cellar
Mumm Napa
St. Supery Vineyards & Winery

in Texas Hill Country:
Becker Vineyards
Grape Creek Vineyards
William Chris Vineyards
Texas Hills Vineyard
Flat Creek Estates
Fall Creek Vineyards
Perissos Vineyard & Winery