Mmmmmmm..... wine!

On my way back from Vancouver, I had about 4 hours to kill in the Seattle airport. Helllllllloooo Vino Volo. The food was .... so-so ..... but having a trio of wines to sample while I read a book .... bene!


I opted to sample the ones local to Washington State, but can't seem to find the whites I sampled there. Ugh. I LOVED the middle one .... but I don't know which wine it was!

Wine Tour III

Last stop: Smoky Hill Vineyard + Winery here in Salina. :)


They have tasting all the time, so people who come to visit me, we'll go here!!!!


I think the lady told us one vine of grapes makes between 5-8 bottles of wine. Yummie! I even hear they have volunteers pick grapes, so if you're interested, lemme know! :)








Afterwards, we came back to the house and chilled. The hammock swing in the backyard is a popular spot!

Wine Tour II

We next headed to the Vin Vivante Winery in Wamego. The place was OK. They had one really good wine, the Party Line. But we only were able to sample 3 wines, so we didn't get a full feel for what they offer. Since it's just down the street, if you're in town, stop there, but don't make a special trip to go to this place.


They had a really humorous line of wine, though!


Next stop: the place on I-70!


They had 51 wines, and allowed each guest to sample 5. But we did a lot of passing glasses around, so we all had a taste of many different wines here!


Back: me, Jennifer, Kristine, Mary
Front: Cecelia, Susie, Jackie, Robin

NOTE: You need to order wine online from Vin Vivante, but you can pick up Field of Fair in many wine stores around Kansas.

Wine Tour I

Well, last week, we girls had a party. It was to celebrate the upcoming wedding of our friend, Kristine, but let's be real: I've been looking for an excuse to have a winery/wine tasting road trip for quite some time.

We started out at the Oz Winery in Wamego:


Believe me, this place is WORTH the drive!!!!!!!!!!


See these? The person there told me they ordered these online .... and now I have a vision for our storage room in the basement. I think it could be a wine cellar! ;)




I LOVED the clever names for some of these wines!


A bottle of this Yellow Brick Road came home with me!


Some people didn't get the name until I started singing the song the flying monkies sang in the actual movie. :)


Detail shot.


Robin, Kristine and Mary.


Which witch am I? ;)


Um, I thought everyone else would be "swigging" out of their bottles too. Evidently not and I'm the only one who looks like a wine-O in this photo!

This tour included 4 wineries, and I'm going to break it up into several posts so they don't get too long!

NOTE: beginning July 1, wineries can now ship wine within Kansas. There are discounts for cases of wine, and since you can't get Oz wine anywhere BUT their winery, lemme know if you're interested in splitting an order/shipping!

In Vino Veritas!!!!

EDIT: So I suck and this is now a new Kansas law. YIPPIE!!!!!!! I guess that's what happens when I'm out of town and I don't catch up on the paper. But on the flip side, why was this not in my hometown Salina Journal???? We have a winery in town for goodness sake!!!!!!


Ok, so my blog title is Latin for "In wine there is truth." It's my life's mantra. :)

Once or twice, I've tried to sign up myself or a friend for a wine of the month club as a gift, only to find out it's NOT LEGAL to ship wine in Kansas. Sheesh.

SO ... imagine my excitement when Erik told me Sunday that lawmakers are considering changing it up!


"Doorstep wine

Kansas consumers would be able to have wines shipped to their doorstep under a bill that cleared the Senate on a 39-1 vote Wednesday.

At present, customers ordering wine from out-of-state must have it sent to a liquor store and then pick up their shipments there. State Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, cast the lone vote against the measure.

Senate Bill 212 would permit both in-state and out-of-state wineries to directly ship wine to consumers in Kansas, provided they obtain a special order shipping license and pay a $50 fee to the state Department of Revenue.

Purchasers could have up to 12 cases of wine shipped to them each year and would be required to pay liquor taxes and shipping costs, as well as the purchase price of the wine.

Holders of the shipping licenses would be required to verify that the individual ordering the wines is age 21 or older.

The Senate's action sends the bill to the House for further consideration."

It's from an article in the Salina Journal ..... CLICK HERE to check out the article.

If/when this completely passes, I'll be able to have a wine cellar that looks a little like this ... or I might be able to FINALLY join that wine club I've been wanting to! :)


I'm absolutely writing my people. If you're not sure who your rep/senator is, you may find out by CLICKING HERE.

And if you're interested in reading the bill in its entirety, CLICK HERE.

Champagne Thursday...

Remember my obsessing over this jumbo size bottle of champagne???????

Tonight, when Erik said "let's get a bottle of champagne," I knew I wanted to try some Veuve Clicquot.

At the liquor store, I headed straight to the shelf and picked it up. The clerk commented "the lady has expensive taste." THEN I looked at the price. ACK! $64. And then the bottle was quickly returned to the shelf. :-(

Erik mentioned he'd like to try some Moet. But .... at mere pennies less, we opted for the no-frills Korbel.

So now, we're waiting on lovely Kristine to join us for some refreshments. :-)

Oh, and who can be the first person to leave a comment on the movie where the blog title came from???

Wagering on KU ...

So, I see our fearless Governor is betting KU will win Saturday night:

--(From press release from the Gov's office)--
Governors put barbecue on the line over basketball match-up
Governors Sebelius and Easley agree to friendly wager

For the first time since 2003, the University of Kansas Jayhawks men’s basketball team is on its way to the NCAA Final Four. Led by Coach Bill Self, the Jayhawks will match up against Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas. This will be the first time ever that Self has coached a team in the Final Four, and the first time Williams will face KU in the tournament since his departure as the Hawks head coach five years ago.

To add to this highly anticipated match-up, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley have made a friendly wager of barbecue on the game.

If KU wins, Governor Easley will provide the Kansas Governor with some of North Carolina’s best barbeque. In the unlikely event that the Jayhawks are defeated, Governor Sebelius will send the North Carolina Governor a barbeque dinner for four, including great meat and other Kansas products, complements of Kansas City’s locally owned Fiorella’s Jack Stack Barbeque.

Governor Sebelius is confident her Jayhawks will be victorious against North Carolina. She says, “It has been a spectacular season for the Jayhawks and I look forward to our victory on Saturday night and then I’ll continue celebrating with a taste of North Carolina barbeque.”

“Not only is North Carolina home to the finest basketball team in the nation, we also have the best barbecue in all the land,” Easley said. “I am as confident that UNC will advance to play for the national title as I am that I will be enjoying ribs and brisket from Kansas while cheering on the Heels in the NCAA championship game.”

The Jayhawks and the Tar Heels play in the NCAA tournament semifinals on Saturday, April 5, at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. This is the first time the two teams have met in the Final Four since 1993.

---

All I have to say? It's a good thing she didn't include any of the infamous Kansas wine in the bet ... ;-)

As for me ... I simply wanna see the KU fans cry and be all bitter when Roy wins Saturday night (evil, malicious smile....)