Good news and Astoria

So...I went to Astoria Crab and Wine Festival last weekend. I had a good time but wished I had sold all the wine I took. My mother went with me and that was touch and go at times. As a whole, it was fine.

So my mom and I drove up to Seaside on Thursday. We left about 1 PM and we got to Seaside about 5:30 PM. We took the back way (no freeways) and we stopped at Tillamook Cheese Factory and bought water and ice cream. It started raining and it was cold. We got to Seaside Comfort Inn and ate at Doogers. We both had the seafood combo plate. Mom had Cajun and I had fried (of course). We took the 2005 Tempranillo and the corkage was only $5, what a bargain. It was a lovely meal, great food and atmosphere. I highly recommend it.

Friday we drove into Astoria to the fairgrounds. We got there about 10 AM and found our spot and unloaded. Did I mention that we figured out that the festival didn't supply tablecloths so we made a stop at Fred Meyers and picked up supplies. We were unloaded by 11:30 AM and set up by noon. We decided to get some lunch and headed down to an all you can eat pizza place. The salad bar was good, the pizza just OK. The festival opened at 4 PM and closed at 9 PM. We shared a room with Sheryl from Saginaw Vineyard. We had a nice time.

The next day the festival was open from 10 till 8. 10 hours is a long time to be on your feet. We made it back to the hotel and ate food we traded wine for. The folks from 12 Ranches and Cliff Creek were at the same hotel and we got invited over. We went to their room and had a fun time visiting. I recommend 12 Ranches Syrah, it has a huge amount of plum on the nose and on the palate. It is fresh and light. Ken and Connie are great down to earth people. When I walked into their room Ken's cowboy boots were sitting (or should I say standing there). They are down to earth people like myself. No pretension or snobbery, just nice folks. The same goes for the people from Cliff Creek. This all started when I thought Ruth was alone. She was the only one I saw driving the "Whip-N-Spur" truck. Lee came out and invited me in and there went the rest of the evening. I recommend Cliff Creek and Ruth, Lee and Christie just on personality alone. I had a fun time.

We worked Sunday, which was dead, and we headed home. I got home about 10:45 PM and got to bed about midnight. Needless to say, I was a little tired when I got up on Monday.

Monday, I got an email and we had won 2 silver metals at the Pacific Rim Wine Competition (San Bernadino). We won with the 2004 Baco Noir and the Marechal Foch Port. I was really excited. We also found out that the Portland Food and Wine Magazine wants to write about our 2005 Viognier. It was a good day in the wine business.

I think I will leave Monday at that. I had a meeting with Mom and Dad but that made the day more complicated so I won't talk about that. My new saying, "Wishing you Good times and wines."

Cheers....Tracy