Day 1 Recap (brief)
Rule 1 - SPIT SPIT SPIT!
Rule 2 - This is Event is Awesome! (if that could somehow be a rule?)
A lot of wine crossed these dirty south lips yesterday- Easily 50+ different wines. I lost count and it could have easily been double that (but I was spitting! most of the time...)
A lot of generosity has been given by sponsors, speakers, and wineries. Gary Vaynerchuk was our Friday keynote and even he donated his time /did his speech for free to our group. Huge props to Gary V!
There are some great bloggers here- Check out some of the links on the left (Wine Blogs/Non-ATL)
Kick Ranch
Dick and Kathy from Kick Ranch Vineyards hosted an incredible lunch and tasting for the crew. What a great idea to do this at a vineyard as opposed to a winery! A lot of great juice was being poured that was made from some kick ass, Kick Ranch Grapes- Pax, Rosenblum, Carica, Hibou de Nuit, Sanglier, Shane, Lynmar, and plenty more (I'll list them all when I can). This was an awesome opportunity to try great wines grown from the same vineyards. Well they all pretty much tasted the same..... F'n gooood!!!!! There are some great grapes being grown here.
Live Blogging / Wine Speed Dating was next-
About 14 producers poured wines for each table in 2-3 minute lightning rounds.
It is tough to taste and type, my white MacBook is now purple in places- All Grimace style!
My standout--James Davd Cellars Muscat Blanc- Inviting like- Ol' grannie's perfume & mini-confectionary treats! (but smelling or tasting like neither) This stuff was bone dry and tasty. I'll post more on the others when back in the ATL.
New Zealand Tasting-
Miles of of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir.... but hidden in the corner were a few tasty Gewurztraminers that were completely delicious. Dirty South Wine is a total hussy for that shizz!
Dry Creek Valley Dinner and Keynote
Wines and Dinner sponsored by the Wine Growers of Dry Creek Valley. A great dinner and wine, and a thunderous speech by Gary Vaynerchuk on wine blogging, wine media, and hustle!
After Bash
Like we needed more wine?
New York (Finger Lakes & Long Island), Oregon, and a couple of OH wines out the wazoo!
Oregon quality is no secret, but man NY has some juice going on.
More to come- SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!!!!!
(PS-- Sometime last night I determined Grimace is my soul Animal!)
