Oh, yes, know. The pictures of "not us" are annoying, but I cannot remember my camera for the life of me when I go to these things. The point of this pic is look behind these ladies...the crowd! the crowd!
Which accounts for us going on Thursday. Imagine trying to navigate that with a scooter (me) and a walker (TR). This pic was actually taken at the People's choice event which is a way that we non-expert peons can vote on our favorite wines. And, because the event is so popular, a huge number of wineries participate--only Texas wineries are allowed and there are between 50-60 of them participating this year.
But, we did this event last in our day--because we went on Thursday, the first People's Choice time slot was at 5:00 - 6:30 p. m.
We got there at about 10:30. I accompanied TR to the shuttle bus after we parked, and then rigged his walker to the back of my scooter with bungies to race the bus to the entrance of the event. (The bus won.) When I met TR with his walker, unhooked it, and we headed into the event, a guy ran out toward us from the side motioning to a special parking area they had set up for handicapped, right by the front entrance. Was that there in previous years? I have no memory of it. But, now we know for future reference.
Of course, first on my agenda was to check out the art and other vendors. TR was willing to accompany me for awhile. Then we came to Nature's Finest Art:
http://www.naturesfinestart.net/NEW_Gemstone_Designs.html They are at many of the festivals and art shows in the area--we see them all the time--and I have bought most of my jewelry with them. TR has also bought rings from them, but they had none with them on this day--however he browsed while I spent over $300. My purse sated and his browsing also, we eased on up the road to the champagne terrace, whose bar was not yet open (things often don't open at opening on Thursday), but there was champagne being served on the street, so, I left him with a glass as I explored the rest of the vendors. However, I spent no more, still in shell-shock from the $300. I went back and had a glass of champagne with him.
While browsing, we had noticed that Messina Hoff had a sign up on an old hotel building saying they were going to open this fall. Commenting on that to the champagne vendor, we were pointed to a new winery just around the corner which had opened in August. Since it was within the event gates, we headed over to check it out.
It is Sloan and Williams Winery: http://www.sloanwilliams.com/index.html. I see from their website that they have vineyards in central Texas, but that is not what the girl at the winery said. She told us the grapes came from their original winery in Lodi, CA. But the website doesn't mention that. They only had four wines at the moment, but more are coming in all the time, including a line of fruit wines. We liked two of the wines and shared a glass of each (pacing ourselves). They also had a nice assortment of Tapas (probably the best in Grapevine) at the moment, including a build it yourself cheese plate with lots of choices. We have not joined their club...yet. This is a wait and see attitude at the moment. We did not have any Tapas, because this was a festival day and we had already dipped into the street food and intended to go back. I'd gotten a steak burrito which I had only been able to eat half of.
Back to the Champagne Terrace to see if any music had started yet; it had not. We drank champagne and read and wound up talking on the phone--everyone seemed to want to call us. And, the music started sound checks and rehearsing a couple songs--a rock group--not the usual fare for the champagne terrace, but at this point, we were just waiting for the People's Choice event. I got TR two desserts from the Italian tent and I got a frozen chocolate covered cheesecake--my first ever. Wow!
Now we were ready for the People's Choice. We headed on down there and waited in line for our wristband, glass, ballot, and for them to open the gate. We headed toward the back figuring back to front would encounter a bit less wait at each table. The point was to pace ourselves and only sample those wines that we had half a prayer of liking. Between the two of us, we were able to mark our ballots with only one wine in each category that we like. I also discovered at the Messina Hoff table that they will be opening on Thanksgiving Day in Grapevine. So that makes five real wineries (that can sell bottles) in Grapevine by the end of the year, plus two food and entertainment venues that have Texas wines.
TR decided to walk back to the car, after getting a frozen chocolate covered cheesecake on a stick, and I, not to be outdone, had had a root beer float which I immediately proceeded to dump all over my scooter! I managed to salvage half of it, so all was not lost. We were home by 8:30.
Within the next few days, I e-mailed another winery, Crossroads, that I'd learned at the People's Choice was in Little Elm (across the lake from us--about ten minutes away). We like two of their wines very much--Detour and My Cheeky Bastard. The gentleman e-mailed me back that they would be moving to Grapevine before the end of the year--so six wineries in Grapevine!
No comments:
Post a Comment