Wine Fest

Last evening, Justin and I had one of my all-time-favorite "date nights" ever!  Although we were home fairly early . . . about 8 o'clock . . . it was a truly incredible evening.  Justin and I have recently become "wine enthusiasts" (in the loosest sense of the term).  Basically, we've been buying inexpensive wine from the grocery store and sampling them a few nights a week after Jackson is in bed.  So . . . we both enjoyed the Winchester Wine Festival kickoff to the 2011 Apple Blossom Festival!

Now, I was a bit skeptical for starters.  No offense whatsoever to any Winchester natives who love the Apple Blossom Festival . . . but, quite honestly, I've chuckled a lot about how much emphasis the community as a whole puts into this event.  For my Roanoker readers . . . imagine if all of Roanoke closed down for Festival in the Park . . . like businesses, restaurants, doctors, you name it.  Now, imagine if there was a store for FITP . . . and a theme . . . and t-shirts, jewelry, flip-flops, parades, a Queen, etc . . . you get the idea.  I've been a bit bemused over the Apple Blossom extravaganza around me.  However, if this wine festival was a sample of what the rest of the Festival has to offer . . . perhaps I understand the excitement a bit more.  One word:  AMAZING.  We're talking about 15-20 different vineyards--each with 4-10 different tasting wines--unlimited return visits--get the idea?  Let's just say this . . . last evening was reminiscent of my good ole' college days at the University of Virginia.  Wahoowa!  We had a blast to put it mildly.  The wine, coupled with the live music and energetic crowd, made it more of an evening for plumb enjoyment rather than picture taking.  Nevertheless, we managed to get one nice photograph of the two of us soaking up the festivities.

Forgive my purple lips . . . it was not hypothermia setting in . . . rather, by this point in the evening, I (proudly a Moscato girl) was actually enjoying the Merlots.

Cheers!