We’re Not In Napa Valley Anymore

I think everyone should travel. You get to meet so many amazing people and have some of the best (and ok, occasionally the worst) experiences of your life. Some make you laugh, some make you cry, and others leave you in awe.  This is one the first variety.

I took an Irish staycation and stayed at a hotel that offered some free child and adult activities as part of the package.  I decided to sign up for the wine tasting.  I’m no sommelier, and these days, prefer a fruity cider to wine, but it was something interesting to do and I thought I might learn something new about choosing wine.  I have been to vineyards in Napa as well as Oregon, so I know what a typical wine tasting session should look like.

This, however, was, what I call, a totally Irish version.

There were only about half a dozen people to start, though people dribbled in to nearly double the size over the course of about half an hour.  Instead of a formal presentation, we were given the chance to sample two house wines, both Chilean, a red and a white.

They young man doing the serving did a nice job of describing the wines. We then had to choose which to try. I chose the white, which was a Sauvignon Blanc. I tend to avoid Sauvignon Blancs because I find them on the dry side, but this one was quite nice.  We were given the equivalent of a little over half a normal glass of wine.

Lo and behold, dear wine tasters, that was the end of the show.  Really!

I had been sitting close to the bar and ended up striking up a conversation with the young man doing the serving.  We talked about rental prices (more outrageous and harder to come by than when I was renting), the weather (a required topic with any Irish person), and to tip or not to tip (it’s becoming more common in Ireland).

Having finished my glass, he offered me a taste of the red wine.  Why not, I thought, that’s what wine tasting is supposed to be about. It was on the dry side, so not really something I would order, but that didn’t stop me from finishing the (half) glass.

A few other people inquired and were offered a sample of the opposite of their first choice, but it’s wasn’t a given that you would receive both. Interestingly, I found that more people were choosing white over red.  After emptying about two bottles of red and three of white, the lad departed and that was the end.

It may not have been your typical wine tasting event, but it was worth the entertainment value.

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