"Wine is bottled poetry." -- Robert Louis Stevenson

Things are starting to slow down a bit at work, which means I get to start freaking out about billable hours and job security. But it also means I have a little more time to update my blog and work on my portfolio.

“So I got that goin’ for me. Which is nice.”

Over the weekend, SockMama, myself, and ten of our friends rented a gigantic white van and explored Oregon’s wine country. SockMama, being the proud planner she is, created an agenda of wineries complete with the winery’s specialties, contact information, and even a little paragraph regarding the winery’s history. In return for her foresight, I saw it fit to try each and every one of those wines.

It’s tough. But someone has to do it.

Anyhow, we had a great time. We started our pilgrimage at the Portland Airport Way Shari’s, where we ate omelets, pancakes, eggs, bacon, cheese and all the other good breakfast stuffs. Then we headed out. We made it to our first winery around noon: Rex Hill. After our visit there (their 2002 Pinot Noir Reserve is outstanding), we headed to Duck Pond. A quick (and eloquent, I might add) warning: Duck Pond sucks ass. Their wines suck, their tasting room sucks, and even their stupid little label with the duck sucks.

In fact, they suck so much we didn’t even take a picture there. And not one of us bought anything there save for a loaf of bread. Which doesn’t count because the bread was made by a bakery outside of the winery. So there.

All told, we ended up notching seven notches on our winery belts and stumbled back into Portland at 10 pm Saturday night.

I’ll have pics to post tomorrow. Or maybe even tonight if I can find the time. Or remember.