I love going wine tasting. I enjoy everything about it. I've almost always ventured out on these sampling trips with my wife, the lovely Camera Crew. And usually with other good friends joining in on the fun, as well. The more, the merrier! I have a lot of great memories from these trips, a ton of awesome photos, and have brought home many many MANY fabulous bottles of wine.
I love to pack a small ice chest with some nice cheeses and charcuterie, maybe some grapes, perhaps blueberries or strawberries. Toss in some nice crackers or a crusty-on-the-outside, chewy-on-the-inside baguette and head to wine country, baby! The drive out of town is like a time warp. Even though we do most of our wine tasting within an hour or so of Portland, it feels like we're hundreds - even thousands - of miles away, in another state or country. Ahhhh, the rolling hills, the ranches and farms, the quaint towns, friendly people, the endless vineyards...
The endless vineyards...
The...
...endless...
...vineyards.
AAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!
Thanks, XDog! Thanks a big ol' heap for ruining wine tasting for me for the rest of my life!!!
Event 37 in the 50@50 Project was the inaugural running of 'Whine on the Vine', a +/- five mile excursion with several obstacles added in, just for 'fun'. This is a new event in the 'repertoire of pain' that Kevin puts together each year for XDog Events. I love this guy, really. To give credit where it's due, the event was organized by a young man named Kalvi. Kalvi put this race together as a fundraiser for the Newberg Lacrosse Team, of which I'm sure Kalvi is somehow involved. I never heard if he is a current player or a coach or an alum of the high school. Regardless, he did an amazing job marketing this event, organizing all the details and making it happen. Kevin has a worthy heir to the XDog throne, should he ever choose to spend more time on his other hobbies. I'm sure he has other hobbies, right? No? Really?! Wow. Okay, then...
The event drew the usual beautiful people of XDog. We love this crowd! In fact, I just had one of those epiphany thingies: XDog calendars made up of the most awesome pictures from the past years' events, with the new, upcoming events in the calendar. (Kevin - I give you this idea for free, as long as I get my picture in there somewhere.) 'Whine on the Vine' was held at J. Albin Winery in Hillsboro. They are a small, family owned and operated winery, open by appointment only, as well as on the usual Memorial Day and Turkey Day weekends. And after the success of this event, we hope they agree to open their beautiful vineyard and tasting room each year for XDog Events. www.laurelvineyard.com Hit 'em up on one of their open days! Or better yet, run 'Whine on the Vine' next year!
Another special part of the day: Since Kalvi did all the work, Kevin actually ran the event! The man has set up 300 or so races and never run them himself. This was indeed a treat. (Bleed, Kevin. Bleed!)
The race started in XDog fashion, with the infamous conch shell. We ran along the outside edge of the vineyard, then we started about 6-7 trips UP and DOWN the rows of grapes. You see, grapes grow best in this region on south facing slopes - they get the best sun, the coolness of the mornings, good water. So our zig-zag through the vines were downhill, then uphill, then downhill, then uphill, etc. We then looped around a big field and had a few obstacles to deal with. A set of three sawhorse-type barricades, increasing in height was the start. The first I could step over easily, the second I had to hoist my leg up but could still touch the ground, the third was about stomach level so required a hop up onto the 4"x4" that made up the top of the obstacle followed by a rather clumsy swing and fall off the other side. Graceful, ain't I? Then we hopped up onto a small platform and down the other side. There was another set of the sawhorses, this time tallest to shortest.
We ran along the field toward the woods at the bottom of the hill. There was a wire fence there so we went over on a slanted wall with ladder rungs. There was a guy we were pacing with who was running with his two dogs. It was pretty cool to see one of the dogs actually climb up the ladder! The owner had to help him down the other side; the other dog took a short cut around the fence. Once we made the trees, the route wound along a trail. It was a pretty warm day so the shade was a nice break. As we lost elevation, we knew were gonna wind up clamoring up at some point. Um, yeah. After a stop at Temptation Station #1 and enjoying a hunk of maple bar, we continued on. After a gradual climb, we came to a road. The course route wasn't clear and the runners in front of us went right and I started to follow them, at least until I could find the trail again.
But Camera Crew to the rescue!! "Hey, guys! It's over here!"
Left. Got it.
We yelled at the people that had made it up the road a ways to make sure they turned back, then we started down a VERY steep hill. Loose dirt and lots of brambly shrubs and branches. The footing was slippery! There wasn't much 'running' - it was more about not getting hurt. Besides some scratches and scrapes and thorny vines, we made it to the bottom. At one point, I heard a woman behind me up the hillside yell "Aaaghh! Owwww! Stickers! Stickers! Stickers!!" Yikes.
We climbed back up out the ravine, refilled water bottles then made our way back toward the vineyard. After trudging up a dirt road and negotiating a long line of tires a la football practice high stepping, it was time for the supersized slip n' slide.
For me, it was a great run down the slope. My Redhook hat flew off, sitting right smack in the middle of the run about halfway down. No worries - Camera Crew snagged it on her way down, in between screams. When I got to the bottom, I was going so fast I shot off the end of the plastic, rolled several times in the mud and wound up in the shrubbery. It was so off-the-charts awesome that I received the 'Big Slipper' award, something of which I am very proud to have earned. Think about it: I was the first winner of this award at the first running of the race. That's, like, history happening right there in front of your face, people!
Camera Crew still has night sweats from the slip n' slide. She claims to have PTSD, in fact. But she did get my hat, which was very nice of her, considering she was in the midst of extreme terror.
In fact, here is Free Gift to Kevin #2: I named the slip n' slide for you.
You should call it Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. And here's why:
From a distance, it looks pretty great and totally obtainable; as you get closer, you realize it's way better than you thought and you're getting excited; but you're wondering if you should even take a shot at it, fearing it might just be out of your league; you decide - what the hell - you're going for it; you hop on, wondering what the ride will bring; it takes a little persistence to get the thing going; then it takes off so fast, you're actually a little afraid; it's bumpy and fast and exciting and scary, all at the same time; the next thing you know, it's done with you and it dumps you so fast your head spins; you find yourself in the mud and sticker bushes, a quick check to make sure you're not hurt; you stand up, feeling all manly, a look back up the hill, a big ol' smile, then - WOOOO! - you want to do it all over again!!! But you know you can't look back because it would never be as good as it was. In fact, you realize you just avoided dying.
After a trot back up the hill to the vineyard, we zagged and zigged our way back through the vineyard, reversing what we did on the way out. I'll admit - I was beat. Camera Crew kept me going and we finished up 'Whine on the Vine'. I would say that it was one of the harder XDog Events. We ate watermelon and had mimosas made with J. Albin's brut rose bubbles. After the awards were handed (Big Slipper, thank you) we settled in on the deck of the tasting room, enjoyed a bottle of pinot gris and pretzels. We also brought home a bottle of bubbles. We drank that later, after a good chilling.
Whine on the Vine - a huge success. Great work Kalvi and Kevin! Bring this one back next year!
And good luck to Newberg's lacrosse teams!!
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