Yard, Garden and Wine Show

Yesterday Andy and I went to the Yard,Garden and Patio Show at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.  The theme was Gardens Through the Ages. There were approximately seven gardens you could walk through, each having it's own theme.  My favorite used a pond as the center spot .  It was landscaped to resemble a pond you might find out in the woods, with a little playhouse built over the water and rocks that you could walk on to a  patio area on the far side of the pond.

  After viewing the gardens I headed out for a workshop on  "Right Plant, Right Place." and Andy continued on looking at the different booths.  When I got to my workshop I  found out it  was canceled. Our speaker was caught in the snowstorm back east, so I started my search for Andy and found him in the Oregon Orchid Society Booth. We then went in pursuit of plants.  The  only plant sell we could find was the "Hardy Plant Sale." How appropriate for February.  Andy did buy one plant and then we noticed a Wine Tasting Section.  What better way to end our day. Since we didn't buy  plants, and we had money left in our pocket  we might as well spend it on wine.

   Our first stop was Tosoro Vineyards.  Last year at the Wine and Seafood Festival, we had bought a bottle called  Bulls Blood, which is a blend of five wines, one from Spain, one from Hungary and three from Italy.  It is a nice medium bodied red wine with some berry aromas and a spicy finish. We decided to get another bottle of it. This winery was a popular spot.  Don't know if it was because  the two men were quite entertaining or because their credit card machine took forever.  While I stood there waiting for their credit card machine to run my card, Andy visited two other winery booths and had some suggestions for me to try.
   The first place was Noble Estates out of Eugene ,Oregon.  We got a Pinot Noir Reserve.  It has a little more tannin texture than Pinot's usually have.  It was aged in oak, but I didn't detect a oak flavor, but I did notice a nice plum flavor.
   The last winery we visited was  Vitis Ridge from Silverton, Oregon. This was my favorite one.  Not only did I enjoy their wines, but I have a soft spot for Silverton Oregon.  I taught there for a couple of years and it's a nice little community.  Also the couple working the booth were former educators so I felt "right at home." Their wines were "smart and sassy." We got a Chardonnay and Gewurztraminer.  The Chardonnay was aged in stainless steel tanks and didn't have a secondary fermentation which gave  it a very crisp and  slightly sweet taste.  It just has a snap to it and made you want to just  get up and dance and laugh.
   Although we didn't get  plants   and I will continue putting the wrong plant in the wrong place, we did enjoy the day and visited some wineries that we would never visited otherwise.