Vintage Vino

Happy Fourth, yo!

One of my favorite pastimes is to dress up in costume for a themed event. I was all RW&B today!

We went to the brand new Stinson Vineyards in Crozet, just a hop, skip, jump down the highway into the Virginia countryside, today.

The details in the new tasting room were just gorg!!! Everything was vintage + modern blend – my favorite style! I loved the milk bottle chandelier, chalkboards, galvanized metals and reclaimed wood everywhere.

Also in love with the logo – their graphic designer was a good one!

Our family friend, Gayle, just started working at Stinson and let us know of the grand opening festivities

We started the afternoon with a taste of each of the wines. They were ALL good – I liked the Rose a lot!

We ended up buying a bottle to share with our group: Karen, Tracy + Clayton, Becky + Becky and Matt and me

We had a couple of pop up tents set up with this view. It was HOT HOT HOT outside, so the shade was much appreciated.

The event was a BBQ – traditional style with a pig on the grill and a few gourmet sides catered by Gryffon’s Aerie, “purveyors of the finest, natural gourmet meats through sustainable, pasture-based farming.” Normally I wouldn’t be too excited about a public barbecue, since I try to support only pasture + humanely raised animals. But when I read Gryffon’s Aerie was supplying the food, I was so excited to find such a great holiday event with thoughtful food behind it. Love everything the company stands for!

There was of course the pork, plus slaw and roasted potatoes

And we brought cheddar garlic

And garden greens. I didn’t have any slaw due to onion content, but all the rest tasted amazing!!!

I had a couple of glasses of wine throughout the day too

We munched on these peanuts I was sent via KERF to try by Lord Nut Levington. I did not love the flavors, so I brought them to share and sent them home with Tracy. The Thai Lemongrass was my favorite.

We also tasted a Cookies & Corks for dessert (I just had a nibble) – but one of the three cookie styles was MISSING from the box!! (And I swear it wasn’t open!)

The music was great!

So was the watermelon!

We chilled until the sky fell out

And headed home around 4pm.

Not sure what to do next, we took a look at the yard and knew that once the sun was out we had better mow the grass.

I stripped off my shirt, put on my Camelbak + iPod and got to mowin’!

Then took an icy shower!

I had a request for some garden photos. Kanz weeded while I mowed. Our garden is a bit out of control, and we’ve mostly focused on greens, herbs and tomatoes. Although our greens have bolted (flowered) we’re still eating them!! We also have no secrets to a green thumb – we just put seeds in the ground (well, raised beds that our landscaping landlords established) and they grow! Maybe they put some kind of magic soil in the beds!?

Kale, mystery leaf, basil

Dill

Maters

Bolted mustard greens

I really had no appetite for dinner at all.

But around 9PM I got a little hungry. A salad did not sound that appealing, but a smoothie did! So I turned my salad into a soup.

Greens, cantaloupe, yogurt, milk, flax with Cinnamon Raisin cubes. I only finished 3/4 of it and fed the rest to Matt.

Happy Birthday to Larbs’ Matt and Ashley!!

Tomorrow we have a road trip and picnic #2!!!