What a gorgeous day! The sun was high, the breeze lovely, the setting along the Willamette river – Alton Baker Park in Eugene, OR - was just right.
Parking was handled by a free park and ride shuttle from Autzen Stadium, where they also took admission fees for the event ($5 for adults). The shuttle was one of Lane Transit’s new busses that flex in the middle. I was duly impressed by the turning radius...
Man, I tend to ramble!
Once at the fete, we grabbed some sandwiches from Cart de Frisco, which were a bit below their normal high standards. Art & the Vineyard has a ton of good eats, everything from barbecue to Indian, to Peruvian, to Mexican, to Pasta. I don’t think you can get a hotdog though...
The art was pretty good this year. My wife and I saw some we would’ve liked to have bought, but finances went a bit sour recently. It’s a long story, but suffices to say, we’re budgeting at the moment.
Art & the Vineyard caters to many tastes. There’s a Youth Art Arena, where kids can participate, create, and generally mess about, an expansive Artists’ Marketplace, where a wide array fine art, crafts, nifty bits and even furniture are offered, often by the artists themselves and my favorite of the art areas, the Art For Your Garden area, where sculptures, fountains, plants and furniture combine into a fun fantasy garden. Did I mention live music? There's live music playing pretty much all the time as well.
After all that, we were ready for the wine! Well, I was there for the wine. My wife went straight for the Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cart.
Art & the Vineyard is a great representation of Lane County wineries and “invited Oregon vintners” well worth a day along the river.
Wineries represented this year:
How can you go wrong?!?! I’ll tell you how. You only come one of the three days...
I sipped a number of pinot noirs, a few pinot gris...es...s... What the heck is the plural of “pinot gris”!? I enjoyed a nice sauvignon blanc as well. What other wines did I sample? You sorta’ lose track after a load of samples and a couple glasses...
I must say, Benton-Lane's '03 pinot gris was a damn fine and tasty wine, my favorite of the day. The girl working the Lane-Benton booth was also super friendly and helpful. High Pass Winery had a nice Sauvignon Blanc as well, and of course I enjoyed the pinot noirs all around.
After the wine I grabbed a pint of something nice and hoppy, a nice coppery ale in a biodegradeable cup, and wandered a bit more. We ran into an old friend that I hadn’t seen in ages and exchanged numbers and chatted for a while before heading home - a nice conclusion to the day.
All in all, it was a great day, aside from two minor points. First, our Wine Slob shirts failed miserably. The design was great (pats self on back), but the printable iron on transfers didn’t work well at all. They ironed on fine, but they’re no comparison to a good old silkscreen. Last, we got a flat tire after watching the fireworks and had to buy 4 new tires the next day (all wheel drive cars like tires that match exactly...).
Next year I’m pitching a tent and staying all weekend! For those traveling to this event, please note that pitching a tent is not actually an option, but rather some lame attempt at humor by this particular wine enthusiast...
Okay, that’s it. Cheers!
