Jen and I went to a winery yesterday (pics)

[Tobin S.]

We hit the road yesterday for a 2 hour trip over to Bloomington, Indiana to go to the Oliver winery. I know that Oliver wine can be found here in the midwest fairly easily. I'm not sure if they ship to other states. It's Jen's favorite wine. I do not care for wine, be it a $10 bottle or a $200 bottle, so I got to be the designated driver.

They had free wine tastings there at a bar inside the entrance where you could sample up to 8 of their wines before they cut you off. They would pour a small amount in a glass so you could get a taste. You could either drink it or spit it out in a container. Jen drank hers. She sampled three and then had a mimosa while we went on a tour of the place. She says that next time I need to get samples as well and then sneak them to her. :)

Jen snapped some pics of the place and discovered her a new favorite wine which is pictured below.



The grounds of the place were beautiful even in the late winter dormancy. They promise to be better in full bloom this spring and we are planning to go back then.

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Us.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. I like the last picture best of all

:hi:

[Tobin S.]

2. Thank you

:hi:

[pink-o]

3. Cool bottles....

can't even get the dig in re screwtop, since I'm old and fed-up with corks that break, so I prefer those kind now.

From Winesnobberykhastan here in Northern Cali (most of my family lives in Sonoma, so it pretty well comes out of the kitchen faucet up there) wondering where they grow the grapes in Indiana. The eternal California question, and not just about vineyards: What do you people DO in the winter???

Kidding! I was born on the east coast, but I'm totally snowphobic nowadays. Anyway, looks like a great day out, and you guys are a cute couple. I'd smile if I walked past you while you were taking that pic!

[Tobin S.]

4. Thanks pink-o

From what I gather, the Oliver winery grows as many grapes as they can locally. But not all of their wines are made from locally grown grapes. They import them from warmer regions, like Claifornia, for several of their wines.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. My dear Tobin and Jen!

You two are so cute, so happy in love! It makes my heart smile to see you both like this!

And the winery looks wonderful, even without any leaves on the trees...

Love the bottle display too!

I'm glad that you're both having such a good time...

:toast:

:grouphug:

[Tobin S.]

7. Thanks, Peggy

I hope all is well at your place. :hug:

[av8rdave]

6. You two look so happy!

You've found what some people spend a lifetime never finding. Congrats, and thanks for posting the great pictures!

:toast:

[Tobin S.]

8. We are, Dave

And you are right. It can take a long time to find love and some never do. I found Jen shortly after I turned 38. I'd never been in love before and neither of us has ever married. I'm a very lucky man. :toast:

[WildEyedLiberal]

9. Great pics and looks like you two had a great time!

:hi:

[Tobin S.]

11. Thanks.

:hi:

[MiddleFingerMom]

10. I agree that the last picture is the best of all... even as tasty as the wine looks and...

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...as beautiful as the setting was.
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You look like you were having a GREAT time. I had my first and (sob) only muscat
wine a couple of years ago in a VERY upscale restaurant (the chef/owner is up for
a James Beard award this year -- maybe/probably not his first). DEE-licious -- a
sparkling dessert wine better than ANY champagne I've ever had.
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SHAME ON YOU, TOBIN!!! Shame for not being a gentleman and GETTING those
tastings and passing them along to Jen so she could take you home and take
advantage of you!!!
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One of my favorite little day (and night) trips was when the Army rented a
tour bus and took a BUNCH of us to a little fruit-winemaking town somewhere
in Bavaria. There, my buddy ordered what turned out to be an open-faced
sandwich of the STINKIEST cheese in the Universe (it was passed hand-to-hand
around the whole room... refused by EVERYBODY 'til it got back to my buddy
and he had to put it outside on the windowsill -- and we all had a great
number of incredible wines ("tastings" were like regular 4-oz glasses) made
from all sorts of their locally-grown fruits. A good buzz was had by all!!!
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And we all went home with ARMLOADS of wine.
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Thanks for sharing some of your joy with us!!!
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Jen... I like your hair!!!
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Tobin... YOU need a damn haircut!!!
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[Tobin S.]

13. You're welcome and Jen says thanks for the compliment

And thanks for the story. As far as my hair goes, I think you're right and I'm probably starting to look like a damned hippie. Too much time out on the road to get a decent haircut. ;)

[jme0318]

26. But you just got your hair cut...

and I don't think you really needed it - you just wanted to go back to "Hair by Hotties" at the truck stop... ;) Kidding...

[jme0318]

27. Thanks!

Toby likes my hair like this and it is so easy to do - wash n' go! I told Toby the other day that you should come to our wedding - but he said you live in Arizona - if you feel like heading to Indiana the first part of November - we'd love to see you here!

[MiddleFingerMom]

29. I'm just kidding about his hair, of course.

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I just love using that line on people with REALLY short hair
as mine's down between my shoulder blades.
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And I would LOVE to see the two of you -- ESPECIALLY for that
joyous an occasion -- but for a multitude of factors, at least
for right now... it doesn't seem very likely.
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I MAY have some things going on in the not-too-distant future
that may change that, though.
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Thank you.
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:hug:

[jme0318]

30. We'll have plenty of pictures

I'll have Toby post some of our pictures from the wedding - no one will believe it - he won't have his bibs on! I am going to make sure to take plenty of pictures of him and no bibs (other clothes of course - no "nakie" pics)...

My friends think that I should let him change in to his bibs at some point during the reception... I told him he could - toward the end of the reception...

Jen

[MiddleFingerMom]

32. My vote would be for letting him change while in the midst of the ceremony itself...

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...but maybe that's just me.
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:rofl:
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[jme0318]

33. a lot of people are suggesting a tux made out of bibs....

or Black Carharts... I don't know if he has thought of this yet... sshhhh - don't mention it to him. :)

[Skittles]

12. you two look so content

yes INDEED :hi:

[Tobin S.]

14. We are, Skittles. Yes INDEED

:hi:

[Kali]

15. Muscat - probably the first grapes domesticated

I like the perfumey aroma, but for drinking prefer drier Muscat wines a lot.

You guys look great!

[Tobin S.]

17. Thanks, Kali

Jen prefers the sweeter wines. It all tastes like sour grapes to me. :D

[mulsh]

16. A winery in Indiana?

very cool. You two look very content in that photo. cute couple.

I too am a native northern Californian. We tend to be a tad uh provincial. I checked out Oliver Winery.com. They have some varieties of wine I'm not familiar with. This is always a good sign as far as I'm concerned. As a resident of "Winesnobistan" I say Bravo & bottoms up.

[Tobin S.]

18. Thanks, mulsh

Have you heard about the Arizona winery started by the lead singer from Tool? The guy's first name is Maynard, I forget the rest of his name. They made a documentary about that that was pretty good.

[Kali]

19. near me - Arizona Stronghold Vineyard

one of the three vineyards is at the base of the Chiricauhuas

http://www.azstronghold.com/winery.html

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-11-20/news/can-maynard-james-keenan-put-arizona-wine-on-the-map/

[MiddleFingerMom]

20. My GF at the time and I went to a winery with a fair reputation in Pennsylvania...

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...and tried 5 or 6 of their wines. Though neither of us are/were oenophiles, it
didn't take much of an educated palate to identify them all as fucking bilgewater!!!
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We felt kinda guilty about tasting all that wine and taking up the winery employee's
time, so we looked around and found a small refrigerated case with some of their
cheese spreads, and bought a small container (guilty or not, we were NOT going to
take any of that swill home with us).
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Oenophile. To me, it's always sounded a little bit erudite and a little bit nasty.
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Given that... I guess I'm much more of an oenophile than I've realized.
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[bigwillq]

21. Love Moscato!

Great pics. You two make a cute couple. :) :hi:

[murielm99]

22. Tobin, I am glad to see you happy. n/t

[abq e streeter]

23. Like so many others here, been following your road stories

and personal journey too, for awhile now. I am so happy for both of you, I don't even have the words to adequately express it.

[DBoon]

24. I've been there!

Pretty good for an Indiana Winery. A very nice place and not too far outside IU Bloomington

I recall they were selling sculture there when I went (maybe 15 yrs ago).

[jme0318]

25. DBoon - Minutemen

I saw The Minutemen open for REM in '85 - not long before he was killed.
Jen (Tobin S' Jen)

[Dogtown]

28. Cute couple.

Luck to you both.

[davsand]

31. Kevsand and I love to do the winery thing.

We liked Oliver fairly well when we went there. There is a really nice tasting room there in Nashville, the Chateau Thomas winery. I remember they had a completely awesome (Red) Zinfandel and I ended up buying a half case. It was right there off the main drag in town. I'm looking forward to going back some time.

We also really enjoyed our trip over to Madison Indiana as well. If you do go over there make sure you take time to head a little bit further east of Madison to the Ridge Winery in Vevay. They have a lovely deck overlooking the Ohio river.

IF you are looking for a really cool road trip in Indiana that is completely unexpected, you oughtta check out Columbus, just south of Indy. This is a small town with absolutely STUNNING architecture. I've never seen anything like it--anywhere! They have something like 60 or 70 buildings and pieces of public art that have been done by world famous artists and architects!

http://www.columbus.in.us/listings/index.cfm?catId=336


Happy travels!



Laura

[jme0318]

34. I really like Columbus

It is a very nice place to go - Toby gets to go places all the time driving a truck - Meanwhile - I'm stuck here in Richmond - not that I don't like it - but you know - it's nice to go out of town every now and then on a road trip.

[madmom]

35. I LOVE Oliver's wine, especially the soft white. I didn't know they did a

moscato, will have to look for it. I have been trying to get someone interested in going to this winery for a while now, it's a few hours south of me. Glad you guys are so happy!:toast:

[owlsayswoot]

36. Resent.

Resent hardcore. You know perfectly well that I'm willing to go, and so are the girls-it's finding a driver that's the hard part. :P I'm a sucker for their mead.

That aside, congrats to Jen and Tobin for finding the only thing in life worth having. And the wine, too, of course. :3