Dry Creek Passport Weekend

This weekend, taking a rare timeout from Tahoe, I joined some friends in Dry Creek for Passport weekend.  A friend of a friend is the winemaker at Martorana Family Vineyards, and to prepare for the Passport festivities he invited a group of people to volunteer at the winery.  Somehow I was in the right place at the right time, and got a coveted invite to join in on an amazing weekend!

I drove up Saturday evening in time for a home cooked feast and a night of camping in the vineyards.  Sunday, after an early morning walk through the vineyards and an hour or so of reading on the porch swing, I headed to the winery to begin the volunteering.

We showed up at the winery and began quickly setting up for the crowds.  I managed to get a place at the sales table, where I chatted with guests, poured from a selection of 7 wines, and rang sales for the day.  Not only did I have a great time meeting so many new people (both my fellow volunteers as well as a dizzying stream of customers), I also got to sample the array of excellent wines and debate with myself all day which I wanted to bring home.  I ended up with a case of the 2006 Dry Creek Zin as well as an '06 Cab, an '05 Merlot, and a bottle of Olio di Gio ... I plan on cracking open at least two of these bottles tonight when I reunite with my farm box over a home cooked meal.  Don't worry, one will be the olive oil.  Happy, healthy Monday!