if you've ever worked on a farm you'll know what this means ...

and now - page 2

no one wore their camp jackets to opening night ceremonies - a little disappointing

there were no o. n. ceremonies - quite disappointing - just 50 wineries pouring 2 wines each - no big deal for a professional wine ummmm ... taster

some dorked out - heard this asked of a winemaker - "do you pump oxygen into the must or just air?" - could tell he wasn't sure how to answer - "technically I guess ..."

one guy had a curled up on the sides mustache - he had wine stains on the curl part of it - made me laugh

my bus seat partner turned out to be Lulu - she runs the wine program at a high end San Fran restaurant - we talked about balance and acidity and tiny, tiny wineries we both knew about - made that experience palatable

ran into lots of friends from the Oregon wine industry - they called me Montana - I've been called worse - by most of you!

met Madonna and her business partner Radish

Madonna is on my left - well I guess you could pick out Radish - sorry!

here's what the designated driver of our school bus looked liked - clearly instilled confidence from the outset

and finally - I promise not to East Coast bash anymore but I sat next to a couple of guys from Indiana today at lunch - low key, quiet, smart about wine, polite - told them they'd fit right in the Cool Falls

... Day 2 much better!

your pal,

mt

ps: they gave me a 3 ring binder full of Oregon wine info - will have it at the store next week if anyone wants to borrow it - full of lots of good info - or we could all just get together and taste some of the wines I'm finding - up to you really!