as a guest.

It's been nearly three months since I've left the winery, and I'm only starting to really appreciate the joy of being unencumbered on the weekends. No where to be early in the morning, and more than one day to fit relaxation, errands, chores and social outings into. It's quite nice. I see why people love the weekends!

Another perk is being able to be a guest at cool winery functions, instead of working them. My friend Susana alerted me to the wine club vineyard excursion, and because we were winery family, we were able to get in on advance reservations. This time, when I arrived at the winery at 8 am, I was there to enjoy the day rather than wait on others. All 40 of us boarded a bus and off we headed across the mountains to Stillwater Creek Vineyards. Stillwater Creek is owned by the family who also owns Novelty Hill wines, and it's predominant vineyard in their wines.

We arrived at the vineyard, sun blazing, greeted by glasses of crisp white wine and a few nibbles. We walked the vineyard with the manager, Ed. We heard all about the growing practices at the vineyard, tasted sun-kissed grapes off the vine, and were able to ask a lot of questions. There were fantastic photo opportunities at every turn.



We came back to the party pavilion to find a gorgeous spread for lunch, to be enjoyed with Novelty Hill wines. It was a lovely day, with a very sweet friend- made even more lovely since neither of us were working the event.