Redneck wine tasting

Brian and I spent last weekend scouting wedding venues in Sonoma County, which is located directly next to Napa Valley. As much as we enjoy our two wine club wineries, they are both too small (60 guests or under) and too exclusive (St. Helena) for our tastes. We liked the concept of a vineyard wedding but wanted to visit a few sites to determine how affordable they were.

We were standing at the tasting counter at Nicholson Ranch Winery when Brian noticed an aloha shirt on sale along the wall.

"Is...is that grapevine camoflage?" Brian asked incredulously. The sommelier, named Oz, laughed and confirmed that it was. "So does that come in coveralls?" Brian asked with a straight face.

"No but it's perfect for vineyard hunting," Oz replied without skipping a beat. I was already cracking up when Brian decided to take it a step further. He picked up his glass of pinot noir and swirled it with his pinkie finger in the air.

"I'm gettin' Kraft singles on the nose" Brian began in a Southern accent. I laughed and cringed, because his accent was worse than Sookie's on the HBO show True Blood.

"Slim Jim on the palate, prunes on the attack, Jim Beam on the finish..." he trailed off. I had to brace myself against the counter from laughing so hard.

"Redneck wine tasting at its finest," I said, raising my glass for a toast.


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