summerfest

saturday afternoon i had free wine, cheese, beer, reggae, jazz, and blues in a field in the sun amongst oak trees and grape vines. i was in heaven. despite some recent technical difficulties (the contractors putting the new facility together cut a whole bunch of corners and earned ninkasi a big fat "DENIED" from the building inspectors, setting them back two weeks worth of production), ninkasi brewing company has somehow become "eugene's hometown brewery" (http://www.07summerfest.com/, under "summerfest microbrews"), and is featured at just about every eugene event. one of the perks of being "eugene's hometown brewery" is that everyone connected with it gets free tickets to everything and free beer once we get there. this particular event was summerfest, and it was held at my favorite place of the week--the secret house winery. poor matt and jamie were stuck in the brewery literally from 7 am until 1 am friday, saturday, and sunday making up for lost production time (the inspectors finally gave them the go-ahead friday afternoon), but the rest of the ninkasi crowd were headed out to summerfest. it sounded fun, and since i'm still feeling like the "new guy" here and missing my portland friends a bunch, i went along, thinking it would be a good way to get to know these guys better. once i got there i kicked myself for not bringing my camera, because it was gorgeous there! the event was all day, but we got there at 3:00--just in time for the free wine tasting hour. this was held in the wine cellar which was lit up with twinkle lights and candles, and it included complimentary cheese and other yummy hors d'oeuvres. the 1999 pinot noir was my favorite. very smoky and smooth. after the wine tasting, we bought a couple bottles of wine to share and laid out a blanket on the field to watch the bands. it reminded me a lot of the cathedral park blues festival under the st. john's bridge that happens every summer--good local talent, a family-friendly atmosphere, the smell of summer floating through the air, and a pervasive feel-good vibe. after the event, right at twilight, one of the winery's owners showed us around their impressive garden. it made me want to live there! they are having a wine and blues festival in august, and there will probably be some concerts out there too. ani defranco played there last year. there is a website--http://www.secrethousewinery.com/--but it doesn't show much. i wish i had brought my camera so i could upload pictures and show you, but i didn't (though now i have it in my purse wherever i go), so you'll just have to come see for yourself sometime!