Not so much the collision (collusion?) of wine, margaritas and mint juleps - but simply the lack of internet while racing down the highway at 70MPH with the top down and the sun shining that kept your humble correspondent from completing his final report. Put another way, it was just too darn nice a day to blog! I hope the wait will be somewhat worth it...
After the morning sessions I have to confess we skipped out to our favorite local pub (in fact, now the Official Paso Robles Dive of Twisted Oak), The Crooked Kilt, to watch the Sharks play the Red Wings. (And in doing so we skipped the after-lunch auction, which included a dinner for 20 with Robert Parker that went for a mere $62,000!!!) Unfortunately, the game was a disaster if you are a Sharks fan - in other words, it was a disaster - but we did manage to get a nice photo of our server Irene modeling the world famous Twisted Oak Wine Rack tank.
During the afternoon Grand Tasting we managed to pour a LOT of samples of Syrah, Grenache, Viognier, Torcido, and of course, the 
And we saw old friends and made lots of new friends!
After the tasting an informal tailgate party took form in the parking lot across the street, mostly because palates exhausted by inky Syrahs and fragrant Viogniers needed a cold beer to recover. For a moment I want to take you back to the "Blinded by the White" session referred to in the previous post. Here is what a panel of serious Ch. du Pape winemakers looked like in the morning session:
And here is what Yves, Yves and Yves Francois looked like at the tailgate party, trying to make off with Rich's ride:
From the tailgate party it was back to the fairgrounds for a western-themed barbecue dinner and further hijinks. Your truly gravitated to the "gambling tables" (you gamble fake money to exchange for raffle tickets to win Fabulous Prizes) to play Texas Holdem - it's pretty hard to keep me away from a poker table...
I'll leave you with this group photo taken before the barbecue - and a brief game of "Where's Fermento?"
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