Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the Patton Valley Winery’s Drink Pink Rosé Festival.  I love wine festivals especially when they take place at a beautiful winery in Oregon. It was a perfect July day for the event. Blue sky, white clouds, and warm temperatures. There were 29 wineries that were represented, and they put forth their finest Rosés. Patton Valley was debuting a new release rosé, especially for the festival. There was fabulous music, yummy food, and a rosé sorbet to die for from Cream Northwest. The atmosphere was definitely laid back as everyone strolled through the mountain vineyards and experienced all the different tastes and smells of summer and it’s special pink wine.

As I walked along the path of pink dresses, pink hats, pink shirts, pink paper lanterns, and of course table after table of pink wine, I couldn’t help but wonder…what makes all of these rosé wines different? So, of course, my next step was to taste them and experience them for myself, right?

I’m usually partial to the Provence style rosé. Crisp, dry, acidic, and with strawberry/red berries and citrus and/or herbal notes and even a bit of salty taste from an ocean breeze. Hmm…My personal favorite.

But this festival offered some very unique types of rosé wine from the Oregon Pinot Noir grape along with some surprising other varietals. The Willamette Valley wineries that were represented, put forth their best! Some of the ones that I tasted and enjoyed, along with the Patton Valley Drink Pink Rosé, were the Van Duzer 2018 Pinot Noir Rosé, the Love, Oregon 2018 Pinot Noir Rosé, and the Sokol Blosser Rosé. All of the Pinot Noir rosés had variations of bright acidity and lovely red fruit and minerality present but each one definitely had their own medley of flavors. The Illahe Vineyards’ Tempranillo Rosé was distinctively different. It had some similarities but with the herbal and floral notes and the watermelon, strawberry on the palate it seemed to say “Hey, I’m a rosé but I’m different. Try me” …delicious!

Rosé is a summer wine, for sure. What’s better than a chilled glass of pink loveliness. I even have a vintage pink wine glass that I use specifically to drink my rosé in. It just gives it an extra dash of fun and nostalgia!

Overall, the day was completely entertaining, lively, and enjoyable. Great music, wine, food, and a beautiful setting, what more could you ask for?

If you have a chance to go to a wine festival, do it. It’s so much fun and you’ll get to experience some of the wines that you wouldn’t ordinarily try. I’m all about experimentation and finding new wines to love. Check out your local wine events listings (see link below) and get out there and taste! And if you are visiting Willamette Valley in Oregon, check out the link below for information about all the wineries that offer Oregon’s best wine!

While on my way on the road out of the Rosé festival, I noticed a sign for another festival and by chance, it was happening that same day. It wasn’t a wine festival, but it was awesome just the same. It was a lavender festival. I wondered…what could be happening at a lavender festival? The Helvetia Farm Lavender festival in Hillsboro, Oregon is all about lavender and drew me in. I wasn’t looking to go to another festival but this one seemed like it could be something fun and different. It was one of the best random stops that I’ve ever made! I pulled into the parking lot and was whisked away to the festival in a tractor-drawn cart. As we rounded the corner, the intoxicating smell of lavender filled the air. There was lively music, interesting food, breathtaking scenery and of course lavender in just about any form you could imagine. Lavender tea and scones, dried and fresh lavender (that you could harvest yourself), lavender filled sachets and tons of other iterations of the plant. It was a glorious blue skied, sunny day and the lavender definitely made you feel relaxed and stress-free. Something that we all need now and then. As I walked between the rows of lavender, the bees were doing their job of getting the nectar out of the beautiful purple flowers. I have to admit that it was kind of intimidating walking along those rows of flowers, but the bees could have cared less about me. They were busy doing their thing. Thank goodness!

This detour to the lavender festival was not only educational but added up to a perfect day.

So, I would tell you that if you come across something that sounds even remotely interesting in your travels, go and explore it. You may be very pleasantly surprised at what you will discover!

Find an adventure and go for it!

Cheers!

www.pattonvalley.com

www.helvetialavenderfarm.com

www.willamettewines.com

www.localwineevents.com