A Little Vintner Humour

It used to be "There's gold in them thar hills"
Now it's "There's wine in them thar hills"


Look out for the dogs..........

.......and the deer

More than wine for sale


The Saturday Wine Poker Run was a hoot. One winery was run by a young couple who produce fewer than 1000 cases of wonderful full-bodied wine per year in tumbledown buildings. Another was run by a veterinarian who, with underground mining equipment, spent a year and millions of dollars creating a magnificent underground wine cave, by tunneling into the side of a granite hill. This cave is complete with a formal dining room, an art collection, tasting room, lots of maturing wine and fountains cascading down the exterior of the cave. Diversity rules. After the tastings everyone, including the winery owners and winemakers, congregated in the cave at one of the wineries for a prime rib dinner and lots of fun and prizes. Coming from eastern Canada we easily stole the “longest drive” prize to get to the Poker Run.

As one vintner explained to me, due to the small output of these wineries, winemaking in this area is more of a lifestyle than a way to make a living!! We thoroughly enjoyed these friendly people and, developed a great respect for their “lifestyle”. They may not make a lot of money but, they sure know how to have fun. And…..they have a quirky sense of humour. I have attached pictures snapped along the wine trails.

The best vintner sense of humour definitely belongs to Paul Toogood (his real name), the underground miner/veterinarian and owner of the Toogood Winery, whose premier wine is labeled “Foreplay”. (The winery region is known as Fairplay) You may need to double click the picture of the T shirt available for purchase at Paul’s winery store. It, along with thongs and other unmentionables available for sale, indicate that his mind is on more than wine.