Alexis Bailly Vineyard

Let’s see, since I last blogged it was Memorial Weekend, where we had friends over to watch UFC, I painted our office and we spent that Monday at Canterbury Park in Shakopee. Canterbury is a great, cheap date because you can usually track down free admission and you don’t have to even place bets on the horse races if you don’t want to (though your beer will cost you a little). You can have just as much fun making predictions amongst yourselves based on horse name, colors of the jockey’s shirt, etc. Luckily for us, Shakopee is just a short jaunt down Highway 169.

On Saturday Josh and I took the motorcycle out for a while and he took me to the Japanese Garden at Normandale Community College. Such a cool little place and probably largely underutilized. If you haven’t been, I definitely recommend checking it out. And, if you are looking to have a small, elegant outdoor wedding, this would definitely be a great place for it.

The rest of the week included going to a dress fitting for Dee’s wedding dress, followed by guacamole and chips and mango margaritas at Boca Chica. They have such a nice little patio, great food and good prices. Friday night we BBQd out at Dave & Jill’s for a pre-Seidelcamp get-together. Maybe 20 people there and lots of good food. Seidelcamp should be another great time this July.

Saturday was Dee’s Bachelorette party, which included boating on the Mississippi, hanging out with the girls, having a few drinks and lots of food, gifts and the occasional penis silliness.

Alexis Bailly Vineyard… “Where the grapes can suffer”

Alexis Bailly Vineyard is outside of Hastings and each year they hold a spring open house the last weekend in May and the first weekend in June. I manage to go almost every year on one of the weekends, even though you can, of course, stop by any time and do a tasting. The Open Houses are fun because there are a lot of people there so it feels very festive, plus there is free (yummy!) cheese and usually a band or music of some kind.

This year Kay and Chris were able to meet up with Josh and I, which was great fun as we have not seen them in several months. We set up our camp chairs and snacks outside, then went in to do the tasting. To taste it is $10 but you get to keep your souvenir glass, and then you try maybe 8 different wines. Interestingly, I have noticed I like a lot more wines this year that I wasn’t as fond of in the past. Perhaps my palate is broadening.

Once we did the tasting we picked a couple of bottles we liked, purchasing the Seyval Blanc and the Voyageur. After that, we kicked it under a tree for about 3 hours, drinking wine, talking smack and enjoying the sun and being outdoors. We brought a lot of food, from cheese and crackers to hummus and soprasata, fruit and more.

Alexis Bailly has come a long way over the years. When I first started going I think it was $3 to taste and it was pretty basic. Over time they have added a lot of outdoor seating areas, bocce ball courts, a wine/gift shop, additional bathrooms, etc. There are also plans to build an ampitheatre; perhaps they will regularly have live music out there? They also added these super-cool cocktail tables in the tasting room that are made from barrel staves/lids. I found them online and am seriously considering a purchase.