winederlust ?❤

August 8, 2017

that’s right. winederlust. and while, at first, one might think this term is the crossroads of wanderlust + wine (as was my gross error), pinterest is here to keep us all well educated. and i’m basically ok with this definition as well…

whatever the meaning…we’ve got the winederlust. oh, who am i kidding? mom and i have the winederlust. and we’ve got it bad. so when Virginia Dare Winery called a few months ago and wanted to team up, we basically questioned if we had died and gone to heaven.

the conversation went something like this:

“hi, this is Virginia Dare Winery and we’d like to team up with you.”

after a short pause while i choked on my boxed wine…i was all like “ummm yeah, we can do that.”

but in all seriousness. this is a really exciting partnership that we are so proud to be a part of. i’ll try my darndest to explain it here…y’all keep up. it gets a little confusing.

Virginia Dare Winery is one of the oldest wineries in America. Francis Ford Coppola, although pretty good at filmmaking, also happens to be a connoisseur of exceptional wine and food. He purchased Virginia Dare Winery years ago as he considered it a true iconic Americana wine label (one of the first wineries to sell wine after the repeal of Prohibition) and hated to see it fade away. As with everything Francis Ford Coppola does, this winery tells a story.

There are SO MANY stories, legends, and myths to tell… stories behind every single wine. From the namesake, Virginia Dare, being the first person born of English descent ever in the United States to The Lost Colony, The White Doe, and more.
Now that we’ve partnered up with Virginia Dare, we were basically contractually obligated to experience the winery first-hand by going out to Geyserville earlier this summer (i’m totoally lying. we weren’t really contractually obligated but we considered it a requirement of the partnership-we take our partnerships seriously) . Geyserville is located in what is known as the Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. Apparently the cool air off the ocean sweeping through the Russian River Valley makes for some mighty fine grapes which is why this wine is just so darn good. (they explained this with way more scientific formulas and theories but cold air + river + wines = good is what i deduced).
We toured & tasted at Virginia Dare Winery & Francis Ford Coppola’s Winery.
And we book signed…. we were blown away at the number of you that came out for our first ever west coast book signing…thank you from the bottom of our gypsy souls!!!
We ate amazing wine country cuisine and drank wine straight from the tank….
and did we mention this…?
yep…that’s the desk and chair from The Godfather…we didn’t dare get any closer than this because well, visions of Don Corleone & dark rooms & cats come to mind.
also i think you should know that after watching The Godfather 15 or so years ago, my husband, Todd, decided his mobster name should be Mr. Giadanni. therefore, he shall henceforth be known as Mr. G. because, clearly his Irish/Scottish ancestry and his red hair and freckles totally blends in with the gangster/mobster families. #totallygangster
we’re already making plans to head back during harvest! i see wine stomping in our future.
we’re also planning another happy hour/after hours shopping here at the JG store featuring VDW during antiques week so be sure and stay tuned for dates & times! psst! pencil in september 28! 😉
in the meantime, y’all be sure to sign up as a member on the Virginia Dare website…you can get special rates on wines and shipping for super cheap!! straight to your door!

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4 Comments

  • Reply Cary Lyn (HHC) August 9, 2017 at 11:20 am

    This is absolutely WINEderful and exciting. Now I have to WhINE to my #gangstas to be sure we pencil in the 28th for some deliciously MOBulous wine. Love you ladies!!

  • Reply Shelly k August 10, 2017 at 8:20 am

    Oh my goodness, I’m just now reading this! What a winederful story! Love Sonoma, so I’m extremely jealous that y’all had a “legitimate business trip” out there. Now, I’m ready for a mother / daughter trip to Virginia Dare. Thank you for sharing your adventure!

  • Reply Ginny Baker August 18, 2017 at 8:57 pm

    I have always been a fan of the first born American…maybe because it’s my name, too (Virginia, that is!). And I love wine so…a match made in heaven!!

  • Reply Michelle E. Black September 6, 2017 at 8:45 am

    Great post Jolie!
    A few months ago we visited some wineries in France as well. Sounds like I need to take a road trip real soon and see this one now!! Glad you all had a great vacation…?

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