This is a photo my friend Jenn took of me and Simon at the winery last year.

October 26, 2012

Last Saturday I took part in a demo scrimmage at the Doukenie Winery in Hillsboro, Virginia during their Harvest Festival.  Our group has done a demo scrimmage at the winery in the spring and fall for the past few years and it is one of my favorite events to attend.  Its laid back and fun with no pressure and sometimes the crowd will get rowdy and cheer.  My longtime friend Val and her husband Jon (also a longtime friend) host the event.  This time Val was two weeks shy of her baby due date.  I wasn’t sure if she was amazing or insane for hosting a games event so close to her first baby’s arrival.  Turns out, she is amazing.

This time around only one other team attended, but it was still a really good time.  Team Old School rode as our usual four rider team, and the other team, Hit and Run, was a conglomeration of some of our favorite riders.  Lots of fun.  We rode two sessions with a nice leisurely lunch break in the middle that gave everyone the opportunity to check out the winery, and have a glass of wine.  Some of us rode through the winery festival, letting people pet our ponies, give them treats and take photos of them.

The winery and its patrons are great like that, and really embrace the ponies.  The facility is also gorgeously amazing.  The leaves were changing and the grass was still crisp and green.  If you are in the Hillsboro, Virginia area and like wineries, it’s certainly one you might want to check out.  The wine is also fantastic.  I like the Mandolin which is described by the winery as, “This very fruity blend of Traminette and Vidal has Citrus, Orange, and Litchi flavors. It is a very Exotic blend that will always be a success on the table to share with friends. The low residual sugar gives a very nice round feeling. It has a long fruity finish.”

We didn’t realize anyone was even keeping score, but in the end, our teams finish one point apart, which is just really cool.  Riding with closely matched teams makes playing so much more fun.

We also didn’t have a photographer for the day, so I don’t have any photos to go with this post.  Seems a little weird to write a blog post with no photos, but here ya go anyway.