We were motorcycling and hit up 2 wineries in our travels on Sunday

The ambience at Travis Peak was impressive. There was a beautiful tasting hall overlooking a quaint vineyard view, and a large limestone pavilion with a pretty fountain.

The wines at Travis Peak didn’t do much for me. It might have been the stereotypical way in which our well meaning pour people interacted with us. Young, not well dressed, (me in my stretchy pants eek) on a motorcycle, I guess our appearance didn’t scream oenophile, but nothing makes or breaks the tasting experience for me more than the attitude of the pour person. On a good day, at a slow vineyard, with the right person who is passionate about what they do, you can learn so much. Travis Peak was not that kind of vineyard on that kind of day. They had a weird-ass, almond-flavored sparkling wine that was interesting. When I reviewed the wines in the tasting, (there were a lot of wines I really don’t like) I nearly opted for a full glass of their estate Cab. As I dutifully went through the motions of the tasting and gulped down my Pinot Grigio and their blended Cab, I was put off by a common theme of acidity in all the wines, and relieved that I didn’t opt for the glass of Cab as might have been a big glass of more of the same.

A lot of the wines were things I wouldn’t normally drink… pinot grigio, rose ect. However, I was not as rude as the Harley riders we intersected with at our second stop Spicewood Vineyard, where in a $2 tasting of 4 different wines, begged NOT to have any Sauvingon Blanc, as if it would poison them for life. Very clearly making a point to each other that they were riding Harley’s and they were NOT WHITE WINE DRINKERS.

I found this amusing, right before they walked in I had just had a conversation with the pour person that I don’t really drink white, but if I do, it’s usually a Sauvingon Blanc. He concurred. Spicewood didn't make wine in 2006 and the 07s weren’t really ready so they didn't have much for tasting but their winemaker had gone off and made a delicious Zinfindel with Dry Creek (think Sonoma!) grapes that I look forward to drinking again soon. He said it would be available at Whole Foods, Specs and Central Market toward the end of the month.

Can’t Fight that Ski Lodge Feeling Anymore...

Being a northern transplant deep in the heart of Texas requires some imagination during the winter months. I remember my cousin explaining this to me when I first arrived in Austin.

“There just aren’t many gray days here. You know what I mean, good Ireland-style pub days. When you get one you have to embrace it and go swiftly to a pub to drink dark beers and read James Joyce. It may be six months before you get one again.”

Five years later, I finally understand what she meant. Although it was 85 degrees when we went to chop down our Christmas tree, when the big December 25^th rolled around, it was seasonably (or unseasonably if you are a local meteorologist trying to make something out of nothing for the 5 o’clock news) cold. Of course, my motorcycle does a good job of taking your average 50 degree day and turning it in to a wintry 30 degree day, but securing that ski lodge feeling during the days between Christmas and New Year’s takes a bit more work still.

Feeling unfulfilled by a margarita on the porch in the chilly conditions, I suggested a local tour of Winter-themed beers on tap. We began at Posse East in our Hyde Park neighborhood. On the weekend between Christmas and New Years, this establishment, was filled with middle aged neighborhood types gathered to an early bowl game of some far flung college. I had a Snowplow pint here to kick things off. It’s a milk stout from Widener Brothers in Oregon. I’ve had a lot of beers in my days, but never had I knowingly consumed a milk stout. It was yummy and solid. I had two and caught a buzz. We continued our tour by getting back on our scooters and heading to the Ginger Man. I was really trying to get a belated Anchor Steam Christmas Beer, or perhaps some Sam Adams Winter Warmer on tap. As an expert on these spicy winter beers from sheer volume of consumption I believe that the fullness of their weird spices is best achieved on tap. At the Ginger Man, I was dismayed to learn they were out of both beers I sought. But no worries, they’ve only got another 50 on tap.

We shared a St. Arnolds Christmas, and the Pyramid Christmas, Fat Tire 2 Below and some Belgian beer, which the bar keep told me I should have “and pretend like it’s a Christmas beer because it’s exactly what your looking for.” All beers consumed at the Ginger Man were excellent. I chatted with the barkeep, who had recently moved to Austin from my old neighborhood in Back Bay Boston. I also chatted with our bar neighbor, who graciously bought our second round. He’s a die hard New Jersey Devils fan, from Denton, TX. He was “out on a hall pass” slurring his speech and buying drinks for strangers, but it was alright with me since our hockey talk only made the winter beer adventure seem more authentic.

From the Ginger Man, we hit up Sixth street. Not much was open, as had been observed at Posse East, most of the students were out of town so Sixth street couldn’t be bothered with us. Maggie May’s was closed so we went to the Blind Pig. Here I had a “Snowman” beer. At this point in the evening, I could not be concerned with pedigree, or name, I was going simply by whatever ornament decorated the tap. The snowman beer is actually a Bourbon Cask ale brewed by Anheuser-Busch. It was sweet and heady. Kind of like if you were in a crowded bar and someone spilled some bourbon and coke in your New Castle Brown Ale. After the Belgian beers at the Ginger Man I thought this was pretty cool. I am not sure how’d I’d feel, if I hadn’t been celebrating all afternoon already.

We headed over to Lovejoy’s. I have a new appreciation for café racers, and inevitably there are cool ones parked at Lovejoys. We decided to park our bikes (my 81 Honda Twinstar 200 and the recently resurrected 1981 Honda Express Scooter) out front with the others. We didn’t need ANY more beer at this point, but kept the party going with Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (2 of them each).

Chatting with our bar neighbors, a theme of the evening revealed itself. More East Coast transplants who stayed put over Christmas avoiding snow and family obligations to indulge in Christmas beers at cozy Austin pubs. After we smoked our fair share of indoor cigarettes and downed our pints, we grabbed some sobriety pizza from Ropollo’s and headed through the chilly night headed up Red River toward home with a warm buzz of Christmas Cheer.