Winemaker Dave had a milestone birthday back on September 27, 2018. So Sara put together a crazy day of fun surprises for him with the help of a LOT of our dear friends here in Oregon—and a couple from Cincinnati too. (And yes, it’s taken a while for this to get posted!)
First, starting back on January 27, 2018, Sara started teasing out Dave’s Big Day through social media posts sharing photos of Little Dave (like the one above) every month on the 27th. Although Dave was hoping that would be the end of it, he was wrong.
We started the “Day of Dave” with a surprise cheese soufflé breakfast made by Liz and Kristin at Chehalem Ridge Bed & Breakfast, where we originally stayed in 2008. It was delicious (as is everything these ladies make—stay there and find out for yourself!).
After breakfast, we both had work to do so we took a break from the festivities to try to stay on top of winery harvest arrangements and Sara’s client projects. But just before lunch, surprise number 2 dropped in, literally.
Our friends at Tour DeVine by Heli squeezed us into a jam-packed day of flying wine tours for a quick, half-hour sightseeing trip. It was incredibly amazing to see our vineyard, home and neighborhood from the air. Check out our takeoff…
Pilot Avery “suggested” that we take a tour north toward Portland to see the city from the air. Along the way we saw Mount Hood (from a distance—it was sunny but a bit hazy that day)…
Then we flew all around downtown Portland, over the river and bridges. What struck us the most on this flight was how GREEN Portland is—there are so many trees within the metro area, compared to other parts of the country we’ve visited (or flown over).
At this point, about 10 minutes into the trip, Avery turned to us and said he needed to make a quick stop at the Portland International Airport. Dave didn’t know it, but this was all part of the plan for surprise number 3… We picked up our friends Jennie and Scott who flew in from Cincinnati for the weekend to help us celebrate (and with grape processing too—more on that in a later post).
Then we all got back on the helicopter and flew back to our place for an afternoon nap (Dave) and rest (everyone else).
If you’re wondering how Sara managed to hide all of these details from Dave, the truth is that she relied heavily on the knowledge that during harvest he is extremely focused on all things grapes, winemaking, scheduling, logistics—and not a whole heck of anything else.
Click here for Day of Dave: Part 2 — Bacon, Flames and Sabers.
