It started out innocently enough…Tim, my brother-in-law, asked us if we knew how many tasting rooms there are in the Lodi area.  We guessed around 70, but weren’t sure.  We were hanging out at the Wine and Visitors Center later that day, and Josh, our tasting room associate, told us the total number had hit 80+.  Wow!  Impressive.

I should note that in the writing of this post, I just learned that “Tasting Room Associate” is a term for the wonderful people who pour wine for me, at least according to one website.

Tim asked how many of those 80+ tasting rooms we had visited.  We guessed maybe a dozen or so.  Tim then threw down the challenge–“You need to go to all of them, and blog about it.”  Well, I had been looking for a hobby, and who am I to say “no” to Tim.  Did I mention that he wants us to complete this challenge in 25 weeks?!?

But wait, it gets better.  My hubby has a 1937 International truck that he has been working on for several months now (his hobby).  It has been going a bit slow due to travel, chores, entertaining, and, occasionally, work.  “Excuses, excuses.”  So, the truck became part of the challenge.  The truck is to be done by the time we hit our last tasting room!  Keep an eye out for truck updates.

We are not going to try to describe the wines.  For one thing, my descriptions usually start and end with “I know that smell/taste–I just can’t place it.”  We want to share a bit about the tasting room and our experience that day.  And maybe which wines were our favorites.

So, let the games begin…