Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Date Night Log 2018: Train Wreck Winery

When we went to Living History Farms: Farms Uncorked event, one of our favorites from the day was Caboose from Train Wreck Winery in Algona. Knowing that we loved the blue bottles to go with our wedding theme, and that we really wanted to check out the space (especially since my mom and I both often work in Algona), we decided we'd take a family trip up to the abandoned train station turned winery.

They're only open from 12pm-5pm on Fridays and Saturdays, but starting this week they'll host live music on Friday nights from 5:30-7:30. We started out on our day trip date with my mom and Evelyn in tow! When we arrived we saw Jean, who remembered us from LHF, and started our wine tasting adventure. For $5 we were able to taste all their wines, which Jean walked us through, and got to take home our keepsake "Train Wreck Winery" glasses! We tasted approximately a dozen different wines and between the three of us ended up taking home a dozen bottles! We definitely had our different tastes, but our favorites included Kate, their signature (award winning) sweet red wine, Caboose, which we already knew, and Hooterville (part of the sales from this one are donated toward breast cancer causes). Another one of their wines, Orphan Train, also donates part of the proceeds to charity.

The actual space itself, the train station, is fantastic. It's super relaxed and has space for groups or couples to enjoy a glass of wine on the weekend. While I didn't take a picture (because I assumed the people sitting there would think I was awkward and creepy), there are also couches and chairs to sit back in and enjoy your time together. The art is fantastic, too. While some pieces are made by children in the family, which I adore, there's also a mural that the Algona High School art teacher created of the train wreck that is such an important part of the history of the space. The vineyard is actually at the site of the wreck!

Neither Shon nor I have ever really considered ourselves "wine people," but now that we've taken some time to educate ourselves on some of the different types available, we've actually changed our mind. Last weekend Shon actually said, "I don't feel like beer, I feel like wine today. It seems like the better option." I love this. I love that we've found something we can learn about and explore together, and I love that we can enjoy a glass of wine with dinner once in a while and bond over something that we got to pick out together. I also like that I've started to learn enough about wine and even the types of grapes that I can pick out something I like in a restaurant! For example, I know that I'm a fan of Edelweiss grapes and generally the wines made from them. Do I sound like I know things yet? Two wine tastings and I think I'm an expert... (insert eye roll emoji here, I know).

 We also picked our wedding wine that day! I think we've chosen four that we'll order to share with our guests, though you'll have to wait until closer to the big day to find out what those are!

No comments:

Post a Comment