Wine Tour [Archive] - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum

iflytii

08-08-2006, 09:38 AM

Bump for the wine tour!

The 2006 Wrath of the Grape Fun Rally and Observation Run will feature starting points in both Tulsa and OKC, before joining for the Wine Tour and eventually an awesome Vineyard and Winery dinner on Saturday August 19th.

By design, participants may elect to participate in the Rally, the Tour, and the Dinner or as many of the event components that will fit your available time frame.

The Fun Rally will begin in Edmond and Tulsa promptly at 9:30 AM, with both groups touring along Old Route 66 towards a meeting at Midway, in Stroud for a lunch break at the historic Rock Café on Old Route 66. www.rockcaferoute66.com/ . The only required driving skill is the ability to keep it between the white lines on some occasionally narrow two-lane highway. Speed is not a component of this event. Navigation skills required include the ability to recognize the Historic Route 66 highway signs and follow them. A brief navigator’s refresher session will precede the start of the event. No special equipment is required for the Fun Rally beyond a notepad and a few writing devices to record your answers to the Observation Run visual scavenger hunt. The suggested minimum team size is two per car, but you can bring the entire family or as many friends as will fit. The time allocation for the Fun Rally is approximately 2 hours before you turn in your scorecards at the Rock Café.

The Wine Tour, which will get underway at 1:30 following the lunch break, has been timed during the Harvest Season, with the fruit and vineyards at their spectacular best. Learning about the making of your favorite fruit juice derivative will fill the afternoon. The Wine Village, www.thewinevillage.com/ , just a few blocks west of the Rock Café in downtown Stroud, will be the starting point of the Tour. You should time your arrival to check out their garden and Tasting Room before the route instructions are distributed for the Wine Tour.

Our tour will include stops at the StableRidge Vineyards in Stroud, www.stableridgevineyards.com/ , the Greenfield Vineyard in Chandler, www.GreenfieldVineyard.com/ , and the Tidal School Vineyard and Winery in Drumright, www.TidalSchool.com/. Lincoln County, Oklahoma, the center of the Oklahoma wine country features more Vineyards and Wineries than we can visit in a day’s time, so we have selected a sampling for our initial Wine Tour.

StableRidge is a development of the 1999 May 3rd tornado that reconfigured central Oklahoma and particularly Stroud. Land cleared by that twister provided grounds for the vineyard. The 2003 tornado, that also hit Stroud, is responsible for the replacement building that is now the winery. The Tasting Room is housed in the original Catholic Church in Stroud in a 1898 building utilizing locally grown and collected materials.

The next stop at the Greenfield Vineyard has been timed to coincide with the harvest season. A stroll through the vineyards into the newly opened Visitor’s Center and Winery will amaze you with this fabulous new facility, where you can also spend an evening for a Jazz fest or an elegant dinner. The Tasting Room overlooks the winery processing area, permitting you to test the product in air conditioned comfort.

Our last tour stop will be the Tidal School Vineyard and Winery in Drumright. Housed in the historic Tidal School, built in the 1920’s by J.D. Rockefeller during the original Oklahoma oil boom, and later acquired by J.Paul Getty, the 8,000 square foot building, now on the register of National Historic Buildings, houses the winery and overlooks the vineyards. Our tour will arrive in time for a stroll through the vineyards and the wine production facility prior to dinner at 6PM. A total of 14 locally produced wines were on the tasting board in early July. The chance to select a favorite wine to enjoy with your dinner or to pick up a few bottles for friends after dinner will be available.

A casual, but classy dinner will put a wrap on the evening. Dinner at 6, dining on the decks overlooking the vineyards, will provide a fun evening event for our members who can only make it in time to eat or for those who have been able to join us for the day. This event is likely to be your first, but not last visit to Tidal School, as we discover a California like experience some 1600 miles closer to home.

The dinner of course will be open to all members, guests and friends, even if they already know it all about the fermentation process, making red wine from white grapes, harsh climate for better grapes, etc. and they don't want to show up everyone with their rally skills. The multi course Dinner, featuring selections of beef, chicken and seafood, will be priced at $20/person, with wine extra.

Advance registration for the dinner will be necessary. Reservations are requested by our Chef by Monday, August 14th. You may place your reservation by calling 405-840-0073 or by sending an email to JR@NurBMW.com.

Registration for the rally, while appreciated by the planners, is not required. Watch the www.NurBMW.com/ website for more details. For questions you may post to the Sunbelt Forum or contact the rallymaster directly at JR@NurBMW.com.