A Red, White and Blue Adventure, Via the Santa Clarita Valley Wine Enthusiasts

I’m signed up to two local wine meet-up groups: Winey Women Unwind run by Kathy Lockhart and Doug Gould’s Santa Clarita Wine Enthusiasts.  Usually content to get the invites and see what new ways these people find to meet over wine, I attended an Oscar party with the Winey Women and, more recently I partook in this:

In the Mode of always looking for something different and fun, I present RED, WHITE, (and now) BLUES, WINE ADVENTURE!

Okay, you for sure have heard of Red and White Wines but that is only half of this adventure. The Red of course will be RED WINE. The White on the other hand is NOT Wine but CLOTHING. Yes, you must come in all White clothing. (You may accessorize  with Red, but it must be able to be removed for some of the photos) To make this even a little better and different, we will have at least two professional photographers with us.

Why? You may be asking. Because we are going to do a photo shoot in our White Clothes and Wine Glasses with Red Wine. Then, those of us Brave enough, are going to become Canvases for designs with the Red Wine. Yes, we are going to Spill, Splash, and place Red Wine on our White Clothes. We will be doing photos throughout. Who Knows how it will turnout, but it should be a blast!

You must come in ALL WHITE and bring a bottle of Good Red Wine (Hello to Drink/Share) I will provide the Red Artistic Wine. You don’t have to take part in the Splash,  but you should! You must have a great sense of adventure, and love to have fun!  If this is not your idea of something fun to do with Wine please skip this event.

I know this is NOT for everyone, but NO Negative Peeps allowed. We will have lots of other more common Wine events coming.

You will probably want to bring a change of clothes.  The change does not have to be White, but you must arrive in White or you will not be allowed in. NO EXCEPTIONS! It is not fair to those that take the time and effort to make this event Fun and Different.

I decided to add some Blues to Saturday’s adventure, in the form of “The Blue Baron Band.” Anyone that came to the Greek Adventure will remember them, or at many places here in SCV. They are Great!

In real life, this is what happened, I give you a story in photos:

Photo ONE: This is what I call the “Clean Group Shot” taken by professional photographer, Steve Galland.  At this point, I already had wine spots on my pants though I was only there to “cover” the event and not partake in the splashing.  Doug Gould, along with his co-host Lisa Cole, had called groups over to get started on these photos prior to the splashing.  And Doug, an earthy incarnate of Bacchus, the God of Wine, said, “Do not splash those that don’t want to play…or the band.  What may sound like a good idea today will be a bad idea tomorrow.”

Photo TWO: Two ladies, Sharon Lindquist and Kat Kombrinck, dancing to the band, again, just prior to the spilling.  In a few more minutes Vic Herstein, local wine pal to many and a member of the Blues Baron Band, said, “Will there be a prize for the best stain?  I’m an abstract artist and I appreciate this, like watching Jackson Pollock at work.”

Photo THREE: Right in the thick of things.  Doug had some bad wine to use for the pouring.  Everyone got very sticky, very fast.  Take note that wine-colored scarf.  If you go to the meet-up page to view more photographs, you will see that the scarf got a lot of action.  I heard peeps saying, “OMG that’s cold” and “I didn’t get to splash on anybody” as women got their tops soaked and men, more of their bottoms for some reason…

Photo FOUR (Final): I had to kiss that face goodbye – sticky – while revelers enjoyed ear licking, hollering and, of course, more splashing before a change of clothes.  In conclusion, I was drawn to these people for their love of playing!  But, for me, I have to admit, I found the idea of pouring out wine this way, no matter how bad it may have been, somewhat blasphemous…but, then again, maybe I just need to learn how to play better with others.  This photo of Doug says it all, a lover of wine yes, but a lover or life, YES!!!!  The last thing I remember him saying was, “At the count of three – SPLASH!” and a minute later, “Now, I need a group hug from all that splashed me!”

And, one final note from Doug, “ Of almost fifty get togethers this was the only one that was like this.  I think a lot of people would enjoy this group on a normal day but might be scared off thinking we are only hedonists 101.”