I’m trying to make an effort to actually do things and go places, because I tend to be a homebody. And if the things or places involve alcohol, I’m in.

Since I hadn’t seen my former co-worker/friend Kristen—the one who runs the 5ks with me and sometimes encourages my bad decisions—in two weeks, we made plans to do something this weekend. (Because I have my life back! The ice cream shop closed today, so I’m available for all hanging out opportunities until the middle of February without having to rush home to get to work for 5:00 p.m.) She went with me to a brewery three weeks ago, so we decided to go to a winery this afternoon.

As you might expect, I’ve been to more breweries than wineries. I had only gone to one other winery, and it was three years ago when I was dating my ex. We visited a winery that was close to his house, and it was the summer I turned 21, so I didn’t know too much about wine or what I liked. I’m pretty sure we did a tasting, and I bought a bottle to take home.

My experience with wine since then has been an on and off relationship. During the fall of my senior year of college, I drank more wine than beer but I tend to favor beer a little bit more. Mostly because wine is expensive, and I’m a baller on a budget who buys $7 wine. I know that I like sweet red wines, but I’ll try anything once. Whether I’ll like it or not is a whole other story.

Kristen and I did a tasting when we got to the winery, which was already packed after being open for an hour. I think there was a bridal party there for a wedding shower, and live music was starting to set up. We tasted six wines and got to keep our glasses. There were suggested wines on the chart that they recommended so you can try a variety of whites, rosés, and reds. I tried two of each and liked the rosés and reds better than the whites. (The first one we tried was a dry white, the complete opposite of a sweet red. Kristen and I quickly discovered that she and I have different tastes in wine.)

After we were done with the tasting, we each got a glass of their pumpkin spice white sangria. (Which I didn’t take a picture of…) The main floor was packed, and we were going to sit outside since it wasn’t too cold, but one of the employees told us the upstairs was open. The room looks like it’s used for events but can serve as extra seating. Shortly after we grabbed a table up there, other people starting coming up.

Our rookie move was definitely not bringing food with us. People had full out spreads, chips, dips, salsa, cheese, you name it. I’m pretty sure they sold food there, but it was on the main floor, and we were too lazy to go back down there.

Kristen bought a bottle of wine before we left, and I said hi to a dog. Because you can bring your dogs there. And, of course, we had to take a picture before we left.

I’d definitely go back there again and would be open to other ones. As long as we alternate between breweries and wineries, because I still love my beer flights.