Ella and Francisco

This year for our wedding anniversary Ella and I spent the day at Mandola’s Winery in Driftwood, TX. Central Texas has a burgeoning wine country and we selected Mandola’s because of the beautiful pictures on their web site and they have a nice outdoor Italian restaurant. The winery began only a few years ago so their stock is low and consists mostly of wine made from grapes from other nearby wineries. Eventually they intend to import wine varieties from Europe and in 5 years hope to have their own blends. We toured their wine pressing and maturing facility, learned a little about wine-making, then bought a bottle to enjoy with our meal.

The atmosphere evokes a Tuscan setting, with lots of Italian folk music and, of course, Sinatra, wafting throughout the grounds. I don’t know if it was because it’s a 40 minute drive outside of Austin or the spectacular setting, but we felt like we had flown somewhere and forgot about work and home for the day. Our dinner was wonderful, culminating in a dessert of Italian donuts with honey (Woohoo!).

As our friend John put it, “Look who’s rockin’ the Austin Winter League flyer!”

Ella and I are playing ultimate Frisbee on Sundays in December, January, and February. This is a fun league started by our good friend Gary who has incorporated many fun elements like food, beverages, and a weekly showcase game that everyone can watch while enjoying the food and the day. Last year’s theme for team names was Classic Rock and Roll. My team was called “Deep Purple Lays”. This year’s theme is the TV show “the Office”. I’m hoping for “Wrestle with Fear” or “So Shall I Plant my Seed in You” or “I Hope It’s Urine”.

In case you’re interested, the web site for winter league is:

http://www.austinultimate.org/winterleague2008/