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Charles Bieler Writes… Rosé Road Tripping Out

The Caddy emerges from Jet City Winery in Seattle on Rosé Road Trip day one.

By James Joiner

It’s been a month since our 20th anniversary Rosé Road Trip wrapped up at Aspen Food and Wine, and I still haven’t quite assimilated back into normal life. My bags remain packed, haphazardly stacked by the front door, waiting for me to rush back out to meet Charles in some far-away city. Alas, there’s nowhere to go right now but the beach down the street.

I’ve been working my way through the thousands of photos and hours of video we captured on our cross-country adventure. It’s easy to get caught up in the short-term nostalgia of it all. Seems like just the other day we shoveled crawfish into our mouths in New Orleans, camped on the side of the Pacific Coast Highway, explored a combination gun range / liquor store in Washington, or danced with drag queens in South Boston. Compared to memories like these normal life seems, while relaxing, sorely lacking the constant exhilaration I’ve become accustomed to. Sure, it could be a grind, and I’m a little too well versed in the regional peculiarities of La Quinta Hotel architectural footprints, but there was definitely never a dull moment.

Did I mention the thousands of photos?

What do you do with a haul like that? Well, today we’re kicking off a series of slideshows, starting with our tour launch party last April 15 in Seattle. Feels like just yesterday, yet also a million years ago. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But I can safely say it was 11,500 miles, 3200 samples of rosé, 4 Taco Bell burritos, 2 parking tickets, and 13,539 photos ago. Check out the photos in the gallery below, and, if you were there, comment with your favorite moment from the evening. If you remember it. Oh yeah, don’t forget, you can also follow along via Instagram at @bielerwines.

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