Val Verde Winery, One More Reason to Visit Del Rio

On a recent gorgeous Saturday afternoon at the Val Verde Winery, a group of put-together folks was talking up a storm, or in today’s social media parlance, “choppin it up” with gusto. They sat adjacent to us under an umbrella that covered a square stone table. It was a balanced sample of men and women. (Must I add non-binary? No.) They were men and women. All probably in their forties and fifties. The wind was off-duty in wind-swept March, and the sun provided more than enough warmth for comfort. A perfect setup for a bottle or two with your beloved or most engaging friends. Talk of life and kids drifted over to us from their collective mouths.

One particular story caught our attention. It went something like this…

“So my niece now lives in Austin. And she really believes that she isn’t a girl. She freaked out about it. It caused her to flunk out of UT. But she’s not that bright, anyway. So the story goes, she was filling out some form, and when it came to select a gender, she totally lost it.”
“How old is she?”
“Twenty-one. So anyhow, she went through all this drama and finally decided to change her gender.”
“Really? How did your sister react?”
“My sister loves Austin. You know, ‘Keep Austin weird.’”
“Gotcha.”
“So apparently, to pay for it, there’s supposedly some government funding that you can apply for.”
“Seriously?”
“I guess.”
“Did she have to indicate gender when applying?”
A round of laughter.
“I know, right?”
More laughter.

“So she goes to the clinic for the initial consultation and tests. At the reception desk, the clinic staff person asks, ‘You must be here for the first gender reassignment surgical procedure?’ And my niece replies, ‘Um, I don’t know what that is, but I’m actually here for my rebranding.’”

If you do find yourself at the Val Verde Winery, (http://www.valverdewinery.com/) on an agreeable weekend afternoon for good conversation and even better “eavesdropping,” then I recommend partaking in the activity with a 2018/2019 Blanc du Bois for the dry palate — sits somewhere between a Pinot Grigio and Riesling — and the 2019 Muscat Canelli for the sweet-inclined individual.