roll deep in wine weather
Cruising wine country safely, in style
With summer comes the weather we all love
here in Oregon. Raincoats are removed, flip-flops
are slipped on and outdoor patios open up. No one
knows this last part better than local winery pa-
trons. Summer is wine time.
And Oregon is wine country. But wine contains
alcohol, and this does not mix well with driving
unless you want to leave pieces of yourself
scattered along our state’s scenic byways or spend
a night in the clink. Sure, you could motor out to
one of the many wineries and have one, maybe two
glasses of excellent Oregon pinot, then safely drive
your sweetheart back home. Certain occasions,
however, call for more than one glass of wine; more
than one bottle of wine; hell, maybe even more
than a few bottles. Sometimes the circumstances
of celebration call for excess (as well as safety) —
and nothing says excess like a limousine.
“Hey, if you wanna bump, you can plug your iPod
right into here and it’ll play through the stereo,”
Whit Hogard, limo driver for Sunshine Limo Service,
says to me from behind the wheel. “The DVD player
controls are right here and there’s orange juice to go
with that champagne if you want mimosas.”
Hogard is dressed to the nines in suit and tie.
With his shades on he could be a Secret Service
agent, though his demeanor is far too amicable.
The limo he pilots seats 14 people. It comes
NOW
OW OPEN
equipped with everything I wish I had in my living
room, and then some.
“Everyone wants to do wine tours in the summer
when the weather is better,” says Hogard. “A DUI is
more expensive than a limo.”
The price of a limo ride ranges from $165 for
a three-hour tour for four in a Lincoln Town Car,
to $750 for 6 hours in a 16-passenger Cadillac
Escalade. Tip and fuel not included.
Seated in a giant SUV stretch limousine and
watching wine country blow by you through tinted
windows is certainly a stylish way to enjoy a
summer celebration. With enough wine in you and
the music turned up loud, it can feel like you’re
pursuing happiness in your own personal Kid Cudi
music video. And the best part is, you can sit back
and enjoy the ride. Someone else is driving.
Hogard is Sunshine Limo Service’s veteran
driver, and you can tell from his almost statesman-
like rapport why he’s the man.
With his hands at 10 and two on the steering
wheel, Hogard explains the various reasons
his clients cruise the wineries — weddings,
engagements, anniversaries, birthdays, proposals,
graduations, bachelor parties, the list goes on.
“Six hours is probably the perfect amount of time
for a wine tour,” Hogard says. “That way you can hit up
about four wineries and have lunch at one of them.”
P H O T O B Y T ODD C OOP E R
Touring Sarver Winery
This leisurely impression of a wine-limo tour
could suggest that Hogard’s job is a piece of cake,
but a deeper look into his duties reveals otherwise.
“You have to be a little bit of everything,”
Hogard says, after which he runs down a quick
list of situations he’s handled on the job. One of
these includes a bachelor party where Hogard was
forced to step between the soon-to-be groom and a
“much larger angry man.” Another story details his
on-the-spot cleaning of the limo’s exterior after a
disgruntled homeless man hurled what appeared
to be oatmeal at the windshield. “That was in
downtown, though. Not out on a wine tour,” Hogard
clarifies.
As he’s motoring me in comfort and style to the
nearby Sarver Winery, Hogard explains that his
primary goal is to make sure his passengers are
having fun, no matter how much wine is involved.
Of course, there are rules, like, what goes on in the
limo stays in the limo, and if you throw up inside
the limo, it’s going to cost extra. As to this, Hogard
adds, “Always let me know if you need me to pull
over, for any reason.”
Despite some of his hairier encounters, Hogard
is unwavering when it comes to what he most
loves about driving a limo. “People do these wine
tours to celebrate things, and that specialness of
the occasion is contagious,” he says. “I realize how
important these occasions are to people, and I love
being a part of it.” — Dante Zuñiga-West
For more info on Sunshine Limo Service Wine Tours, go to
sunshinelimoservice.com
NY style pizza & italian dishes
il pomodoro pizzeria
SUN-THURS 11AM-10PM FRI-SAT 11AM-11PM (541)345-1134
20 JUNE 7, 2012
EUGENE WEEKLY
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