Winey Tasting Notes: Olive Garden's Porta Vita Wine Line

I will have to admit that I have nothing but fond memories of The Olive Garden. WAAY back when the Winey Son was a infant, a group of us new moms would gather there once a week or so to indulge in the - you guessed it - endless soup, salad and bread sticks (oh man, those bread sticks - try losing the baby weight with an unlimited supply once a week!!). And not one Olive Garden worker even blinked an eye when they realized that the 6 or so moms eating at the big round table each had an infant in a carrier next to their chair. Brave, noble people. Fast forward 20 or so years, and it's been a long time since I've been to an Olive Garden. This was mostly due to the fact that 1) there was always such a long wait and we had small children and 2) after moving into a larger home, there wasn't one that close to us (call it the boonies if you will, but the Winey Hubby really really wanted a riding lawn mower). But recently The Olive Garden has decided to give itself a bit of a makeover. Going to the spa, in a way. (The Winey Mom is always, always in favor of a makeover and/or a day at the spa.) They have lightened things up with a new “Lighter Italian Fare” menu and -- gasp -- have decided to go into the wine business with three varietals of its new signature wine called portable buildings Vita. I go the chance recently to talk with Jennifer Arguello, their winemaker, about the wines. Oh and yup, I got the chance to sip them all too