Winery Escapade Weekend #50

Well this weekend due to a family event we decided to keep it local. All the wineries we visited we have written a blog about in the past. With that being said, here's what we did this weekend. 

After the family Christmas get together at my Aunt's house, we headed over to City Scape Winery. We each had a glass, I had the Green Apple Gewürztraminer and Dennis had Müller Two-Goats. We also brought a bottle of the Winemaker's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon home. 

We then headed to Mountain Brook Vineyards for a little Christmas Caroling. We enjoyed a bottle of the Rambunctious Rosé while singing carols with Brin & Mir. For this vocalist who isn’t getting a lot of performance time these days, this was a lot of fun. Also, while we were there, Ruah was grazing in the vines. We also saw some deer beside the driveway but due to it being overcast, the deer were blending into the woods to much for me to get a good picture. 

From there we stopped to grab something for dinner and then we headed to Old Rock Quarry Winery. As always, the wine and the company was wonderful. Had a nice visit with Debbie, Lindy and Linda. We brought a bottle of the Snap Apple Sassy and a bottle of the Strawberry Kisses home with us.

Sunday morning we went to church and then we finally took some time to do a little bit of Christmas decorating. Better late than never, right? After doing that we decided it was time to go to Biltmore for a little bit as we bought season passes and hadn’t used them yet. While on the way we decided that it had been way to long since we had been to Burntshirt Vineyards, so we made a little detour. We each had a glass of their Apple Wine and brought a bottle home. 

We then made our way to Biltmore Winery and decided to do a tasting again. MaryAnn was our server and she was very knowledgeable as well as very friendly. We met a sweet cute couple who were also doing a tasting at the same time. She apparently likes wine more than he does, but he was a good sport and was trying to learn more about it. We brought both the Christmas White and the Christmas Red, (signed by the label artist – he was there signing bottles – happy coincidence for us!)  home with us as well as a bottle of the 2016 Limited Release Chenin Blanc. After the tasting we went over to the wine bar and shared a charcuterie and cheese board as well as a bottle of Zinfandel Blanc de Noir. 

We drove around the property for a little bit & then headed to see the lights at the Christmas House in Inman, SC. When it comes to Christmas light displays, I swear we are like 2 little kids. We drove through 3 times!

Sadly after that is was time to go home & prepare for this work week. Until next weekend we wish you all a Merry Christmas and as always, good wine!

Mountain Brook Vineyards - Tryon, NC

Enjoying a bottle of Rosè while watching numerous hummingbirds floating around multiple feeders. That was a recent afternoon at Mountain Brook Vineyards in Tryon. The octagon shaped tasting room sits at the top of the foothill and offers excellent views of the Vineyards and surrounding mountains.

The original tasting room was back down the gravel entrance road and a good bit smaller. With steady growth, owners Dennis and Miriam Lanahan made the wise decision to relocate the tasting room into the larger former residence on the highest point of the beautiful mountain foothill property. Several hummingbird feeders hang upon the surrounding porch offering sweet nectar to these magnificent creatures. We must have seen ten plus hummingbirds one afternoon.  Horses are also stabled just beside the winery and always enjoy a little attention from the visiting wine lovers.The winery is open Most Thursday's, and every Friday and Saturday. On Thursday evenings the winery host either trivia night or girls night out, check out their website for details.  The winery will often host musical talent on Friday and Saturday. Seven plus acres under vine and only North Carolina grown grapes are used in the formulation of their wines. Wines offered include a Chardonnay,  Pinot Grigio, Petite Verdot, Merlot, Cab Sauv, Magus which is a Bordeaux style red blend, and a true European style semi-dry Rosè.

You'll almost always find Dennis and Miriam in the tasting room. They are both very welcoming and always willing to spend a little time chatting. Dennis offers a charming dry sense of humor. I recently asked him about how he got started. Long story short, once at an extended family gathering he was offered a taste of some homemade wine. His interest piqued, he would spend his free time working and learning at a couple different wineries in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Once he decided the time was right, he and Miriam retired to the North Carolina foothills purchasing the property that is now Mountain Brook. The name derived from the beautiful mountain brook which flows along the foot of the vineyard and can be seen as you ascend up the gravel entrance road. Mountain Brook Vineyard offers a very relaxing atmosphere, beautiful views of nature, and really good wine.

Happy Weekend Wining!
Click to Return to WineryEscapades.Com

Weekend Escapade - week 39 of 2017

Thursday night Jenni and I decided to go to  Mountain Brook Vineyards in Tryon for trivia night. Oops! Turns out trivia night is Thursday the following week. We found the winery closed. Luckily for us, we found Owners Dennis and Miriam still at the tasting room shipping wine to out of state customers. After a laugh, We were allowed to purchase a bottle of thier Rosè. We sat and chatted with Dennis and Miriam as we enjoyed our wine. I’ll soon have a new blog post up with a full review of Mountain Brook. It was just wonderful to  talk local wineries with them.

Check out these views

Yes, there are horses on site and Jenni can’t leave without showing the horses some love.

Friday night Jenni and I enjoyed a bottle of Barn Owl Red from Owls Eye Vineyard in Shelby, N.C.  while relaxing at home on our patio. The weather was perfect for sitting outside. Fall has arrived.

Saturday we headed to Germanton Vineyard and Winery , up above Winston-Salem.  Named after the community in which it is located, owners David and Judy Simpson opened way back in 1981. Both David and Judy are cancer survivors by the way. The winery shares a building with their art gallery. David joked that even beyond the fine works of art in the gallery, he and Judy are serious junk collectors.

They have a small organic vineyard on their property just behind the winery, and buy all local grapes and fruit to supplement. Many of their wines have won medals at competitions not only in North Carolina, but also in New York and California. My favorite was the Suana Red which recently won bronze in the Fingers Lakes wine competition. There are many fine works of art to peruse, many with North Carolina themes and several are available for offers. In the gallery are fine art paintings, sculptures, and photographs from some eighty plus different artist. We each had a glass and enjoyed browsing the gallery.  The first picture below is a priceless drawing by the owners granddaughter.

Upon leaving, we consulted the Vino Wine app and decided we’d venture further North to Autumn Creek Vineyards.

Autumn Creek Vineyards, located on incredibly beautiful property with thirteen total acres of vines. Planted in the Vineyards are eight varieties, Merlot, Viognier, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Cab Franc, Chambourchin, Petit Manseng, and Riesling. The tasting room, pavilion, and cabins all have a modern rustic look. The tasting room is surrounded by a beautiful deck overlooking the lake and surrounding Vineyards.

Autumn Creek offers a large rustic pavilion,  and a gazebo by the lake perfect for weddings or other events. Rustic cabins nestled in the vineyards are available for overnight stays. A bottle of their wine is included with each nights stay.

As our Sundays are normally reserved for visiting our local favorites, we drove up to Parker-Binns Vineyards. We love Roberto, Karen, and Dee at Parker-Binns. Our joke is, a bottle of wine, dinner, and entertainment for about $20. Each Sunday, the winery has a local musician playing and bakes pizza in their outdoor brick oven. The pizzas are not sold, just cut in small slices and brought around for everyone to share. Just for information, the pizza is really, really good. We ran into some friends, and met a few new ones, all sat around and discussed wine, real estate, and whatever other subjects came up. The people are just fantastic, the environment just relaxing, the views fantastic, music good,  the pizza superb, and the wine is the star of the show.  Sundays at Parker-Binns make for a really fun afternoon.

These pictures taken as we were leaving were just a perfect way to close out our weekend.

Click Here to Return to WineryEscapades.Com

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend Dennis and I went to  Flint Hill and Sweet Home Carolina. Both were quiet but we attributed that to it being the first week of college football.

Flint Hill is in a lovely restored home that was the owner's childhood home. The ladies that were working were so lovely. We enjoyed our time there very much. We brought home a bottle of their 2013 Chambourcin and shared it at a get together. It was very lovely with smores! 

We left Flint Hill and headed over to Sweet Home Carolina. Again, the lady that waited on us was super sweet and very knowledgeable. Others came in as we finished up our tasting so we got a bottle of the Twisted Pear and enjoyed their beautiful outside area. The owners arrived and sat outside with us for quite awhile. They are both so very sweet. The wife is practically blind, yet she paints some amazing pictures that they use as the artwork for some of their bottles and they also have them on display in the tasting room. The parrot on the glass is the winery mascot. We brought home a bottle of the Moonstruck Malbec.

Sunday afternoon we went to Parker Binns. Wine, live music (by Brinn), my fabulous hubby, animals, butterflies and pizza, who could ask for more?! We love Sundays at Parker Binns so much! Dee is such an asset to Karen and Roberto. Greets us with a smile and a hug! 

All in all I'd say we had a pretty great weekend! 

#ncwine #ncwinemonth #wineryescapades

Thoughts from Dennis:

This weekend's escapade kept us on the go as Saturday we headed up towards the Yadkin Valley AVA in North Carolina. As Jenni mentioned, we first stopped at Flint Hill Vineyards. Flint Hill had participated in the NC Wine Month Kickoff event at Childress, so we were excited to visit. 

The restored 100+ year old house is really beautiful. A framed picture on the wall shows the house before and after restoration. 

Check out this tranquil outside sitting area.

We took home the chambourchin, and as we were invited over to a cousin's house for smores, we gladly shared our bottle. Yes, the chambourchin paired really well with smores!

Once we arrived at Sweet Carolina Home Vineyards and Winery, I was a little unsure what to expect. This small rural farmstead winery far exceeded my expectations. 

After our tasting, we sat outside on the back porch overlooking a small onsite vineyard of Diamond grapes. The winery has additional vineyards at a separate location.  The owners John and Lyn each spent a long time just sitting and chatting with us. We also met a couple of other new friends. By the way, Lyn is the self taught winemaker. 

Sunday we  first headed to Hendersonville for the Apple festival. A friend warned us it would be crowded, it was.

We did get to sample some hard apple cider from Flat Rock Ciderworks. 

We then headed over to Parker-Binns in Green Creek, just outside of Columbus/Tryon area. Parker-Binns is one of our local favorites.  They serve up free brick oven pizza on Sundays, live entertainment as well. Our joke is a bottle of wine, live entertainment, and dinner for about $20. That's what I call an unbeatable deal!

Lulu always greets us!

The gardens are always in bloom. 

Love the wine cork wallpaper. 

Monday we spent the day at Grandfather Mountain  The views from the mile high swinging bridge are simply amazing. 

Enjoyed a picnic and saw the bears and other animals (see my twitter feed)

Drove home for a while along the Blue Ridge Parkway and then the gorgeous wife and I finished off the long weekend relaxing and enjoying a bottle of the Lulu Red from Parker-Binns Vineyard

Happy Weekend Wining!

Click Here to return to WineryEscapades.Com