This Weekend's Escapade - Week 38 2017

Friday night Jenni and I visited the local Greek Festival. We enjoyed some good Greek food,  such as Dolmades which are wrapped in grape leaves and I enjoyed a Greek beer called Mythos. Our plan for Saturday was Cypress Bend Vineyards and Little River Vineyards. Due to some traffic issues we didn't make it to Little River, so they'll be seeing us in the near future.

First allow me to say that in our travels this weekend, we came upon two different very bad wrecks. Please be careful out there, and please drink responsibly.  Cypress Bend Vineyards in Wagram is a good 3+ hour drive for us, though we certainly enjoyed the drive. 

Dan and Tina Smith officially opened the Winery in 2005. Lisa graciously poured our tasting. She explained that the vineyard property has been in Dan's family since the early 1800's. originally over one thousand acres, still eight hundred or so remain in the family. The Lumber River runs along the property, which has been passed down through generations of descendants. Growing Carlos, Noble, and Magnolia on site, only pure cane sugar is used to sweeten their wines. Winemaker, Nadia Hetzel, studied the craft in Germany.  Their new River Series of wines are named for John Charles White, poet and ancestor of the matriarch White family.  The winery has a patio for sitting outside and host events throughout the year. We took a bottle of the Reminiscence home with us. 

Utilizing the VinoWine app,  was obvious we'd never make it Little River before they closed, so we regrouped and headed to nearby LockLear Vineyard and Winery. This is one of those "hobby" wineries. Don't let that prevent you from stopping in and visiting with Charlie Locklear.  The vineyard has been planted since 2006 and the winery open about seven years. The winery serves Carlos and Noble in both semi-dry and semi-sweet along with a few fruit wines. The highlight though, was the Christmas in a Bottle. This is a mulled spice wine, already bottled. This ten dollar bottle of wine was quiet good, and certainly unique, so we took a bottle home with us. 

Leaving Locklear and after a bite to eat at some local diner, we made the decision to head to Concord as we knew Cabo Winery was open until 8pm on Friday and Saturday nights. Cabo is downtown Concord, and makes some really good and unique fruit forward wines. We sat at a table looking out onto Main Street and enjoyed a bottle of Bless Your Heart. Bless Your Heart is a Sauv Blanc with a zesty lime note and strong hints of coconut. Some of our other favorites are Hissy Fit, a strawberry Riesling, Honey Hush, a coffee port style, and Adams Apple, a Gewurtraminer with intense flavor note of green apple. 

Sunday I was on a mission. We headed over to one of our favorites, Baker Buffalo Creek Vineyard and Winery, just outside of Shelby, in Fallston,  N.C.  We have come to know C.D. and Anne at Baker Buffalo Creek pretty good over the past few years, and it is always great to catch up. I was there for one reason though, to get a bottle of the newly released Cab Sauv aged in bourbon barrels for 4 months. I'll have a review of this wine in the near future.  C.D. had on a previous visit, before the wine was bottled, allowed us to taste it right out of the barrel. It has just the right note of bourbon on the finish.  Each bottle sells for $24, though with supply limited, I highly recommend picking up a bottle as quickly as possible. 

Couldn't help picture a bottle once I got home. 

C.D. Baker "Aged in Bourbon Barrels"  Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Have always loved this old gas pump on the property at Baker Buffalo Creek. A reminder that this was once a working dairy farm. 

Love sitting outside relaxing with a bottle of wine. During the cooler months the fire pit is always lit and quite warm and cozy. 

Can you tell in the picture that we were enjoying life? Yet, once again we finished off another weekend escapade.
Happy Weekend Wining!

Don't forget to check Groupon for winery tasting and tour deals.

Dennis

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This Weekend's Escapade (Week 37 of 2017)

We started our weekend with a Friday night visit to Spartoberfest celebration in Spartanburg, S.C. I enjoyed a beer and Jenni a glass of white wine. Saturday we first stopped at Windy Hill Orchard and Cidery in York, S.C. This place was hopping. Singer/guitarist Chris Holder was performing. Families were enjoying picnics. Children were playing in the Orchard. Apple cider donuts were being freshly made. Best of all, The barkeeps were serving the hard cider. 

Windy Hill Orchard, licensed as a Cidery since 1996, has expanded their selection and production to keep up with a growing demand. We both enjoyed the Gala Peach, though the Hopping Johnny was my favorite. Jenni also enjoyed the Spicy Peach, a seasonal, and the Rusty Gold, an apple cinnamon blend. I mentioned the donuts, these were so good, freshly made on site. The cider bar is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so check their website. 

We left and headed towards Lincolnton. The town was hosting its annual Apple festival. We proposed this an excellent reason to venture back to Southern Charm Winery. We really enjoy their Peach wine, aptly named Southern Charm. Jenni and I each enjoyed a glass of the Southern Charm Peach as we perused the gift selection. Just couldn't leave without taking a bottle home. Fiddler's Vineyard and Woodmill Winery also had booths set up for the festival. We browsed the craft vendors up and down Main Street until the heat just got too overwhelming.

Several months earlier we had purchased a Groupon for a distillery tour in Charlotte. Click the Groupon link and search for Doc Porters Distillery. I had earlier in the week made us a 5:30 appointment for the guided tour, so we headed towards Charlotte. Andrew Porter, owner/ founder, conducted our tour. He explained the distilling process and shared with us the different grains used in each spirit. The Distillery is making a Vodka, a Gin, and a Bourbon, with a Rye about ready to release. We enjoyed all, my favorite being the Gin which was very floral and smooth.  They are also in a collaboration with Sospreso Coffee Roasters of Waxhaw, offering bourbon roasted coffee beans. Gourmet coffee beans roasted in their used bourbon barrels. This is an excellent way for a quick evening outing and is certainly interesting to learn more about the distilling process. Of course tasting the distilled spirits isn't bad either. We give Doc Potters a strong recommendation.  Check out their website. 

As Jenni and I left, we realized we weren't but 40 or so minutes from Monroe. We knew that Hilton Vineyards in Monroe was open late and we had yet to visit this winery. Glad we made this decision, and glad we visited at night. A DJ was spinning tunes and the natives were dancing in the streets. Thomas, one of the owners, graciously poured our tasting. He explained that his father had always grown his own grapes and fruits and used what he grew to home crafted wine. After spending several years living on the coast, his father decided to retire back home to Union County, and make a living by making wine. The vineyard was planted in what was then a dry county, so the winery was opened in neighboring Monroe allowing the sell of their wines. The winery is open until 11pm on Friday and Saturday, and has the feel of a local wine bar. They are growing the larger majority of grapes and fruits used in their wines and all wine sold is made on site. The Malbec was really good, though it is dryer than some others of the region. We also liked the Chardonel Peach and the Apple Riesling.  The Mango is their best seller and it is certainly flavorful.  We also tasted the "ice wine," and this one is somewhat unique, just got to try for yourself. I appreciate Hilton staying open late, wish we had planned to spend the night. It would have been nice to sit outside and listen to the music while sipping on a glass of wine. Next time right?

Sunday afternoon we headed over to CityScape Winery in Pelzer, South Carolina, in lower Greenville County.  CityScape is long one our favorites and I'll try to write an updated review soon. Our friends and owners, Josh and Deb Jones, weren't there, but the staff took good care of us. We sat under the portico outside and enjoyed a bottle of Müller Two-Goats (Müller Thurgau). We also had a taste of their new release of Chocolate Red and it did not disappoint. They posted on Facebook Saturday that their wines are now sold in two local Fresh Markets. Congratulation are in order for this huge accomplishment.  We know Josh, Deb, and their staff work extremely hard to make this small winery a big success. Jenni and I certainly missed seeing both and  of course Pinot the Pig, but are thrilled to see them grow and look forward to seeing them all next time.

Happy Weekend Wining!

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Douglas Vineyards, Kannapolis NC

Finishing up this past Saturday, August 12th, 2017, we all headed over to Douglas Vineyards   We'll really fond of Douglas Vineyards, a true family owned small farm vineyard.  This was our second time visiting, we were glad to see that they were very busy. The first time we visited, it was late and not as busy. The owners have a beautiful lab, and he was jumping up with his front paws on the bar as if to say, "hey what about me?"  We were able to find a really good groupon, to include tastings, souvenir glass, and one bottle of wine, so look for it.  Douglas is growing muscadine on site, and are also making some good fruit wines.  My favorites were the Blush, which is semi-dry, the Apple Sauce, the Starting Point (Strawberry), and the Just Peachy.  A bottle of the Apple Sauce came home with us.  The winery has a beautiful porch with tables, and some nice adirondack chairs scattered about under some shade trees. A very relaxing place to sit and enjoy a bottle with friends.  Loved this note from their website, "when you visit the “D” you are not just indulging in some delicious wine, you are becoming a member of our family."

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Cougar Run Winery, Concord, N.C.

Saturday, August 12th, 2017. Jenni. I, and our friends left CABO and headed over to Cougar Run Winery  a few blocks from downtown in Concord. Cougar Run is again an urban winery. Cougar has more the feel of a local tavern, allowing the opportunity to sit around the bar. I noticed Cougar also had a large event room. Reading on the website, the proprietors sound so much like us. They attended a wine festival, fell in love the idea of making their own, and turned a hobby into a business. Our wine server was a lot of fun and the whole place has the feel of a friendly neighborhood tavern.  As to the wines,  I liked the Gentle Spirit (Bergamais), the Predator (Merlot), and the Blue Ridge Road Trip, a good red blend. However, the star of this tasting, and the bottle which went home with us, is the Telling Secrets, a Peach Chardonnay.  Happy Weekend Wining! #NCWine

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