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!
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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.

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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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Old Homeplace Vineyard - Winston-Salem, NC

I've got to be honest, pulling into Old Homeplace Vineyard, I wasn't sure what to expect. First thought though as we winded up the  gravel entrance road, this sure is beautiful property. The Vineyard and Winery lie on the banks of Lake Thom-A-Lex, between the towns of Thomasville and Lexington. Open just 7 months, owners David and Jill Stone have put a lot into making this place special. The property, long in Jill's family, is an old tobacco farm.

The tasting room is a renovated old farmhouse, with an absolute beautiful large back deck. The deck is shaded, overlooking the beautiful grounds, tire swing, and of course the lake. Perfect for relaxing and enjoying a bottle of their wine. The tire swing matches the logo of the winery, which was designed by Jill.  David mentioned that to his knowledge, they are the only winery in North Carolina located directly on a lake.  A fire pit also sits out in the yard, perfect for cool evenings.  Jenni and I relaxed on the deck and shared a bottle of the semi-sweet 2015 Riesling, which just won double gold at the North Carolina State Fair.

Adirondack Chairs and picnic tables are scattered about the back yard, several just by the shore of the lake. Several groups were relaxing in the yard enjoying a comfortable Saturday afternoon. A barn is also in process of being constructed, which will be used to host weddings and other fun events.

There is a bell as you leave, with a sign requesting to show them some love by ringing.  We couldn't pass without showing our love.

Horses and donkeys graze in the pasture beside the winery. Jenni couldn't resist giving the horses some love. This guy didn't seem to mind one bit.

Currently the vineyard is planted with muscadine and they are buying all North Carolina grown grapes to supplement. David is buying  some fruit from Georgia for the sweeter fruit wines.  Mark Friszolowski, winemaker at Childress Vineyards,  is consulting in the formulation of their wines. I couldn't help but to let the owners know as we were leaving, they've something special going. The property is simply beautiful, and the wines are certainly good. David mentioned that he and Jill, though both currently still working "real jobs," look forward to making the vineyard and winery their full time passion. I've no doubt, success of Old Homeplace Vineyard  is in their future.  

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