2018 Weekend 4

This weekend we got a late start partially because we knew we weren't going far because we decided to stay in SC so we could talk to a couple of the wineries about our up coming SC Wine Competition and partially because we had some errands to run before we could start the weekend fun. Our first errand was of course the standard grocery trip everyone has to make once a week. We then headed to Brown's Meats on Union Street (formerly Eastside Meats). We were thrilled that at meat market had open back up in Spartanburg. We purchased some pinwheels - pork lion sliced long ways and stuffed with Italian sausage and rolled up. We also bought some pickles to take to a friend of ours that loves spicy pickles. We left there and headed to another meat market in Spartanburg County, Foster's Meats, where we met Jennifer McAbee who is part of the Foster family. We found out all sorts of fun stuff from Jennifer. They are producing sausage for a couple of farms using local to the farm wines, some using beer from local breweries and also some from local distilleries. This information was very intriguing to us and we are going to follow up on these and hopefully go visit the farms in the near future. She also told us of a Cidery that is hopefully going to be open to the public in the near future as well. We hope to get to speak with the cidery owner and do a feature blog on him when it gets close to his grand opening. So stay tuned!

First winery stop was Enoree River Vineyard and Winery in Newberry. We drove up we were greeted by the three dogs, Dusty, Tipsy and Maggie. We had a nice visit with Richard and they have some lovely wines! We shared a bottle of their great Gewurztraminer. We also got to sample a couple of wines that we had not had there before Saturday. The Sweet Tipsy Rose is 1/3 Carlos, 1/3 Vinifera White and 1/3 Vinifera Red. While discussing this wine with Claudia, Richard's daughter, she couldn't remember the exact varietals that were used and Richard and Dennis were deep in conversation and we didn't want to interrupt. This is a very lovely wine that would be great to have on a warm summer day sitting on the porch. Another I got to try was the Curiously White it is named that because they are not certain of the muscadine varietal. The reason is that they had thought that they purchased all Carols vines and when the grapes matured they discovered several vines were something else. Again, it's a fun wine that I think would be great in the summer or possibly make a terrific wine slushy. The wines are great, everyone at the winery is super nice including the dogs, apparently they have a cat named Robin, but I don't believe I've seen her. We missed seeing Laura on this trip though. But Pack the Porch will be returning soon so hopefully we will get to see her then!

Dusty

Tipsy

Magg

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We left Enoree River and after a stop to pick up some dinner we headed to Old Rock Quarry in Enoree, to visit with Debbie, Linda and Lindy. They were rather busy but we had a nice visit with Deb and Lindy. Poor Linda was stuck inside. Debbie & Lindy were in and out but we were still able to discuss the wine competition with Debbie. We had our dinner and shared a bottle of the Snap Apple Sassy (and brought one home). There was a birthday party outside and I'm not sure what the ladies inside were celebrating, but they sure had a good time! Sadly it was time to go home. If you have not been there, you really should. These 3 really make everyone feel like old friends and family.

Sunday after church and family lunch, we headed to Overmountain to take Sophia her pickles. We were pleasantly surprised at how busy they were for a rainy Sunday afternoon. We shared a bottle of the Camilla, which is their white table wine. Got to talk to some lovely people from Gastonia and hope we get to see them again! I kept thinking when I saw them that I knew them from somewhere. Turns out they had been at Cat's Paw a couple of weeks ago when we were there. Was so great to see them at another winery we love. 

Upon leaving Overmountain Dennis wanted to go to Biltmore and since we're pass holders he didn't have to twist my arm very much. We thought they were open until 9 but winter hours are only until 7. Our very nice and super fun waitress Jyll totally helped make the trip there for us and we hope that we get to see her again when we go back to celebrate some of our friends anniversary. Regardless of the earlier closing time, we were able to have a nice dinner and a bottle of their Riesling before having to bring this weekend to a close. 

2018 Weekends 2 & 3

We got sort of a late start Saturday (1/13) due to some errands we had to take care of before we could go. We met some dear friends, Pam & Will, at Misty Creek Vineyard in Mocksville, NC. We were greeted by Bear and Merl (Barry said someone else named him for them, it's Merl as in Merlot) when we arrived, as well as the owner, Barry, his lovely wife and his mother. Since it had been a while since we had been there and Pam & Will had not been there, Dennis & I did the tasting with them. They have several lovely wines. Our favorite is still the 2008 Chambourcin. The 4 of us split a bottle of the Syrah and also the Traminette. We brought a bottle of the Misty Rose, Syrah and the Chambourcin home. We enjoyed a hour or so hanging out in front of the fire with Pam & Will and also have nice conversations with Barry. We left there and headed to dinner at Port City Club in Cornelius. Man was the food good! We look forward to going back in the spring so we can enjoy the outside seating by the lake.

Merl

Will & Bear

Sunday (1/14) we went to Lake James Cellars. For Dennis & I this place is the best of both worlds! It's a winery but is also and antique store. So you can do a tasting, figure out what your favorite wine was and then browse in the antique store with your glass of wine. We brought a bottle of the Fonta Flora Cranberry Blush home. 

After leaving Lake James, we headed to Wood Mill Winery. This winery is primarily muscadine, but they also have some fruit wines. They have semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet variations of the majority of their wines. This winery is a beautiful location for events. They have a lovely outside space (which we did not get to enjoy as it was WAY to COLD!) and their inside space is also great and has terrific views. We brought a couple of bottle home from here as well. We got a chance to speak with the owner/wine maker Larry. The young lady who handled our tasting was also very sweet and quite knowledgeable. 

This past Saturday (1/20) we met some fellow bloggers and friends at Cats Paw Winery in Rock Hill. Dennis and I have been here a few times before and it's always such fun. You have a complimentary never ending bowl of popcorn to enjoy with your tasting and afterwards as well as bottled water. For Bob & Jennifer (Wine Carolinas) it was their first trip. We had a nice visit with them as we sipped wine and chatted. Dennis and I shared a bottle of the Strawberry Sensation and brought a bottle of the Purr-Fectly Peach and his latest port home. We said good-bye to our friends and debated about what to do next. We ended up going further into Rock Hill and having dinner at The White Horse Restaurant. This has been one of my favorite restaurants since my time living in Rock Hill. As we were sitting down, I heard someone call my name.... it was so friends who still live there! It was so great to see Rebecca & Darryl. After dinner we headed on home as it was getting late. 

Sunday after church and lunch we decided to ride up to Parker-Binns Vineyard. As always Dee waited on us and was her terrific self! Karen and Roberto are on a much deserved vacation! The vineyard was in the excellent care of Kelly, their daughter, Dee and the wine maker Justin. They are currently out of the Rose that Dennis & I usually share so we had a bottle of the Petit Manseng and met some really great couples. The weather was perfect as well. While sitting outside enjoying pizza, wine and live music, we also got to meet their winemaker - Justin Taylor. Justin told us that they are soon to be bottling some wine. Some that will be new to us and some that are old favorites (yes some Rose is coming!). We learned that Justin studied at Surry and previously worked at Burnshirt Vineyards (also a favorite!). 

We finished our wine and decided to make one more stop at Russian Chapel Hills Winery to see Andre. It was close to closing time but we were able to enjoy a glass each of his Malbec on the covered porch. The view was spectacular! 

 

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Last weekends of 2017

So with Christmas and New Years we decided to combine the blog for those 2 weeks. So... here we go.

After doing a tiny bit of last minute shopping on Saturday the 23rd, we decided to head to Waldensian Heritage Wines. Very quaint tasting room and they had some regulars enjoying wine and football. Since it had been quite a while since we had been there, we decided to do a tasting again. We ended up bringing 3 bottles home as they were having a really nice sale.

We then headed to Shadow Line Vineyard . Marvin & Geba are such lovely people. We also met a very sweet couple who are neighbors to the vineyard and had such a nice time chatting with them. This was the second time we went to Shadow Line and both times it was rainy. We are going to pick a very pleasant, sunny day the next time we do so we can enjoy the patio area they have. If I am not mistaken, we came home with 3 bottles from them. Yep restocked the wine racks!

Sunday being Christmas Eve, we went to church, had family lunch, I wrapped gifts and then we headed to Russian Chapel Hills. Andre was doing a special tasting with oysters that Dennis did. I  am not an oyster fan so I just had a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc. 

Last Saturday we went to a new winery in Laurens, Abiding Vines Vineyard. Owner David Barnes is so personable. Come to find out he works with someone that I grew up with. Small world! This is a young vineyard/winery and he is currently producing all muscadine but is wanting to make some other fruit wines in the future. He had a two varietals of muscadine that we had not had before the Creek and the Regale. We brought a bottle of the Regale home with us. 

We then went by City Scape to get another bottle of the Winemaker's Cab Sav since I had given the one we had as a retirement gift. As always the winery was hopping and we enjoyed a glass each and a cheese board and got to see Pinot for a few. He was dressed all snuggly in a sweater. We made a quick stop at Happy Cow Creamery as Dennis wanted some of his milk and we also picked up some cheese, natural peanut butter and a spaghetti sauce that I thought looked interesting. 

We then drove up to Victoria Valley. Such a beautiful place! The owner and winemaker Les Jane's daughter Brittany did our tasting and we had a lovely chat with some locals/regulars. We brought a bottle of the Table Rock Rose home with us. 

Sunday after church and lunch, we drove up to Parker Binns for a little bit before heading to Greenville for our traditional New Year's Eve dinner & comedy. BTW, if you've never tried Uber, you must! It's fantastic! Since it was so cold, we were pleasantly surprised to see how busy they were. Sadly they were out of our favorite which is the Rose, but we enjoyed the Lulu Red for a nice change. As we were leaving sweet Dee was there, enjoying a glass on her day off on the OTHER side of wine bar! 

So after all the festivities on Sunday night, we got read

y, check out of our hotel and headed south to GA. Thinking the weather would be better that way. Dennis wanted to go to The Dillard House in Dillard, GA. On the way, we ran into some snow, but it wasn't too bad but it did concern us for a little bit. About 15 minutes later we were out of it and got to enjoy a MASSIVE lunch.

We had planned to go to a winery that we had not been to before, but they were closed for the day, so we headed to Habersham Winery and Vineyard. Did a tasting facilitated by the very lovely and sweet Sydne. We decided to shared a bottle of the Gewurztraminer and met two super fun couples. Sadly we had to tell them good bye and head home. All in all I would say the holiday weekends were a great success and much fun!