Road to 150 – NCWINE

Last Saturday Jenni and I were fortunate to enjoy visiting our 150th North Carolina winery. Our number 150 was Pilot Mountain Vineyards.

Sure, that is certainly a lot of different wineries. The Website VisitNC.Com estimates about 200 plus different wineries across the state. Many that we have visited have closed over the years and of course new ones have opened. Therefore, not so easy to know an exact number operating at any given time. Nevertheless, we know there remain several for us still to explore.

The very first North Carolina winery the two of us visited together was Burntshirt Vineyards in Hendersonville. Burntshirt will always have a special place in our heart. The toast wine in our wedding was the 2015 Meritage from Burntshirt.

Our number 100 North Carolina winery visited was Dobbins Creek Vineyards in Hamptonville.

But, more on number 150. We were greeted by owners Mark and Kari. We enjoyed a tasting at the 20 foot long bar. The owners just a few years back purchased the property, which has been a working vineyard for some twenty years.

The vineyard is six acres under vine consisting of eight different French Viniferous varietals. Our tasting included two Chardonnays, a Viognier, a cranberry infused blend, a Cab Franc Rosé, and I was pleasured to sample the estate grown Mourvèdre. We chose to enjoy a bottle of the Cab Franc Rosé and catch up with our friends and fellow bloggers Jennifer and Dathan of Triangle Around Town.

Kari explained that last year with the threat of significant bad weather, the Cabernet Franc had to be harvested early. The juice just didn’t darken to their liking, so about ten percent Viognier was blended in to produce a Rosé. The result is a substantial Rosé with expressive red fruit on the nose and subtle earthy flavor notes balancing a crisp fruit finish.

The winery offers substantial indoor room and also outdoor patio seating. First, the view of Pilot Mountain is simply gorgeous. The winery also offers overnight accommodations in a bed and breakfast setting overlooking the lower vineyard. This one is a must visit in the Yadkin Valley.

Along the way to one hundred and fifty, we’ve enjoyed many exciting adventures and met some of the greatest people. We met our great friends Will and Pam at Shadow Line Vineyard in Granite Falls.

We’d be remiss not to mention a few of our favorites along the journey. Parker-Binns Vineyard in the Tryon Foothills is one we consider our home base. You can catch us there most Sundays. Mountain Brook Vineyards is likewise a favorite close to home. We loved our visit to Sanctuary Vineyards near the Outer Banks. Love the wine Sanctuary is producing. another fun trip we started near Jacksonville and visited many wineries as we drove back West across the state. Let us encourage you to grab a NC Wine Guide, download the VinoWineApp and start discovering on your own!

So forth we go, with number 200 in mind! We’ll see you on the wine trail!