Winery Escapade – Weekends 2 and 3 of 2018

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!

 

Winery Escpade – Weekend 1, 2018

 Saturday we head out to Morgan Ridge Vineyards in Gold Hill, NC. I had wanted to go back there for quite sometime and Dennis made it happen this weekend. We first stopped in Historic Downtown Gold Hill and met some really interesting and fun people. We shopped in the antique store and found a Merlot key hook that we had to have. Then we headed over to the general store. We found some black bean and corn salsa for Dennis. He had found some in another little town that he really liked but the ones in our local grocery store were not as good. He tried it when we got home and said it was amazing!
We then headed on over to the winery. Just as a side note, in the historic area, there is a tasting room for Morgan Ridge. I think the next time we are in that area we will visit there.
Maggie did our tasting and was so sweet and knowledgeable. We did the premium tasting that was $10 each & we got to taste 10 wines each. They have 13 wines to choose from so between the 2 of us, we were able to taste them all. We had several favorites, but picked the Joile Blanc and the Applelicious to bring home. We also got to meet Kim the manager. Everyone there was so nice. We decided that we needed a little snack and asked for recommendations from the staff. They all said the brisket nachos. Let me tell you they did not disappoint! Our server for the nachos was Tara. We met some super sweet people there and had a great time mingling with everyone. We also found the cutest sign that we just had to buy to take to Josh & Deb at City Scape. It said Peace Love and Pinot. It was a must for them!
We decided to head over to another winery that we had been to before, Old Stone Winery. The tasting room is another that has the old diner feel to it. Shannon did our tasting and she was much fun! All their wines are muscadine, even the pomegranate and peach have muscadine in them. They had a white muscadine grape that we were not familiar with. It’s called Sweet Jenny. Even though Jenny isn’t spelled the way i do, of course I’m interested in this grape. They have 13 wines, 7 dry and 6 sweet.
Sunday after church and lunch, we headed over to City Scape to take the sign to Josh & Deb. Sadly Deb was not there as she has been under the weather. However, Josh was there and just loved the sign! We shared a bottle of the Mueller Two Goats, visited with some of the other patrons and then headed to Greenville to the Spice and Tea Exchange. I needed some more Tuscan spice blend and we also brought home some southwestern spice and cilantro.

By at January 09, 2018 

Abiding Vine Vineyard – Laurens SC

Winery now permanently closed.

………………………

A new vineyard and winery just recently opened in South Carolina. We are very excited to see industry growth in the state and therefore were excited for our first visit. Located on rural family property in Western Laurens county, Abiding Vine is the dream of David Barnes.

David has planted six varieties of muscadine, about 230 plants total. Three whites including Carlos, Magnolia, and Welder, along with three reds, Noble, Creek, and Regale. Plans are to plant additional vines in the near future and also offer some sweeter fruit wines.

David, an educator by trade, is truly enjoying this new venture. He loves to interact with customers and has many interesting stories to share. The small winery has inside seating and a small patio with outdoor seating. The rural setting and good wine make for a very peaceful experience for one that locals and travelers alike are sure to enjoy.

Abiding Vine and CityScape Winery in Pelzer are approximately 30 minutes apart. Siri knows the quick way taking you through some beautiful South Carolina countryside. We highly recommend a Saturday day trip visiting both of these rural craft wineries. Both small businesses are locally owned. Happy weekend wining!

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!

Press Release – Palmetto Wine Competition

PRESS RELEASE
January 04, 2018

RE: Palmetto Wine Competition at The Belmont

Dennis and Jenni Turner, bloggers at WineryEscapades.Com, will host the inaugural Palmetto Wine Competition at the Belmont Inn in historic Abbeville, South Carolina. The event is scheduled for May 1st, 2018 with additional details forthcoming.  The inaugural competition will feature wines produced from South Carolina Winery Association members.  Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals will be awarded by a panel of highly qualified judges ranging from many different sectors of the wine industry. Additional information may be obtained by contacting Dennis and Jenni Turner at Wineryescapades@gmail.com.

10 Awesome Reasons to Visit North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley AVA

Why should you visit North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley?

1, The Wine

Practically every variety of grape can be grown in the Yadkin Valley producing a diverse selection of world class award wining wines. Bold reds such as Cab Sauv, Merlot, Cab Franc, Barberra, Montepluciano, Sangiovese, Malbec, Chambourchin, and more. Crisp whites such as Riesling, Seyval Blanc, Viognier, Traminette, Cynthiana, Seyval Blanc, and so much more.

2. The Vineyards and Wineries

From Raffidini’s Tuscan Villa to the river rapids at Roaring River, each Yadkin Valley destination winery is unique. Shelton Vineyards offer picturesque landscaping while Grassy Creek maintains the charm of historic horse stables and diary farm.

3. The Terrior

A mild climate and rich soil combine to create a superb region for growing high quality grapes. The proof is in the bottle. North Carolina’s first AVA, Yadkin Valley wines have won awards in major competitions all over the globe.

4. The Views

Nestled in the rolling foothills, offering spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, picturesque farm land, and stunning mountain streams and rivers.

5. Fine Dining

Several Of the areas wineries offers fine dining establishments, Don’t miss the Harvest Grill, an upscale bistro at Shelton Vineyards. Old North State Winery in downtown Mount Airy offers lunch and Dinner. Southern on Main in downtown Elkin offers an Elegant Comfort dining experience.

6. Overnight Stays in Vineyard Cabins

Many of the area vineyards offer upscale rustic cabins for overnight accommodations. Roaring River offers cabins right by the river, while Elkin Creek has several secluded cabins just below the winery.

7. Locally and Family Owned

You won’t find large commercialized mass production wineries in the Yadkin Valley AVA. Even the largest producing wineries are family owned. Many of these families have roots deeply planted in the region.

8. Charming Small Towns

From Mount Airy, the small town of which Andy Griffith’s Mayberry is based, to Elkin which features charming downtown restaurants and small retail shops. The alluring character of the regions small towns is worthy of a travelers admiration.

9. Many Other Fun Activities

Stone Mountain and Pilot Mountain state parks offer adventurous hiking and spectacular Mountain View’s. Camping is available at both parks.

10. Napa of the South

Yadkin Valley isn’t Napa or Sonoma, and that’s a good thing. The AVA is gaining national recognition for its ability to grow all types of grapes. This region is though in the realm of Napa, Sonoma, & the Finger Lakes, absolutely a must visit for any wine lover.

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!

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Winery Escapade -Weekend 49: The Snow Blog

Ole man winter hit hard across the Southeastern United States this weekend. Many of our favorite local wineries were blanketed in a picturesque covering of fluffy white snow. The snow pictures starting showing up Friday across our social media feeds.

Josh Jones snapped the below shot of Pinot the Pig at CityScape Winery in Pelzer (Greenville County), South Carolina all bundled up for the wintry weather.

Our favorite mountain escape, The historic Old Edwards Inn & Spa in Highlands, NC was looking majestic covered in soft fluffy blanket of pure white snow.

Our friend Christy Freeman King snapped the below shot of The Biltmore Estate in all it’s winter grandeur.

Yonah Mountain Vineyards in North Georgia Cleveland County posted the below winter wonderland scene which looked to be fitting for a Christmas card. Can barely make out the vines in the background.

Out friends at Baker Buffalo Creek Vineyards just outside of Shelby, North Carolina posted the below picture. Notice the falling snowflakes against the contrast of the red barn.

Shadow Springs Vineyard in the Swan Creek AVA up in Hamptonville, North Carolina posted the below glistening view of their snow covered vineyard.

We absolutely love the lake views from Old Homeplace Vineyards near Winston-Salem. The view was certainly beautiful on this winter weekend.

Saturday after a family gathering we took advantage of the cold and enjoyed some decaf coffee blended with a shot of Carolina Cream from Six and Twenty Distillery in Piedmont, South Carolina.

OverMountain Vineyards in Tryon, North Carolina shared this incredible shot. How beautiful are the vines with a thick blanket of snow and pure white clouds above. This is one of my favorite pictures. We were able to make the short drive up to OverMountain on Sunday and enjoyed a bottle of the 2016 Camelia white table wine.

We also got by Russian Chapel Hills Winery to visit with our friend Andrey. Snow was starting to melt, but Andrey had the wood stove burning and the tasting room was warm and cozy. The view of the chapel above the vineyards never disappoints.

The wintry view from the warmth inside at Russian Chapel Hills perfectly paired with our wine.

All considered we made the best of this cold wintry weekend. Yet we remain anxious for better weather so as we can get out and explore more wineries. I’d like to thank all the businesses mentioned for giving us permission to use their photos. We encourage you all to get out and eat, drink, and stay local. Happy weekend wining!

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Winery Escapade – Weekend 48 2017

Wow this past weekend so much fun! Honestly I did not want it to end! We left early Friday afternoon and headed to Elkin, NC.

Our first winery stop was at Grassy Creek Vineyard. We had a blast with Wayne and Joyce chatting and learning about the property. We brought several bottles of wine home with us, with 3 that are going to be Christmas gifts, a t-shirt for me and a horse shoe for Dennis. The entire property was horse pasture and the tasting room was a horse stable once upon a time.

 

We left there with a recommendation from Joyce to have dinner at Southern on Main. Man was she right! The food was fantastic and our waitress was terrific! I had pork medallions and Dennis had crab cakes. Neither one disappointed. Even though we were rather full, we did splurged and shared a Crème Brûlée for dessert. Then we walked around downtown Elkin as it was Light it Up Friday.

Saturday morning started out with breakfast at Breakfastime which was right beside out hotel. We left there and wandered around Antique Mall of the Foothills that was near by. First of all, the store is deceptively large. It just kept going and going. We were in there for well over an hour and I am certain that we missed a lot of good stuff. We came home with 2 gorgeous blue wine glasses, a beautiful crystal heart paper weight for my desk and a super cute snowman that lights up.

From there we headed to Midnight Magdalena Vineyards. This is a rather young vineyard but man were the wines good. Apparently there was a 7 vineyard event going on that you could visit them all and taste what is called a vertical flight of one of each of the vineyards wines. Midnight Magdalena was doing their Merlot, 2017, 2016 & 2015. Unfortunately we didn’t know about that event, but we were able to do the vertical flight at Midnight Magdalena. The winery is owned by a set of sisters and their husbands. The venue itself is beautiful and Krista (one of the sisters) was a delight! We enjoyed a glass each and listened to some live music.

Our next stop was Dobbins Creek Vineyard which was our 100th NC winery stop since this journey began. Dennis will be posting a special blog about this stop. We met our friends Will & Pam there along with fellow bloggers The NC Wine Guys.

 

Our final stop of the day was at Laurel Gray Vineyards. We shared wine and laughter with Will & Pam and brought a bottle of the Peach wine & their BBQ sauce home with us. Dennis & I have a soft spot for peach wine.

Sunday started with breakfast at the hotel and then we had to go on a quest for tennis shoes for me as some how I had a shoe blow out. After finding the shoes we headed to  Jones von Drehle Vineyards. This is a lovely family vineyard that has 30 acres under vine. We spent some time chatting with one of the owners, Chuck Jones. The property is so lovely and they have some amazing wines. We brought a few bottles home (yes we brought SEVERAL bottles home this trip).

Next up was McRitchie Vineyards and Ciderworks. We had a lovely time there and brought some wine and cider home. We got to chat with owner/winemaker Sean McRitchie for a little bit.

And our final stop for the weekend was Slightly Askew Wines The original purpose for stopping was to get a bottle of the Spiker Dude. We ended up doing a tasting again and getting 2 bottles of the one we went after.

As you can tell the weekend was full and we had a blast!