Elkin Creek Vineyard

Elkin Creek

We visited this winery on our way to Blowing Rock last summer. We had actually planned to visit two locations on our route but the second one, Rendezvous Ridge in Purlear, NC, fell through as a result of a fire at the winery just days before we visited. Unfortunately, we did not know this and did go an hour out of our way only to find the gates locked without any apparent explanation. They did have it posted on their website so if we had only checked that the day of our trip we would have known. We will be sure to visit them on our next adventure in that area.

Elkin Creek is not surprisingly located in Elkin, NC and it is one of those really neat places to visit. There is an old, very narrow, one lane farm road leading to the main grounds and tasting room with comical handmade signage like “no passing” along the route. The kitchen/tasting room sits up on a hill overlooking the creek and the old mill which you pass by on your drive out. And then out in the middle of the “yard” is this tepee with no apparent explanation at all. Parked next to the building is an old truck painted bright yellow with the wineries logo on the side. Lots of character everywhere you look.

We arrived during a particularly warm afternoon and found the host and hostess collapsed on a couch in the tasting room. It was obvious they had been working hard and, sadly, the host initially came across as disinterested in our visit until I noticed the Tuscan cookbooks on the back counter and made a comment about cooking Italian food. It was the right thing to say to bring him back to life and we had a very pleasant conversation and enjoyable tasting experience after all. We tasted all seven wines that they offer.

• Chardonnay (no oak) – very light, crisp
• Mistela (Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Viognier) – sweeter wine but not too sweet
• Soft White (Niagara) – mild tart after taste, crisp
• Rossa (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah) – soft tannins, full body
• Cabernet – rather light but not empty, has a nice dryness
• Classico (Merlot, Sangiovese) – very nice wine, bought three bottles
• Family Reserve (Merlot, Syrah, Viognier) – really nice blend, listed as their best wine, bought two bottles

Cheese Tasting: Session 4

Educational comments about each cheese are taken from various authors and sites on the web and are not my own.

All three cheeses came from Whole Foods.  I need to try to remember to photograph their descriptions of the cheese and what they recommend serving with them.  At least two of these cheeses were promoted as being good with olives but I didn't really find that kind of information when googling.  For tasting we had both Trapiche Pinot Noir from Argentia and Pazo Serantellos Albarino from Spain.  The Albarino is a  light white wine similar to Viognier that is slightly acidic and has notes of apricot.  As for food pairings I went with whatever we had in the house that sounded similar to recommendations I found on the web so we had apple tart, cantaloupe, and beef summer sausage along with our favorite crackers.

Zamorano: (Spain) is a hard sheep’s milk cheese that may be described as either creamy, sweet savory or as hardy and nutty. It is somewhat gamey and has a melt in the mouth texture. This cheese is similar to Manchego but is often nuttier and richer than that type of cheese. It is recommended with lighter crisp white wines and soft to medium bodied red wines. This was a dry cheese, very tangy.  I think it would go well with some nice olives or a tapanade.  It was Brad's favorite and if just snacking on only cheese it was also my favorite.  Preferred it with the pinot noir.

Asiago Fresco: (Italy) is a semi-soft cow’s milk cheese that is creamy with a full and fruity flavor, sweet yet tangy with slightly salty aftertaste. Fresco means fresh or young so while Asiago cheese is typically aged for six months the Fresco version is only aged for a few weeks. This is an excellent melting cheese and is recommended for grilled cheese sandwiches and pizzas. It is also good for snacking and pairs well with wine and salumi (Italian style cured meats which includes salami, prosciutto, mortadella, etc.). Because this cheese is not as intense as a fully aged Asiago it is often paired with lighter white wines like Pinot Grigio versus bold red wines. This one was more about texture than flavor.  Very similar to provolone in terms of flavor, somewhat sweet and I did not pick up on any salt flavoring.  It was good with the beef sausage and really good with the cantaloupe.  Either wine worked but I preferred the pinot noir since I am mainly a red wine drinker.  We both agreed that while this cheese was good it would be better suited to melting versus snacking.

Wensleydale – Hawes: (England) is semi-hard cow’s milk cheese with a crumbly moist texture, hazelnut creamy taste, fresh salty tang, and the flavor suggests wild honey balanced with a fresh acidity. Hawes, which means pass between mountains, is located in the upper Wensleydale region. Hawes Wensleydales have lower acidity and more depth of flavor than most Wensleydales. The pastures in this area give the cheese a unique flavor. It is often paired with dried fruits, rich fruit cakes, apple pie and it is best served with medium dry white wines. Loved the texture of this cheese and it did have a bit of tang and acidity to it.  It was absolutely amazing with the apple tart and pairing that combination with the Albarino really brought out the apricot in that wine.  Brad liked this cheese with the cantaloupe but I did not care for that pairing.  It was Brad's second favorite cheese and I would agree unless you pair it with apple tart then it shoots to number one.