Yadkin Valley Wine Vacation Part 2

Thursday was the drive up to Elkin and along the way we stopped at three wineries and one lunch spot all in the Lexington area.

First stop was Native Vines Winery, the first Native American Indian owned winery in the U.S.  The tasting was $5 a person (or $10 if you want a painted wine glass to keep) and she let us pick whatever and as many wines as we wanted to taste but since it was the first of three stops we restrained ourselves from doing too much.  We both tried the three white wines and the two red wines, then Brad and I each tried a different semi-sweet wine.   Overall the white wines were better than the red wines.  The tasting room is a rustic stone tack room off from the stable and although it had a wood burning stove it was an unseasonably cold day and we were cold.  The lady doing the tasty was pleasantly chatty but was also taking care of the 6 month old German Sheppard who was still learning his manners about where to sit when people are doing tastings.  The dog was actually really sweet and did not bother us at all.

• Pinot Grigio: has some smoky flavors, honeydew, mildly sweet, nice
• Sauvignon Blanc: 1% residual sugars, sweet, crisp, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Riesling: "off-dry", less than 1% residual sugars, tropical notes, nice
• Pinot Noir: light oak, mild licorice flavor so did not care for it, okay
• Red Zinfandel: peppery but light, okay
• Warhorse Red: semi-sweet, Pinot Noir/Cabernet/wild cherry base, clove, vanilla, good flavor but empty, okay
• Green Tea: semi-sweet, uses organic green tea, amazingly tasted like a sweetened green tea (bought 1 bottle)

I recently opened the bottle of the Green Tea wine.  It was really nice chilled as well as over ice and I used a small amount of it instead of champagne in a rich sauce for scallops which turned out really well.



Brad checking out the horses at Native Vines

Next stop was Weathervane Winery where you can chose from the dry tasting, which is what Brad did or the sweet tasting, which is what I did ($5 each, keep the glass).   This place has a pretty site and a more classic tasting room with a long bar, some seating, large fire place, and lots of stuff for sale.  The notes are from my tasting of the sweet wines but also includes the name of the one dry wine that Brad bought.

• Evening Breeze (Riesling and Semillon blend): crisp, light, sweet, floral and fruity, nice
• Blue Norther (Blueberry Shiraz): not too sweet, good berry flavor, very nice (bought 1 bottle and this is what we drank that night with our Italian meal delivered by Venice Valentino's Pizzeria)
• Placid Peach (Peach Chardonnay): great fragrance, good fruit, not tart like some peach wines, very nice
• Rooster Red (Cranberry Sangiovese): strong cranberry flavor, not tart, very light, nice
• Sweet Mountain Bliss (Raspberry White Zinfandel): light berry, very nice
• Rooster Black (Blackberry Merlot): blackberry flavor but pepper of Merlot, okay
• Strawberry Breeze (Riesling): same grape as Evening Breeze, a tad tart, nice
• Snow Drift (Temperanillo): the dry wine Brad bought



Weathervane Winery

The next stop was for lunch at Nicks Old Fashion Hamburgers actually located in Welcome, NC.  Major lesson learned at this stop - always ask how big the burgers are BEFORE ordering the double cheese burger.  This has to be the largest burger I have ever been served and yes I made the mistake of ordering the double.  It was roughly 6 inches in diameter and close to 3 inches tall and just absolutely fantastic tasting and only $5.60. 



What is left after eating 2/3 of the largest double cheeseburger on planet.

The final stop of the day was Junius Lindsay Vineyard which has the only open air tasting room in NC.  That normally would be a fantastic idea but again, unseasonably cold and rainy was the day (was actually sleeting at this point); however, they did have those tall butane heaters which made it comfortable enough. This is actually a very nice location.  The gentleman doing our tasting was from Holland and he and Brad had a nice discussion about bourbon. They make use of the same wine maker as Childress Winery.  You can chose one of two tasting glasses to keep and we opted for the smaller/cheaper glass $5 each.

 

• Second Leaf (Viognier-Roussanne): tropical, oily mouth feel, okay but Brad liked (bought 1 bottle)
• Viognier Cellar Select 2009: light, crisp, mellow, some tartness, nice
• Special Delivery (Rose): sweet, fruity, dry finish, strawberry, mildly tart, okay
• Syrah 2009: peppery, light, a little empty tasting but still had tannic finish, okay, Brad liked
• Petite Syrah: great mouth feel and character, more hearty and more tannic than Syrah, more drinkable, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Party Line (Syrah and Petite Syrah): more tart, tasted more like the Syrah, okay
• Estelle 2008 (Viognier): dessert style wine, great mouth feel but not overly sweet, very good (bought 1 bottle)

The Estelle was consumed not long ago over several evenings as a dessert wine and was quite enjoyable.



Junius Lindsay Vineyard

Next post will cover Friday's adventures in Dobson and Mt. Airy.