First stop was Stony Knoll Vineyards which I thought was one of the prettier stops for the entire trip. They have a large tasting bar, big tasting room and they even have a refurbished cabin on the property for rent if you really want to get away from it all. The gentleman doing the tasting was actually one of the growers and was very interesting to talk with but he gave very small tastes which always makes it so hard to really know what a wine tastes like. The tasting was $5 each without the glass or option to get the glass with tasting for $7.
- Chardonnay: short time in the barrel so only light oak, green apple, not too tart, nice
- Viognier: crisp, tart but pleasant and refreshing
- Chambourcin: five years in French oak, fig is present, tannic, very nice
- Cabernet Franc: plum, not as acidic as most Cabernet Franc, lingering finish, very nice
- Merlot: light, a bit empty, okay
- Syrah: very smooth, oak flavors, good tannins, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Cabernet Sauvignon: smooth, kind of light on finish (bought 1 bottle)
- Red Table Wine (five grape blend): European style sweet, sugars are carefully added back to make more intense, nice (bought 1 bottle)
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| Stony Knoll |
The second stop was Hutton Vineyards. We may have been there just before they officially
open which would explain why we waited by ourselves in the tasting room for several minutes (different opening times listed in different places). Wine tasting is $5 or if you want the glass $7. The taster poured generously, too generously considering there wasn't an obvious dump bucket and we imbibed more than we intended to for it being only the second stop of five. But this was probably one of the most interesting tastings because we were primarily tasting four different vintages of the same wine.
- Viognier 2007: (not sure how long bottle had been open in fridge) tart, some fruit, was a tad empty, okay
- Chardonnay: (was a fresh bottle but was over chilled) could smell the oak, but was crisp and tart not buttery, okay
- Cabernet Franc 2005: smooth, mellow but has the classic "Franc bite"
- Cabernet Franc 2006: mellower, not as much bite, more tannic (bought 1 bottle)
- Cabernet Franc 2007: dryer than 2006, closer to 2005 in flavor, good bite and smoothness (bought 1 bottle)
- Cabernet Franc 2008: darker color, tarter, more "Franc bite"
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| View across the vineyard as leaving Hutton Vineyards |
Our third stop was to be Snappy Lunch in Mt. Airy but we arrived 15 minutes after they closed. Plan B was to just go on to the third winery which was in walking distance of Snappy since we knew they had a deli Old North State Winery & Brewery. They have a large tasting room with a deli counter on one side and a bar on the other side. We opted to sit at the bar and were able to do our tasting there as well as place and eat our food order. Food-wise we opted to split two items off the extensive and diverse "deli" menu which had everything from cold to hot sandwiches to pizzas and fajitas. I had the Cuban and Brad had the chicken quesadilla both of which were really good. Drink-wise their wine tasting offerings include dry wine tasting for $6, semi-sweet & sweet tasting for $6, wine flight sampler of three wines your choose for $10, premier wine tasting of all dry and semi-sweet & sweet wines for $10 (get to keep glass) or the Riedel reserve tasting of their more premium wines plus the dry wines for $15 and for $5 more keep the nice Riedel glass. I opted to do the reserve wine tasting and Brad opted to drink a beer because they are after all also a brewery (note he did get sips of the wine from me). I was disappointed that they were out of their porter but that made it easier for me to decide on just a wine tasting. Brad only had their IPA and thought it was good. The wines were the best of the trip thus far.
- Spring House (Viognier/Pinot Gris): very light, honeysuckle, not tart, very nice
- Bare Bones (Chardonnay/Riesling): crisp not tart, drinkable, not oaky, more like Riesling than Chardonnay, very nice
- Malbec: caramel, butter, very smooth but kind of empty, undecided/nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Tannat: more character than Malbec, tannic, has a bite, Brad did not like, nice
- Prelude (Cabernet/Merlot): okay on own but better with dark chocolate, okay
- Restless Soul (Malbec/Tannat/Cabernet): smooth, dry, great blend, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Merlot: really good with food, peppery, empty without food, nice
- Autumn Rose (Chambourcin): jammy, interesting for rose, has a punch, okay
Fourth stop of the day was Olde Mill Winery & Vineyards. Small but nice tasting room where tasting with glass is $5. We had excellent conversation with the gentleman doing the tasting, who happens to be the father of the very young wine maker. We got the impression this 20 year old is a bit of a prodigy since he has been blending wines since he was 12 years old. The winery is just a hobby for his parents.
- Chardonnay: French oak only 6 months, not overly buttery, crisp, fruit, some tartness, nice
- Sangiovese: they buy the grapes for this one, acidic on finish, mellow, very nice
- Cabernet Sauvignon: spicy, peppery, nice body, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Chambourcin: local grapes, tart but mild, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Mill Creek Red (Cabernet/Syrah/Merlot): smoky from Merlot, well balanced, some tartness, light tannins, nice
- Epiphany (Cabernet/Chambourcin): spicy, smoky, not tart, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Petite Manseng: rare grape variety for NC, typical in southwest France, semi-dry, tart and sweet, unusual, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Niagra: semi-sweet, clean finish due to high acidity, okay
- White Blossom (Petite Manseng/Niagra): not overly sweet, acidic finish, okay
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| Olde Mill Winery |
Fifth and final stop of the day was Round Peak Vineyards which also has Skull Camp wines & beers available for tasting. They have a nice tasting room and offer wine tastings as flights; 1 flight is $6 and 2 flights is $9 (flight is either the Round Peak wines or the Skull Camp wines or if doing 2 then is both) and they have tastes of beers ($1.50 or $1.75 if high gravity) as well as pints of beer. Once again I did the wines and Brad did the beer. And at this stage in our trip we actually started encountering other people doing tastings. We actually ran into the same group we sat next to here later in our trip during our lunch at Elkin Creek.
- Chardonnay: no oak, crisp, clean, good fruit, green apple, nice
- Rose (Sangiovese): tart, not bitter, strawberry, dry, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Fiddlers Red (Cabernet/Merlot/Sangiovese): tart, tad empty on finish, too tart, okay
- Merlot: smooth, mild, some spice and pepper, okay
- Nebbiolo: licorice, earthy, high acidity, tart finish but smooth, needs aging, has potential (bought 1 bottle)
- Cabernet Sauvignon: incredible fruit, smooth, very drinkable, "cab for California wine drinkers", very much like (bought 2 bottles)
- Anticipation (Chardonnay/Muscat): green apples, oaky but sweet, okay
- Pear Wine: 100% pear juice, nice punch but sweet, very nice
- Euphoria (Traminette/Muscat): honey, orange, good mouth feel, buttery, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
- Confusion (Cabernet Franc Rose): strawberry, pear, very nice
- Flirtation (Barbera/Sangiovese): strong Barbera, cherry, very mild, very nice
- Dedication (Sangiovese/Petit Manseng): great fruit, smooth, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
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| Round Peak |
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