Yadkin Valley Wine Vacation Part 5

This is the final installment in our recounting of our April wine vacation to some of the Yadkin Valley wineries. 

On Sunday we began by heading up into the mountains to McRitchie Winery and Cider Works.  Of course we checked out of the hotel a tad early and got to Thurmond way too early for the winery so went off on a short adventure to Stone Mountain Park.  Was a pleasant diversion for a Sunday morning.  Once we came back to the winery they were just opening for the day.  The property is really pretty and they have a nice tasting bar and porch area.  We really enjoyed chatting with the pourer and thought the wines overall were some of the better wines of the trip.  Was $7 for the tasting with glasses.

• Fallingwater White (Traminette): very light, good level of sweetness, not tart, very nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Traminette: noticed the tropical fruits, good body, more floral and some spice compared to the first wine, very pleasant
• Chardonnay: light oak, tart and citrus, minerals, okay
• Ring of Fire (Merlot/Cabernet Franc/Petit Verdot): soft tannins, dry beginning, very pleasant, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Petite Verdot Reserve: unfiltered, has an inkiness, great tannins, very dry (bought 1 bottle)
• Dry Cider: nice and dry, crisp like an English style cider, not sweet, really nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Semi Sweet Cider: subtle sweetness, very nice

View at McRitchie

The second stop was back in Elkin at Slightly Askew Winery.  They make use of the juice versus buying grapes and can mix together almost anything including juice from California grapes to all kinds of fruit juices.  They have a crazy long list of wines to choose from and are located in a small in town shop with a small tasting bar and lots of wine knick knacks.  It was $6 to taste but that is limited to picking I think only 6 or 7 wines.  We enjoyed talking with the pourer, very personable and nice stories about the various photos of dogs hanging on the walls.  Many of the fruit based wines are named after their pet dogs.  And they get the award for most interesting wine glass as they are the only place we have been to in NC with the newer, stem less wine glasses.

• Camp Creek Clears (Traminette/Chardonel/Viognier): crisp, some fruit, very light, very nice
• State Road Red (Chianti): blend of four grapes, very smooth, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Yadkin River Red (Cabernet Sauvignon): strong aroma, subtle pepper finish, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Roaring River Red (Rosso Grande): Chilean blend, a little empty, interesting spice and fruit, okay
• Blue Door Red (Carmenere): Chilean blend, tasted mocha, subtle, light but dry, okay
• Bridget Street Red (Amarone): another Chilean blend, good fruit but nice dryness, maybe a little empty, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• Tattoo the Beach (Banana/Pineapple/Viognier): excellent fruit flavors, not too sweet, very nice (bought 1 bottle)

Slightly Askew

At this point we ventured off to lunch at Elkin Creek for the pizza as mentioned in our first posting in this series.

The final winery stop of the whole trip was Windsor Run Cellars.  I will preface my comments by indicating that this location was participating in a special event for Swan Creek area wineries and were slammed with visitors.  So the tasting bar was overly crowded and the pourers were rushed and starting to become frazzled by the time we got there in the late afternoon.  You get to pick six wines for $5 with glass and/or $4 to taste their two fortified wines and keep the shot glass.  Or combine the two tastings and save a dollar.  They carry two wine labels: Ferguson Vineyards (FV) and Windsor Run Cellars (WRC).

• FV Justice (Chardonel blend): crisp, dry, light bodied, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• FV Viognier: soft, small amount of tartness, okay
• FV Judge Verdict (Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot): oaky, and Cabernet Franc bite, okay
• FV Rebel Red (Chambourcin/Cabernet Franc): light sweetness, very nice
• WRC Cherry Smash: Rose' style with cherry juice, cherry tartness, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• WRC Apple Mead (fermented cider): sweet, slight bitterness from the spices, nice (bought 1 bottle)
• WRC Ratafia (Fortified Wine of Traminette Brandy/Petit Manseng): sweet and spicy like honeysuckle, bought 1 bottle
• WRC Midnight Run (Fortified Wine of  Chambourcin/Petit Verdot): port-like, chocolate, tobacco