Zimmerman Vineyards - Not a Greek Myth

Zimmerman Vineyards - Not a Greek Myth
October 20th, 2015

Zimmerman Vineyards
Dry White Merlot (Rosé)

Zimmerman Vineyard
Trinity, NC

This past Sunday, a group of friends got together at Zimmerman Vineyards in Trinity, North Carolina.  The air was crisp and the temperature was hovering just above 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 Celsius).  However, when we arrived we were greeted with a warm welcome in the tasting room. We both took a glass of their dry White Merlot out to walk through the sunny vineyards. When we returned, we were happy to see an outdoor fire was started for us to gather around.

There is nothing like an adult campfire to start enjoying wine, food, and friends.

Zimmerman Vineyards
Enjoying a Tasting

At Zimmerman Vineyards they say "Great Wines...No Myth".  The myth refers to their logo (see their wine glass) where the punishment of Zeus to the disrespecting Sisyphus was an eternity of pushing a rock up a hill, only to have the rock roll back down the hill before reaching the top.  To me, it alludes to the life of a farmer.  Each season their challenge is to deal with what nature has created and the struggle to do their best.  And then, as the seasons change, you're back at it again.

We enjoyed the tasting with our group of twenty, and everyone went away with wine they enjoyed. Outside we gathered with shared dishes to celebrate friendship and watched the sun start to slip behind the hills.   Thanks to Norm and Leslie Zimmerman, who should be proud of their destination vineyard.  Cheers!

Zimmerman Vineyards - Outdoor Terrace

NC Swan Creek AVA - Piccione Vineyards

NC Swan Creek AVA - Piccione Vineyards
October 12, 2015

Piccione Vineyards - L'Ottimo

Have you ever just finished a project, only to have to go back and do it again? Well this isn't something that is always a bad thing.  In fact, we're happy about adding on to our NC Swan Creek AVA Vineyards story - because Piccione Vineyards is now officially open for business in the North Carolina Swan Creek AVA.

Piccione Vineyards Tasting Room 2015

This past weekend we attended the Grand Opening of the Piccione Vineyards in Ronda, North Carolina.  Located right next door to Raffaldini Vineyards, Piccione shares the same beautiful vistas. These two vineyards could be making this North Carolina's Italian Hills.

Piccione Vineyards Tasting Room

Piccione Vineyards has Italian roots that go to back to Marsala, Sicily in Italy.  Bill Piccione is the grandson of Giuseppe Piccione who came to the United States in 1921. Bill started the vineyard in 2010 when they planted 1 year old vines, mostly Italian varietals. Their current offering consists of 4 styles of white and 4 styles of red wines, all estate grown.

In their tasting room, you're likely to meet Hailey, who will pour, answer questions, and delight you with stories of the harvest, the wines, and the bottling processes.  The tasting room was crowded with people lined up 3 or 4 deep, while she was deftly pouring across the tables and the bar without a drop being lost.

Piccione Vineyards - View from the Patio

As you drive up the long drive, you'll be rewarded with the views looking back down to the vineyard and beyond to the mountains.  We're looking forward to more growth in the Swan Creek AVA.  It's always a pleasure to add to the list of our North Carolina destinations with stories.

Vignoble Les Trois Clochers - Three Steeples Winery

Vignoble Les Trois Clochers

September 30, 2015

Vignoble Les Trois Clochers - Welcoming

During August, we took a short hop from Montreal to the quaint town of Dunham, Quebec.  We brought our map with La Route des Vins du Quebec with us and stopped at the three oldest vineyards in the area.   We met with Robert and Nadège who started their winery in 1997.  

Vignoble Les Trois Clochers - View of the Grapes

Question:  What happens when you mix a Geologist and a Biologist in a vineyard? 

Answer:  You get a great selection of wines, from dry reds, whites, and rosé, to sweet desert ice wines.

Vignoble Les Trois Clochers - View of the Winery

Their location is beautiful, and on a clear day you'll see the three steeples for which the vineyard is named. While an hour from Montreal on a weekday afternoon, once you're in Dunham, you'll be able to visit several wineries only a few minutes apart - some just across the street or right next to each other.  

But enough of us chatting.  We made a quick video for you to enjoy Robert and Nadège's vineyard. Their English is so much better than my French.  Merci Beaucoup! 

NC Swan Creek AVA - Raffaldini Vineyards

NC Swan Creek AVA - Raffaldini Vineyards
September 23, 2015

Raffaldini Vineyards
February 21, 2015

Raffaldini Vineyards Terrace as viewed
from the Tasting Room Balcony

Raffaldini Vineyards is a landmark in the Swan Creek AVA, and is certainly a destination with a story.  The Raffaldini family can trace its roots back to Italy and Italian winemakers as far as the 1400s.  Their tasting room reflects the Chianti Region's styling, and their vines are primarily of Italian varieties. 42 acres of land were planted, and sometimes replanted more than once - as the owner and winemakers experiment with varieties and how they adapt in this area.

Raffaldini Vineyard
Shaded Wildlife Habitat

As you slowly drive up to the Villa on a crushed gravel road, you'll feel time slow down and your stress unwind.  On your way, you'll pass a picnic area where you can bring your own food to pair with their wines and views.  In the Villa-styled Tasting Room, you'll experience Italian graciousness, with friendly staff who have been well trained on their wines and the wine-making process.  The tasting room is large enough to handle a crowd, yet you'll have the opportunity for a more private visit on a covered upstairs porch overlooking the vineyard and the Brushy Mountains; or stroll to an outside patio with a four tiered fountain; or hike up the hill to a tree shaded spot with Adirondack chairs, or stay inside and mix with other guests who are coming from all over to visit. 

Raffaldini Vineyards
Festa Italiana - 2015

Raffaldini VineyardsFesta Italiana - 2015

With a multitude of events, weddings, and friends gathering, it's likely you'll find a group of people like yourself either tasting Raffaldini wines for the first time, or Club members who have returned to stock up on their favorite bottles.  Make sure to do a quick check of  their calendar of events (Raffaldini Vineyards Event Calendar) to help plan your visit.


The Swan Creek AVA has many delightful surprises for you now, and it's getting better all the time.  The Vineyards of the Swan Creek Association each has its own unique story, but they are tied together by a five mile drive that makes it an easy way to spend a rewarding day.  Their destinations, vineyards, and wines have a strong tailwind to success.

NC Swan Creek AVA - Shadow Springs Vineyard

NC Swan Creek AVA - Shadow Springs Vineyard
September 4, 2015

Shadow Springs Vineyard
Enchanting Entrance

Shadow Springs Vineyard

Shadow Springs Vineyard
Lookin' Good

All the wineries in the Swan Valley AVA in North Carolina are just a few miles apart.  You can get to them all in a day, but why just run around with a check list? It's about enjoying your time too. We pulled into Shadow Springs Vineyard on a beautiful day, only a short 40 minute drive from downtown Winston-Salem.  An extra benefit to the day trip is the beautiful scenery that you'll get on the way - rolling hills, beautiful trees and wildlife will help you to get into a relaxed state of mind.

Shadow Springs Vineyard
Overlooking the Vines

Shadow Springs Vineyard
We arrived early!

We arrived early and walked around the vineyard's grounds and then headed to the Tasting room. The vines were coming along nicely, and we were glad to have the place to ourselves. We were able to enjoy our flight and find out what was new since our last visit.  The Petit Verdot here is doing well, and they're looking to increase their vines. We enjoyed a French Oaked, Barrel Fermented Chardonnay that was chilled perfectly to counter the warming day. 

Start your day early, and your reward will be shorter lines, a more relaxed visit, and your pick for the views.  You'll also get time to talk and listen to the wonderful tasting room staff who have all kinds of knowledge of the area's food, wine and events.  Next week is our last, but not least connection in the Swan Creek AVA of North Carolina.  Until then - Ciao!

Shadow Springs Vineyard
A Nod to their French Style Wines...

Shadow Springs Vineyard
Views of the Vines

NC Swan Creek AVA - Laurel Gray Vineyards

NC Swan Creek AVA - Laurel Gray Vineyards

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Enjoying the back patio

August 28th, 2015

Laurel Gray Vineyards

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Tasting Rooms

As we continue on our circuit of the Swan Creek AVA, we stopped at Laurel Gray Vineyards. It's less than 3 miles down the road from Windsor Run Cellars. 

We stepped inside their tasting room to a wide variety of wines that are grown in their vineyard.  The grapes won't have far to go to be pressed, tanked, and bottled.  The Yadkin Valley Wine Company is right behind their tasting room and handles all their bottling needs, and they too have their own wines. 

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Anticipation...

Laurel Gray Vineyards - Protected Grapes

Yadkin Valley Wine Company
as seen from the Back Porch

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Side Porch

Laurel Gray's cozy tasting room expands into a second room for overflow on the weekends. You'll get to choose from 10 dry wines and 4 sweeter varieties.  Find one you like and sit and sip out on their covered porches complete with ceiling fans to keep the heat away.  Or wander onto the grounds and pull up an Adirondack chair to relax.

Laurel Gray Vineyards
Tasting Room Entrance

Their wines will impress you - as do the dozens of awards that are placed around the tasting room. Awards from International, Finger Lakes, INDY, Mid-Atlantic, and NC wine competitions attest to the quality of the wine here.  Next door in the Yadkin Valley Wine Company, you'll find wines that will surprise you in their fruit flavors with both dry and sweet varieties.  During the summer they offer tastings in their barn styled plant.  Their sipping wines will keep you refreshed on a hot summer day.   Grab one for your "porch".

NC Swan Creek AVA - Windsor Run Cellars

North Carolina Swan Creek AVA - Windsor Run Cellars

August 23, 2015

Windsor Run Cellars

Windsor Run Cellars

Windsor Run Cellars = Vines

We are continuing our flights around the Swan Creek AVA in North Carolina. In our last blog, we featured Dobbins Creek Vineyards, the highest location in the Swan Creek AVA.  This week we will give you a quick peek at Windsor Run Cellars.  With over 16 wines to choose from, you're going to find something to take home. 

Windsor Run Cellars - Wine and Shots

Windsor Run Cellars is located in Hamptonville, North Carolina, and is only a short drive from downtown Winston-Salem.  This vineyard was started back in 2001 and was purchased by the current owners in 2011.  They also acquired the 2nd (legal) still in North Carolina. Tours of the facilities, the first winery and distillery in North Carolina in the same building, can be scheduled ahead of time.

Windsor Run Cellars Tasting Room

If you visit on the weekends, be ready to join in on the lively conversations. There is a long bar with lots of room, and high top tables that look out onto the vineyards. The tasting room has a huge bar area and lots of room for groups to enjoy.

Windsor Run Cellars - Relax on their Porch

Our recent visit was during the week, when the owners and staff have more time to talk and share their time.  We met with Ray Ann, the Tasting Room Manager, who walked us through the history of Windsor Run Cellars.  This unpretentious winery/vineyard/distillery plays with the history of alcohol in the Carolinas. Prohibition made liquor illegal, but it also made it a prosperous, if illegal, product.  Now years later, you'll get to do your tasting out in the open.    Make your wine run here today!

Windsor Run Cellars - Soup's On!

NC Swan Creek AVA - Dobbins Creek

NC Swan Creek AVA - Dobbins Creek
July 31st, 2015

North Carolina has four separate AVAs (American Viticultural Area).  An AVA means that the wine comes from a specific area that has certain soil, water, and weather climates that make it unique.  Some AVAs are subsets within another AVA.   The 4 AVAs for North Carolina are:

1.  Yadkin Valley - Wiki - Yadkin Valley AVA
2.  Swan Creek - Wiki - Swan Creek AVA
3.  Haw River Valley - Wiki - Haw River Valley - AVA
4.  Upper Hiwassee Highlands - Wiki - Upper Hiwassee Highlands AVA   (a shared AVA that straddles the North Carolina and Georgia state border.  Also it is Georgia's first AVA.)

DOBBINS CREEK VINEYARDS
TASTING ROOM

The Swan Creek AVA is contained within the Yadkin Valley AVA and represents a micro climate that exists near the Swan Creek and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  From downtown Winston-Salem, you can drive there in just under a half hour.

DOBBINS CREEK VINEYARDS
TASTING GLASS

DOBBINS CREEK VINEYARDS
JUST A FEW OF THEIR WINES

There are 5 Wineries that make up the Swan Creek AVA.  You could visit all of them in one day, but why rush it?   In this case, it is about the destinations, and not the journey.  And while they each share a common terroir, they also have a unique point of view on wine and spirits.


We'll feature each one over the next couple of weeks, starting with Dobbins Creek Vineyards.

DOBBINS CREEK VINEYARDS PORCH

Dobbins Creek Vineyards  - Dobbins Creek Vineyards has a definite feel of a mountain lodge with lots of views.  Its location is the highest elevation of the five wineries, at almost 1,400 feet.  The long porch provides views around the Yadkin Valley, and you can see all the way to Winston-Salem on a clear day.  It's the place to meet once you've had your tasting and want to select a wine to share and sit a while.

You're likely to run into Charles King, the owner who started the winery with its first plantings in 2002.  Now 13 years later, they have a wide selection of wines that will help fill up your glasses for any occasion.   Enjoy your wine tasting at the wine bar, where 100 year old Cherry wood was harvested from the land to build the bar.  Then go outside and take in some more of the views, knowing that all the wines are estate grown and what you see is what you drink.

Glen Manor Vineyards - Virginia is for (Wine) Lovers

Glen Manor Vineyards, Shenandoah Valley Virginia
July 23rd, 2015

(Follow Our Wine Flights Blog by email.  Simply enter your e-mail address in the side bar to the upper right and click "SUBMIT". )

GLEN MANOR VINEYARDS' TASTING ROOM

My wife and I were recently on a road trip that brought us through Virginia.  We always prefer to drive through Virginia on Highway 81 or 77 instead of Interstate 95 because of the views in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  The Shenandoah Valley and surrounding mountains are spectacular, and you'll feel like Maria in the Sound of Music as you head spins around trying to take in the landscape.  Red Barns, rolling hills, cattle, and patchwork fields will collectively make you feel relaxed, even if traffic has come to a halt.

GLEN MANOR VINEYARDS - ENTRANCE

While planning for the trip through Virginia, we asked one of our extended family members from the area if there were any wineries we should visit around Winchester.  Glen Manor Vineyards was on their list of places to visit.  It's a short trip off of Highway 81 and only 90 minutes from Washington, D.C.  If you live in D.C., it's a perfect day trip to get away from the city's heat.

GLEN MANOR VINEYARDS - TASTING ROOM

When you arrive at Glen Manor Vineyards, you'll be greeted with the rolling hills that provide the vineyards with great drainage.  The cool airflow from the hills also helps to keep the vines healthy and dry naturally.  The cool breeze also helped us to relax and enjoy some of Glen Manor's wines.  The farm has been in their family for over a century, and fourth generation Jeff is the "farmer" who tends to their grapes.  After having worked for years at Linden Vineyards just around the corner, he's learned that great grapes make great wines.

GLEN MANOR VINEYARDS - HODDER HILL

All the wines here are estate grown, and that means that every drop comes from the two vineyards planted on the hillside, right out the tasting room windows.  The staff was very welcoming and knowledgeable on the work that goes into each wine.  Our host was Ashley, who gave us a lesson on the vineyard and her family's history in the area.

GLEN MANOR VINEYARDS - RELAX AND ENJOY

Watch as she deftly explains the wines and the pours the literal fruits of Jeff's labor into our glasses.  The short video on YouTube will give you a sneak peak at what you'll see and taste at Glen Manor Vineyards.  OurWineFlights.com - Glen Manor Vineyards

Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery - We've made friends in PA

Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery

July 4, 2015

Happy 239th Birthday United States of America!

Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery
Lehigh Valley, PA AVA

A great way to say celebrate is to add a few bottles of wine to the picnic table.  Wine shouldn't be considered high brow - it's an age old drink that helped with celebrating many occasions.  In fact, it is told that Portuguese Madeira wine was used to toast the signing of the Declaration of Independence.   If wine was popular with both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson to celebrate then we're OK with it too.

Vynecrest Vineyards
Tasting Room

We have a couple of bottles we're chilling for this weekend from Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery in Pennsylvania.  While driving back South, we stopped for a break at the Welcome Center just as we crossed into Pennsylvania.   The Welcome Center provided us with information on wineries on the Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley Wine Trail.  So we decided to check one out on our way through the Keystone State.

We were welcomed at Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery,  just outside of Allentown and only about 10 minutes off Highway 78.  Established in 1974, the property overlooks the rolling hills of the Lehigh Valley, an AVA that was granted to the region in 2008.  The views are spectacular and the welcome from their staff was equally warm and friendly.

Vynecrest's iPad Player Piano
Downstairs in Tom's Vyneskeller

With over 40 years of history, they know what grows well in the area.  They are proud of their dry, red Chamborcin, which is regional star for this AVA.  Also, their flagship red is their Lemberger, which will go well with burgers from the grill.  Too bad we weren't there on the weekend, because downstairs they have an iPad Baby Grand Player Piano and Jazz on the last Sunday of the month.

Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery
Tom's Vyneskeller with views

Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery
Tom's Vyneskeller

So if you can't make it to Breiningsville, PA this weekend, look to your own backyard and check out the winery that you have been meaning to visit.  And if you can get to Vynecrest Vineyards and Winery, do it.