NCWinerider Rides Again!

I am back on the blog! However, I have also been back on the road in my absence from http://www.ncwinerider.com/! I have updated the links to the North Carolina Wineries that I have visited. The current count is 55! The visitncwine web site lists 107 wineries in the state! I am over half-way to my goal of visiting all of North Carolina's wineries!

As always, I am not a wine professional; I am just an enthusiast who loves tasting wine, road tripping, and experiencing local flavor in North Carolina! Check back soon as I continue to take you on the journey through North Carolina wine country! My goal: Visit ALL North Carolina wineries! The NCWinerider's Official Winery Count: 55! Enjoy the NCWineride!

The NCWinerider is back at last!

After many months away from the world of blogging, I am finally back! During my absence, I have visited several additional North Carolina wineries. A number of new wineries have opened. I would still like to pursue the goals of visiting all of the wineries in the state, but I am not sure that I can keep up as the new ones open. The journey is still a fun adventure. I have also made some repeat visits to some North Carolina wineries. I will start my posts again in the next several days. Please come back soon to read about the fun side of the growing wine industry in North Carolina and the best things to do while enjoying a NCWineride!

A Return to Silk Hope!

I made a second visit to Silk Hope Winery (http://www.silkhopewinery.com/index.html) outside of Pittsboro recently and my second visit reinforced my first impression (check out my post on Chatham County Wineries from July 14, 2009) that Wally Butler and and family are making some of the most intriguing wines in North Carolina!

A visit to Silk Hope Winery will take you down some roads you may not otherwise travel, but you will not be disappointed. Wally is knowledgeable about his wines and the North Carolina wine industry. The grapes are grown on site or purchased in state--mostly from vineyards in the Haw River American Viticultural Area (AVA) (http://www.hawrivervalley.com/)! A visit to Silk Hope is not about a gift shop or a fancy tasting room. It is about the wine! It is about wine which is extremely good! This is wine for wine drinkers--even red wine drinkers! A tasting is an educational experience. We learned not only about the wines, but about the land and the process of growing the grapes and the effects of weather, timing, etc. on the taste of the grapes and ultimately the wines.

We tried two vintages of Chambourcin--both good, but with different characteristics. As we did before, we loved the Red Roots--a blend that seems to go well with a variety of foods! We brought home a bottle of that and one of a wine called Grand Vista! The Red Roots is long gone and the Grand Vista is waiting on the counter for the perfect meal to do it justice! We enjoyed a picnic outside. Silk Hope is a real getaway for people like us who live with the traffic and fast pace of the Triangle every day! The view is nice at Silk Hope from one of the highest elevations in Chatham County. Sitting outside the winery drinking Silk Hope wine is truly drinking in the local flavor and tasting the land in a direct way! This is what the North Carolina wine industry is all about!

In addition to the great, "big" reds, Wally is also making some quality white wines. We had a great time at Silk Hope and I know that the second visit will not be the last! When we drink the Grand Vista, we will have to go back for more!

As always, I am not a wine professional; I am just an enthusiast who loves wine tasting, road-tripping, and experiencing local flavor in North Carolina! Check back soon as I continue to take you on the journey through North Carolina wine country! My goal: Visit ALL North Carolina wineries! The NCWinerider's Official NC Winery Count: 50 Enjoy the NCwineride!

50 Wineries and Counting!

Over the past weekend, I visited my 50th North Carolina winery! I have actually been to at least two more if I count one I visited several years ago that has since closed and a tasting room in Yadkinville that included wines from two wineries not listed in Discover North Carolina Wines: 2010 Guide and Map to North Carolina Wineries (available at participating wineries and http://www.visitncwine.com/): Surry Cellars (a winery run by students in the viticulture and enology programs at Surry Community College(http://ncviticulturecenter.com/about/surry_cellars.html) and River De Vine Winery(http://www.allamericanwineries.com/nc/yvwt/). The latest list on http://www.visitncwine.com/ boasts 96 wineries. Of those 96, I have visited 50! One of my goals on this blog is to profile each winery I visit. While this process is a bit slow and I am adding posts about winery visits, I have included links to all of the wineries I have visited in the list of links.

The last three wineries on the way to this milestone on my ultimate journey to try to visit all 96 (and probably more than that as wineries continue to open) included two storefront wineries in Wilmington and one located in an historic inn and restaurant outside of Warsaw.

Noni Bacca Winery (http://www.nbwinery.com/)is located in a shopping center in Wilmington. The wine maker purchases grapes and juice from vineyards all over the world. He does not use grapes grown in North Carolina, but is still a part of the overall wine industry in the state. Like Noni Bacca, Lumina Winery (http://www.luminawine.com/) is located in a shopping center on the outskirts of the city. The winemaker at Lumina does not grow his grapes, but does purchase some from various areas in North Carolina. The winery's logo features an historic building that existed until the 1970s on Wrightsville Beach. Both of these wineries also sell home wine-making and beer-brewing supplies. They offer tastings and wines by the glass and a chance to escape the summer heat for a bit during a beach or Wilmington vacation.

The third winery I visited over the weekend is the winery at The Country Squire Inn and Restaurant (http://www.countrysquireinn.com/) in Warsaw. This historic establishment attracts customers to their obscure location with their intriguing (dark wood, tartan plaid, suits of armor, tables suspended by chains, and documented paranormal events) atmosphere. They have a small inn with rooms and a large steakhouse style restaurant. We stopped by at an "off" time, so we did not dine. However, we were greeted warmly and escorted to the tasting room. We tried some very nice wines of various types (vinifera, fruit, muscadine). The wine maker at The Country Squire keeps with the "Highland" theme on the wine labels, but buys a large percentage of the grapes from North Carolina vineyards. The tasting room host even gave us a tour of the restaurant and inn. She told us that she has been around this inn since she was a child. Some parts of the building date to the 1700s. I purchased a bottle of Chardonnay and am intrigued enough to go back in the future to eat dinner or even stay (if I decide I won't be too jumpy thinking about the ghosts). Even if you can't take time to eat, The Country Squire is a nice stop on the way back across the state from the coast.

As always, I am not a wine professional; I am just an enthusiast who loves wine tasting, road-tripping, and experiencing local flavor in North Carolina! Check back soon as I continue to take you on the journey through North Carolina wine country! My goal: Visit ALL North Carolina wineries! The NCWinerider's Official NC Winery Count: 50 Enjoy the NCwineride!

The Wonder of Wolfe Wines

A recent Sunday afternoon in the Piedmont of North Carolina led me to Wolfe Wines (http://www.wolfewines.com/) near the community of Snow Camp. Though I will try almost any type of wine, I am not usually a huge fan of fruit wines. The code in the 2010 Guide and Map to North Carolina Wineries (if you don't have a copy, pick one up at a winery or order one at http://www.visitncwine.com/) indicated that Wolfe has some vinifera wines as well as muscadine and fruit wines. I was not prepared for the delicious surprise that awaited me at Wolfe Wines!

First of all, the place is nice! Floyd, Nina, and Ricky have built a nice tasting room with a great porch and have an attractive outdoor space for events. The people are very friendly and even treated my tired, hot kids well!

Now for the wine! We started by telling Floyd that we mostly drink dry wines, but are willing to try whatever he is making. We tried several nice wines made from vinifera and muscadine grapes. Then, came the best part--the fruit wines. Yes, you read that correctly. The fruit wines at Wolfe are really something special. Do not expect the usual very sweet concoctions made from apples, berries--or even syrup in the flavor of less native fruits. Wolfe has dry, semi-dry, and sweet versions of several of their fruit wines. The dry blackberry proved to be the favorite, but the others were very nice as well. These are not necessarily dessert wines. While pairing some of them with sweeter fare sounds great, they also go well with more savory foods. My husband and I purchased a bottle of dry blackberry wine to bring home. We enjoyed it with some special cheese and crackers. My husband is now somewhat obsessed with Wolfe's blackberry wine and has talked of ordering some or making a special trip over to Snow Camp to get some more--and possibly some of the dry raspberry too! This is an amazing occurrence. My husband NEVER really likes a fruit wine and sometimes will not even try the fruit varieties at a tasting. The fact that he likes--shall I say really likes--Wolfe's wines is a testament to the quality and uniqueness of the product!
We look forward to a return visit to Wolfe soon!! Check out Wolfe and the other wineries in Alamance and Chatham counties and the Haw River AVA!


As always, I am not a wine professional; I am just an enthusiast who loves wine tasting, road-tripping, and experiencing local flavor in North Carolina! Check back soon as I continue to take you on the journey through North Carolina wine country! My goal: Visit ALL North Carolina wineries! The NCWinerider's Official NC Winery Count: 50
Enjoy the NCwineride!