First posting - Swan Creek Wine Trail

Saturday, Karey and I took a daytrip to the Swan Creek vineyards, just west of Winston-Salem. The drive was shorter than we thought it would be, we hit 1 more winery than we thought we would, the weather ROCKED, and we even got home sooner than planned... could it have gone any better? Nope!

Laurel Gray
First stop was Laurel Gray, which was RIGHT off of the highway. It was small, cute, and probably had the smallest distribution of any of the vineyards we visited.. you can only buy their products on-site. They had some pretty good ones, although a few tasted pretty young.. they'd been recently bottled. It's in an old milking barn, so it's super-cute. The people there were very nice, and the view was beautiful.. there's a little covered veranda on which you can lounge, if you're so inclined. Their wines are made in the French style, so lots of soft, oakey wines. Their Cab Reserve (aged 18 mths) was yum! They also had a fruity red called Scarlet Mountain that any non-red drinker would like, but not so fruity or sweet that a typical red drinker would scoff at it.. good for mixed company! We agreed that we'd visit this one again. I bought a bottle of the reserve cab here for Sterling.

Buck Shoals
You cross back over the highway for this one. It too was cute, although it didn't seem to have as much character as some of the others. Just on a side note, they share their winery (where they actually press/make the wine) with Raffaldini, so that will explain the sign you see when you pull in. They offer a few Italian-esque wines, and they had one called Vito's Pride that was pretty good. They were very nice, and had a decent selection. They also gave us a great tip on lunch at the Amish store down the street. Put us down as a "maybe" on a return trip. They did have a nice Chard that was 85% steel barrel, 15% oaked, that I picked up as a gift.

Raffaldini
Hands down our favorite. Driving onto the site is like driving up to a little villa in Tuscany (I imagine..). The landscaping is gorgeous, there's a scenic mountain backdrop, and roses everywhere. Once you park, you walk through their garden to get to the tasting room, which looks like a little country cottage with a big deck out front for picnics and taking in the view. The inside is decorated just as nicely, and the folks are very friendly. They also had the best selection of munchies if you wanted an inpromptu picnic. They offered many truly Italian style wines, including a white called Vermentino.. apparently they are one of only 4 places in the U.S. who produce this. It was great, and I picked up a bottle of this and their Rosso, a red table wine. I'm pretty sure we liked all of their wines, and would totally visit this one again! Their wines are available at Total Wine, Angus Barn, and Weaver St. Market.

Windy Gap
Windy Gap was a cute little winery, also a small one. They had a big tasting room, and more of a funky farm-like feel. (Karey and I coined the phrase Cofunky.. country/funky). They also had a pretty good selection, and were generous with their pours and a little lenient on the "tasting includes 6 pours". The women who poured for us made it a point to share her favorites and make sure we tried some that we might not otherwise have tasted... that's how we BOTH ended up buying sweet wines, something neither of us would typically do! Karey bought the Fat Basset Red, which was actually VERY good and we expect will rock our mouths the next time we have BBQ. I bought (brace yourself) a BLUEBERRY WINE! It's actually real fermented blueberries, smells like a glassful of cobbler, and doesn't really finish that sweet. It would make a great dessert wine, or a blueberry martini (2 pts grey goose, 1 pt bbw). I actually bought that and the Vermentino, intending to let Wanda pick which one she'd like, as a thank you for watching James. Frankly, I was sad to part with either, because I made it a point to get something that I knew would be good... so we've agreed that another trip to this winery is also in order, so that we can snag another bottle of blueberry! You can also pick up their Tory Oak Red at Total Wine.. this one was YUM!

Hanover Park
This one was an impulse stop. It was right off of the highway on the way home. Karey had also just read a reference to their Michael's Blend in a Delta Skymiles magazine article about NC Wines. Apparently, the state sprung a big fat detour on them last week, and getting there was nutso, but well worth it (after you get off on 601, you just keep going until you see the huge orange detour signs for Courtney Church Road, and you follow those signs until you get back on track with the normal directions). Their wines were very consistently good, all fantastic! We tried a Mourvedre (which we'd not heard of before) that was a yummy very drinkable red.. I bought a bottle of that! Michael's Blend, as the article had promised, was also fantastic! Their wines are available at Total Wine, the Teeter, and Lowe's Foods. Definitely worth another trip. Also, super-cute ambience, as it's in an old farmhouse off of a country road.

Other finds:
A few of the wineries sold this balsamic vinegarette called Signolia's. I can honestly say that it is the best vinegarette I have ever put in my mouth, and I've found an excuse to eat it with every meal except breakfast for the past two days! I plan on buying many more the next time I'm up there!

Viognier is apparently very well-suited to our region... I'd never heard of it before our trip to Ray Len and Biltmore, but every winery we went to made this. It's like a fruitier version of a pinot grigio.. a very light white with good body and a crisp finish with heavy apricot undertones. If you've never tried one of these before, I'd totally recommend it! I thought the best ones were Ray Len and Windy Gap (but I really like the apricot.. if you don't, then you might like the Laurel Gray or Hanover Park).

All of the wineries seem to encourage picnicing, and have plenty of places to do so.. bring a cooler and some munchies, or pick some up while you're out there. Some bread, cheese, and balsamic vinegarette would make a great accompaniment to a bottle of vino! Cheers!