Category: wine

Delight (Apple Riesling) – Elevation 966

Our wine tonight is Delight (Apple Riesling) from Elevation 966 in Greenville, South Carolina.

Today we are celebrating the opening of Greenville’s first urban winery. Elevation 966 Winery has officially been open just six weeks, but owners Donnie and Penny are long time lovers of wine. We enjoyed a great visit today to learn about Elevation 966 Winery and brought this bottle home to enjoy.

Delight is a green apple Riesling.

The nose is of sliced green apple, a little pear, banana, and caramel notes as well.

Color of light straw.

Semi-sweet, bright, and crisp.

Flavor of biting into a early season fresh orchard picked green apple, lingering notes of sucking on a green apple Jolly Rancher. The flavor is crisp and refreshing, with a pleasant tartness.

10% ABV.

$16.95 a bottle. Elevation 966 produces several whites and red, from dry to sweet, all in small batches. Donnie, the winemaker, explained they are using only high quality winemaking equipment and ingredients, yet he also enjoys experimenting with different yeast and formulas.

As the weather warms, they expect to have live music and will stay open later hours. A new eatery, White Duck Taco, is soon to open next door offering the ability to enjoy dinner with a bottle of Elevation 966 wine. There is a large patio with plenty of room to enjoy sitting outside.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit today and recommend you give Elevation 966 Winery a try for some sensational small batch #SCWine.

Cheers!

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Valvin Muscat – Fireclay Cellars

Our wine tonight is the Valvin Muscat from Fireclay Cellars in Siler City, North Carolina.

Valvin Muscat is a hybrid grape developed at Cornell University.

Vintage 2017.

Yadkin Valley AVA.

Light straw in color.

Nose of wildflower honey, peach cobbler, orange blossom, and freshly cut grass.

Semi-sweet to sweet, but not Moscato sweet.

Exhibits a nice full mouth feel.

Complex flavor profile with notes of fresh apricot, sweeten peach slices with cream, lemon meringue pie, pear, orange peel, star fruit, and pineapple.

Lingering lemon-lime finish.

12% ABV.

$16 a bottle.

WineryEscapades scoring on the 20 point scale.

Appearance 3 : Nose 3.5 : Taste 6 : Finish 3 : Impression 2

Overall Score 17.5 – Gold Medal

#NCWine

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Strawberry Wine – Old Homeplace Vineyard

Our wine tonight is the Strawberry Wine from Old Homeplace Vineyard in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Fermented 100% of fresh strawberry juice.

Color of deep amber.

Nose and flavor notes true to it’s strawberry origin.

Sweet but not syrupy.

11.2% ABV.

Available only at the winery.

Old Homeplace Vineyard sits nestled lakefront along Lake Thomalex. The back patio offers hypnotic views of the lake. Out front of the tasting room is a large pasture where you can view and if you’re lucky, pet the horses and donkeys. The back barn is for special events and weddings. Don’t forget as you leave to ring the bell and let’em know what a great time you enjoyed.

#NCWine #AmericanFruitWine #StrawberryWine

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Bordeaux Blend Tasting

Our wine tonight was a Bordeaux Blend tasting at our favorite local wine bar, Bond Street Wines in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

First was 2016 Margaux from Château Mongravey.

65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, 2% Cabernet Franc.

Average age of the vines 25 years!

Aged 14 months in French Oak.

13% ABV.

Red berries on the nose, Earthy on the tongue with notes of charred oak and black licorice.

Rated 92 points by James Suckling.

$40 a bottle.

Second was 2016 Pessac-Leognan from Château Picque,

50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 50% Merlot.

13.5% ABV

Fruit forward nose with flavor notes of black currants, oak, and smoke.

My favorite of the three Bordeaux blends tasted tonight.

$40 a bottle.

92 points.

Final of the night was the 2011 Saint-Estèphe from La Chapelle de Meyney.

Tannic woodsy nose with flavor notes of leather, black licorice, and peppery spice.

Cabernet Sauvignon is dominate in this blend with Merlot.

13.5% ABV.

$40 a bottle.

90 Points.

Cheers!

Check out our other blog @ WineryEscapades.Com

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White Sangria – Duplin Winery

Our wine tonight is the White Sangria from Duplin Winery in Rose Hill, North Carolina.

Light golden in color.

Produced of muscadine grape infused with natural flavors.

Sweet, light, and delicate.

Nose of citrus and pineapple with flavor notes of peach, mango, orange, lime, lemonade, and pineapple.

This is a summertime porch pounder or sunny day pool wine.

10% ABV

$7.99 a bottle. We picked up this bottle during our recent visit to Duplin’s tasting room. Our tasting experience was really enjoyable. Understand, Duplin stays true to it’s heritage and proudly promotes it’s sweeter wines. One of their favorite slogans is that ” Life is sweeter with Duplin.” The tasting experience includes this beautiful sales booklet and scoring card. Duplin Winery is the largest producer of muscadine wines in the world. They further claim to be the oldest and largest winery in the South, originally established in 1975.

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Carolina Sunshine – Huffman Vineyards

Our wine tonight is the Carolina Sunshine from Huffman Vineyards in Richlands, North Carolina.

Green Apple Riesling.

Pale yellow in color.

Nose of pear, pineapple, white table grapes, butter, and green apple.

Semi-sweet and crisp.

Flavor notes of Bosc pears, fresh picked Granny Smith apples, bananas, and honeysuckle, with a crisp tartness that pleasantly lingers.

11.5% ABV.

$12 a bottle.

Huffman Vineyards was a very enjoyable experience for us. We’re always fond of small family owned vineyard and winery operations.

Located just inland from Jacksonville along North Carolina’s Crystal Coast. Though growing only Carlos, Noble, and several lesser known Muscadine varietals, winemaker Lee Huffman has handcrafted a diverse selection from dry vinifera wines, semi-sweet and sweet fruit and muscadine wines.

Nicki, Lee’s sister, tends the tasting bar and their Mom, a fabulous artist, manages the gift shop. The gift shop features an eclectic selection of many fun and practical wine products.

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Peach – Huffman Vineyards

Our wine tonight is the Peach table wine from Huffman Vineyards in Richlands, North Carolina.

Fermented of peaches.

Color of sweet tea.

Nose of a cooled peach cobbler.

Semi-sweet, guessing about 2-3% residual sugar.

Flavor notes of peach cobbler, caramel, vanilla, and sarsaparilla…giving way to a lingering finish much like a Werther’s Original hard candy.

Labeled as table wine which by law means between 7 and 14% ABV. We’d guess this wine approximately 8% ABV.

$11 a bottle.

Available only at the vineyard.

Certainly not your traditional peach, but good.

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Electric Pelican – Hinnant Family Vineyards

Our wine tonight is the Electric Pelican from Hinnant Family Vineyards.

Light salmon in color.

Blend of estate grown Norton (Muscadine) and Blanc du Bois (American Hybrid).

Grown and produced in Pine Level, North Carolina.

Serve chilled.

Nose of pink grapefruit, strawberry jam, and a orange creamsicle.

Semi-sweet with crisp acidity.

Flavor notes of orange, grapefruit, tangerine, homemade lemon curd, bananas foster, Granny Smith apples, and finishing crisp like a fresh Bosc pear.

Pair with a delicate fish or charcuterie plate.

12% ABV.

$10 a bottle.

Ships most states.

Hinnant Family Vineyards currently the largest Muscadine vineyard in North Carolina consist of over 100 acres under vine. Vines are mostly of Muscadine varietals with some American hybrids under vine. The farm originally grew tobacco. The first vines were planted in 1971.

Hinnant Family Vineyards has proudly won hundreds of awards for their estate grown wines. They likewise import vinifera varietals from the state of Washington. A tasting consist not only of muscadine wine, but also vinifera such as Cabernet Sauvignon and a Meritage Boudreaux blend.

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