Two NC Wineries!

It's been awhile since I've visited  a new North Carolina winery. But a few weeks ago when me and Jena were playing hooky (okay not really - she had the day off, I requested it off...I just like making it sound like we are rebels!) we headed down to Wilmington to check out two wineries!

Our first stop was Noni Bacca Winery. You know how they say "don't judge a book by it's cover?" Well, that's so true with this winery! It looks like a store that sells wine and just so happens to do tastings. We sat down with our very eclectic host and chose six wines each. Me and Jena are chatty so we start asking questions...turns out they do make all their own wine. I was surprised...just because it there are so many! And there are so many different kinds. I can almost promise (unless your my friend Angela!) that if you don't like wine...you will find something you like here! If I had to choose, I'd say my favorite is Pacifico. 

The next stop was Lumina Wine. And when I say "hole in the wall" I mean it! It took forever for us to find it. I started to get a little nervous when I didn't even see any wine on the shelves. But then our friendly host started pouring the drinks - and we were sold! Neither one of us really like red wine, but when we were poured the Black Raspberry Merlot....we fell in love!

Unfortunately this is the best picture we got!

I have now been to 12 North Carolina wineries. Can you believe there are over 100 of them! I'm going to need to start moving faster if I want to visit all of them!!

Duplin Girls Day!

Yesterday me and eight of my girlfriends headed to Rose Hill, NC to my favorite winery for a great girls day out! We had a fabulous (and free!) tour of the winery and enjoyed a free tasting! We tried about 14 different wines and fancy frozen drinks. We all had our favorites, some didn't like anything, and the pregnant girls sipped on non-alcoholic wine....which they said was amazing!

Our next stop was the Bistro for a delicious lunch. All of the recipes somehow incorporate the wine, which makes the food that much better. We had great conversation, laughed a lot, drank a little, and had a ton of fun! And, of course, snapped the obligatory group photos!

When lunch was over we headed back into the store and bar area. Earlier in the day we read if you mentioned Facebook you would get a glass of free wine. So, we did that. And I'm a member....so we enjoyed two free glasses wine. And then we snapped more group pictures!

It was a great day with awesome friends! I'm already planning the next girls night out. I want to have a girls night out once a month for the entire year, I have some great ideas and can't wait to start planning!

My Wine List

I talk a lot about wine and wineries, but I've never given you a list of my favorite wines. So, at the request of Mrs. Lawler from Mrs. Lawler's Lovelies, I'm going to share a few of my favorites!

If you like Riesling and haven't tried Relax...what are you waiting for? The website says it's drier than a traditional traditional Riesling, but I actually think it's sweet (not as sweet as the North Caroline wines though!) It's perfect for any occasion - dinner, dessert, or just relaxing. And with a price tag of about only $11, it's a guilt free treat! My favorite way to enjoy it is with a a crisp summer salad. Seriously, try it...amazing.

Another favorite is the lesser known Relax Cool Red. I discovered this wine at WineRiot, and have YET to find it in a store. So, if you find it in stores...please send me a bottle! This red wine is a little different...it's meant to be served cool.  I think it's the perfect gate way wine to real reds.

 

I really like local wines. My favorite North Carolina winery is Duplin Winery. If you like sweet wine, try a muscadine wine. It's not for everyone (I wasn't a fan at first!) but it really starts to grow on you. If you are like me, and like cold drinks, this is the wine for you! I have a hard time choosing a favorite. Carlos is the driest, so start there if you are unsure. My favorite is Pink Magnolia. If you also have a hard time choosing a favorite, I 110% recommend joining the Heritage Club.

Red wine is not my favorite. I can't get past the dryness of it. I also have a problem with oak-y wine. BUT if I had to choose Olive Garden's Principato Rosso is really good. It's much "heavier" than the other wines I like...it's perfect with a hearty meal.

Truth be told? I like a lot of different wines. I don't like oaked wines or anything too dry. I'll try anything once (or twice...) though!

What are you favorites?

Fun Filled Weekend!

This weekend was the kind of weekend I like...long and busy! Danny got out early on Wednesday and didn't have to be back until this morning. Don't you wish all weekends were that long!?

After Thanksgiving we started our fun! Friday I cleaned the house and got rid of all memories of autumn...and decorated for Christmas! I'm usually not so excited for Christmas, but it's going to be a lot of fun to have Kaleb here this year! AND I did all my wrapping!

Friday night we went to Swansboro for the Christmas Flotilla, which is basically a parade in the water. I had such a hard time taking pictures of the bright lights, but it was so gorgeous! It was the perfect night, complete with a beautiful sunset.

Saturday we drove to Burgaw for our 10th winery - Bannerman Vineyard. I was so excited to try new wine...but I was so let down. I couldn't find one wine that I enjoyed, Danny got lucky and liked a few. The strangest? Ginger wine. The best part of the trip was finding a hidden antique store and going through a bunch of treasures!

On the way home we decided to get out Christmas tree! The earliest I have EVER got one. It looks awesome all decorated and with presents already under it!

Sunday was, of course, a lazy day. Hubby watched football and played video games all day. As much as I hate those two things, Sunday's really are perfect around here!

And in case you were wondering! I've been driving A LOT lately! Be proud!

It drives me crazy that I can't put the photos where they belong in the post, there's only so much I can do with my iPhone!

Lake Road Winery

You can check another winery off of our list!

Last weekend after the Chili Festival we decided to take the back roads home. We were driving in the middle of no where, I'm talking....stray dogs wandering around and tons of hunters dressed in camo and orange vests. But since I had my handy wine map....I knew we were headed the right way!

From the outside, Lake Road Winery doesn't look like much. We contemplated whether or not we even wanted to go in...but a friendly old man waved us in, so we couldn't turn back! Inside a golly man and a huge wine tasting area greeted us.

There were ten wines to sample. I didn't even care that it was $5! He pulled out all the wines and started pouring...

And oh-my-goodness. I've never been so happy with ten wines in my life! It's rare that we go to a winery and like all the wines. But this was amazing wine. They had such a great smell, color....and taste. I love talking to our host about the wines and the grapes that they use.

After our tasting he asked if we wanted a picture taken, offered us another sample (we chose our favorite, Doreen) and posed. I wish the picture was better, but it's better than nothing!

Lake Road wines are not sold in stores. BUT they will be at Oktoberfest this weekend in Jacksonville! If you are going to the festival, let me know....I'd love to meet up!

Adventures in Wine

When I first met Danny we both would have classified ourselves as beer fans. Heck, our first date was at a brewery! During the summer that we dated we had many wine nights with his parents....we would have cheese, appetizers and wine. We knew nothing about wine then! We drank anything that was put in front of us!

Last year while Danny was on a DET, I went to Duplin Winery with Mom and Nana. I couldn't wait for him to come home so I could share my new favorite place! We soon became members of the winery, went to festivals, special events and took all of our out of town guests to our favorite place.

 Over the weekend we visited three more local wineries. We couldn't have chosen three completely different wineries if we were trying, but somehow..that's what happened.

Our first stop was A Secret Garden Winery in Pikeville. I've noticed a trend...wineries are in the middle of nowhere! When we pulled up, the first thing I saw was that they were setting up for a wedding! Crap, if we drove all the way out here and can't even taste wine....I'd be a little upset! But our host, Linda,was more than willing to help us out!

We sat in the tasting room while she told us about her winery. She grew up across the street on a self-sustaining farm. Her mother made wine....and it's the same recipe she uses today. And when I say "recipe" I mean fruit, juice and sugar. That's it. She uses the natural yeast from the fruit! No chemicals, NOTHING! We learned that instead of pesticides they welcome birds to eat the bugs. They even have special homes for the birds when they come north for the summers.

Then it was on to tasting the wines! Our favorite was the Sweet Carlos. But we came home with the Strawberry...because it tastes amazing when paired with chocolate! Danny didn't have to pay for his tasting, they give a military discount! After our tasting, Linda took us on a tour. I asked how many people help her and she said it was just her and her husband. They hand bottle, cork and label everything! And you can taste the love in each of the wines they offer!

Next up was the Hinnant Family Vineyards in Pine Level. This wine reminded me of Duplin's.....but the winery lacked a few things. I have no good stories to tell about our visit, we felt so rushed. Thank goodness the wine was good and was able to make up for it! Our favorite wine was the Electric Pelican. So yummy!

While we were at the winery we learned about a program four local wineries take part in. Visit them all and get a free shirt. But there's a catch! You must do a full tasting and buy a bottle of wine. Our free shirts would end up costing $120! Sounds good until you break it down!

Our last stop of the day was Enoch Winery and Bistro in Benson. I had such high hopes for this winery! It looks so fancy! They offer full tastings in the bistro, our bartender was also the waitress and expo. We didn't try the food, I actually didn't even see any, but the menu sounded good. This is the first winery we have been to that we didn't like the wine. Not one wine stood out to us. I'd like to say we will be going back to try the food....but I doubt it...

In a little over two years we have changed from beer fans to wine fans!


I'm loving our wine adventures so far! We are meeting great people and seeing parts of our state that we didn't even know existed! We went to a fabulous local diner yesterday in Pine Level. I'm seeing so many billboards for fairs and festivals that we want to go to this fall. I'm already excited for our next adventure!

How Did I Not Know About This Place?!

After our weekend in Asheville I've been really into wineries....more so than usual! While we were on our roadtrip I noticed signs for VisitNCWine.com. I always knew there were a ton of wineries in North Carolina, but I didn't know there were over a hundred of them! I have made it my goal to visit as many of these as possible! I'll be documenting them here....and, of course, sharing my favorites from each winery!

So, when we got home from our roadtrip, I visited the website and noticed there is a winery super close to the house. I'm talking less than 20 minutes. We always say "I wish Duplin was closer!" Well, now we have our close to home winery! Today me and Jacque decided to visit Huffman Vineyards. And it was so worth it!

Huffman has been open for less than a year. They offer dry, semi-sweet, sweet....and honey wine. I've never tried honey wine before, and let's just say...I'm not a fan. Jacque liked it though, so I think if you're a huge fan of honey you will like this wine!

It's harvest season in North Carolina, so when we walked into the winery it smelled like fermenting grapes. Not the best smell in the world, but it's so worth it for the sweet, yummy wine. We decided we wanted to have the full tasting. We had a bunch of different wines and then we decided on a glass of their Sweet Southern Gold. Not too sweet, not too dry...the perfect wine!

Our bartender was awesome. She was so nice, friendly, fun, knowledgeable. I'm pretty sure it's her families winery..she kept talking about mom and dad, so I can only assume! After our tasting she told us we could explore the vineyard and try the grapes. Me and Jacque were all for it!

Wine grapes are not grocery store grapes. The skin is thick, there are seeds, and they taste like a glass of wine. It was fun exploring and trying tons of different grapes!

You know what I really love about local wines? The price! I have never paid more than $15 for a bottle of North Carolina wine! My bottle of Sweet Southern Gold was only $8! You can't beat that!

I'm really excited for my wine adventures! It's a great way to explore North Carolina and everything the state has to offer!

A Birthday Trip to Asheville!

This weekend was fabulous! We dropped off the puppy, gassed up the truck and headed out west to Asheville. I've never been to the western part of the state, so I was pretty excited! And yes, it's still a one tank trip!

I love big birthday celebrations...so I planned this weekend as Danny's birthday present. I had so much planned for our two days....the fun started the second we got to the city!

Asheville has a ton of breweries. Seriously, it's been voted Beer City USA for THREE years in a row. So, you know we had to hit up one of the places it's famous for - Asheville Brewing Company! We tried a little bit of everything...the favorite was Ninja Porter and the most interesting was Fire Escape...jalapeno flavored beer. Weird! But the one thing that really stuck out about Asheville...hippies. Lots and lots of hippies!

After a quick costume change, our next stop was the Asheville Zipline Canopy Adventures - yep, ziplining! Never in a million years did I think I would do something like this. Come on, I'm afraid of heights and speed! I had a few butterflies while I was pulling on the harness and helmet but as soon as we were 54 feet up a tree and traveling down a zipline...I couldn't help but enjoy myself! Our tour guides were awesome. We did 13 ziplines, a few bridges...and learned all about Asheville. I 100% recommend you do this at some point in your life!

We spent 3 hours in the trees. I didn't expect it to be that long!! I wanted a shower before our next adventure, but instead we checked into the hotel and I headed out with helmet head....to the LaZoom Haunted Comedy Tour! They guarantee you will see a ghost...and we did! We sat on the bus for an hour with our decently-funny tour guide...and there was lots of yelling. Unnecessary, made my head pound yelling. When I called my Mom to tell her about it I said it was the "obnoxious version of the KuKu Kunuku." If you have ever been to Aruba, you know what I'm talking about....and you know that's saying something about the quality of this tour! I'm not saying it was bad, the historical stuff was great...I just wish I knew I was going to be yelled at for an hour!

After the tour I wanted to walk around downtown. But man-oh-man Asheville's downtown is tiny and crowded. Instead we headed back to the hotel and passed out like the old people that we are. And might I add, in a King sized bed. I wanted to steal it. So comfy!

Sunday morning we had a huge and free breakfast at the hotel. And then we were off for our second day in the city! We went back downtown to see everything we missed the night before. I love Asheville because the buildings are old and unchanged. You can see still see original store fronts and details. I loved it! We saw gorgeous churches and basilicas, historical monuments, and people enjoying their morning coffee. Asheville is gorgeous. I've decided everyone should move to western North Carolina!

No trip to Asheville is complete without a visit to the Biltmore. The Biltmore left me (more so than ever) wishing I was a Vanderbilt. This gorgeous building was someones personal home. It's so big you could fit the White House in it four times. There's a bowling alley, 70,000 gallon swimming pool, a huge library, 250 rooms. Seriously, why can I not live here!? The only sad part of our visit...no pictures allowed inside. So sad! We spent 2 hours exploring the home, then moved further onto the estate to the winery. We did a wine tasting and left with two bottles of yummy wine! We were going to stay for lunch but all of the restaurants had incredibly long waits. We decided to get back on the road and make the journey home.

About twenty minutes into the trip, we decided we need food! We got off the highway and instead of a restaurant we saw a winery. The South Creek Winery is in middle of nowhere North Carolina, so tiny and so cute. They are dry Bordeaux style wines...not my favorite, but I liked this place! I love that the grapes were right on the property. Of course, we left with a bottle of their Chardonnay!

We got back on the road to find something to eat...and we ran into another winery! The Lake James Cellar Winery was a cute little place. We tried some sweet and dry wines, and ended up buying their watermelon wine. It was so yummy, the perfect picnic wine!

Finally, we got some food into us! We went to Judge's Riverside Restaurant. I love trying local places, it's rare that you are disappointed! We had the awesome fried pickles and I got probably the biggest thing they offer: half rack of ribs, beans, potato salad and hush puppies. I'll be stepping up the Zumba routines this week to work it all off!

We had such a fun time in Asheville! I wish we could have spent more time out there exploring and trying all the yummy food they offer! We will definitely be making the trip back out there someday!

And as a sidenote to the anonymous commenters who like when  I post about alcohol - a tasting is not an entire glass, it's a sip. So, with all the tastings we did...I maybe had a glass of wine. And it's totally ridiculous that I have to explain myself but you people really need to get lives.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

My sister and her friend came down for a few days!

Here's a look at what we did!

Wilmington!

Duplin!

Fort Fisher Aquarium!

Carolina Beach!

Swansboro!