The first vineyard we stopped at was RayLen Vineyards and Winery in Mocksville, NC. We shared a full tasting but we both definitely got good pours! The woman helping us was just a few years older than me and she had gone to JMU to study music. She was really nice and gave us some good info on wine and tasting! The wine was really great and we left with a bottle of reserve Chardonnay (2007).
The second place we visited was Shelton Vineyards in Dobson, NC. From the outside, the vineyard was very elegant and fancy. We arrived shortly before 2 pm, just in time for a tour of the vineyard. The tour was just under 20 minutes and gave us a general history of the brothers who started the vineyard and how the wine is made from harvesting the grapes to bottling. After the tour, we did the tasting. Alex and I agreed that none of the wine was worth purchasing. I thought about buying one of the larger bottles of wine for $10, but Alex said that he thought Barefoot wine is better, so I didn't buy anything. We got to leave with wine glasses though!
The third place we stopped was Round Peak Vineyard in Mt. Airy, NC. We really loved the down-to-earth feel of this winery and all of the wines were really great! We ended up leaving with a Cabernet Franc and I bought the port. Alex and I appreciated the prices of all of the wines we tasted in North Carolina. They are much more affordable than those in Virginia! Not only did we leave with two wines, but we also each got a wine glass and a wine bag with the Round Peak logo on it.
Our fourth and final stop was at Chateau Morrisette in Floyd, VA. Alex had always wanted to go to Floyd, so we figured this would be a good stop. We were cutting it close and made it to the vineyard at 4:45 pm. Because the vineyard closed at 5 pm, we couldn't do a full tasting, but the woman said that she would waive the cost of the tasting and let us try four different wines. The wines we tasted were really good and we decided that we would have to come back another time for the full experience. Chateau Morrisette also has a restaurant and outdoor seating--both of which we are interested in experiencing next time! The woman helping us with the tasting then gave a suggestion for dinner in Floyd--Mickey G's. We ended up going and sharing a margarita pizza with some red wine. Yum!
After dinner, we took the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while. The views were amazing!
We finally arrived home at around 10:45 pm...what a trip! These are the bottles of wine and the glasses we came back with.
We will definitely have to make another trip to NC in the near future. It was really fun to be with family and the vineyards were an added bonus!
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