Just a Saturday's drive

Heading north on Interstate 95 the Saturday after Independence Day is probably not the smartest idea, but we did it anyway!  Our first destination was Windy River Winery in Beaverdam.  We never found it.  We never saw a sign and when I tried to call, the message was that the number was not in service.  To bad.

Then on to Morais Vineyards in Bealton.  Looking at the pictures of the place on line, I was thinking large and stuff, but what a surprise - it was a hopping, fun place!  What made it fun was our server and we thank her for that!  The tasting room is quite large with a big oval bar, but when we walked in, it was pretty crowded.  Our server gave us some crackers and cheeses (yum) and our first tasting, then seemed to disappear into the crowd.  When she came back, she did give us as much attention as others to explain the wine and how the cheeses went with each one.  Sometimes in cases where there is a crowd and only a couple of servers, they can neglect you and that is not good.  There needs to be a nice balance between hovering and throwing something in your glass for you to figure out for  yourself!  It wound up being a nice leisurely tasting and for the amount of time it took us to get up there, that was okay by me. 

You know for me it is not about the wines, but they only had 2 whites, a rose’ and 4 reds and 2 port style.  Well, C is not a red or port drinking person and today particularly.  It was over 100 degrees outside, inside the tasting room is was not cool and someone pours him a glass of warm wine.  Not so much!  But he does try them before giving them back to mother earth (ok, pouring in the dump bucket). Well, our server took it to heart that she had to find something he would like.  It got really comical and made it fun as she finally gave up and handed him a passion fruit soda so that he would have tasted something he could enjoy!  The soda was good – and cold and the afternoon was good and fun!

Sometimes you just have to change the plan!

Finally we found a Saturday to visit some Virginia wineries.  With C as our DD, JP, SEG and I made our plans and headed out.  We headed out about 9:30, met JP for coffee and headed west on Route 60 to Route 29, destination Lovingston Winery, Lovingston, VA.  Now I know that we were just there and no, I don’t do many repeats, but we thought the gang would enjoy it.  But when you make plans there are those elements that we cannot control.  In this case, it was the weather – the severe thunderstorms that felled trees and power lines across our great Commonwealth and particularly what we will call the Greater Charlottesville area, which, yes, includes Lovingston.   We were aware that a storm came through on Friday night, but never thought about massive power outages.  When we got to Lovingston, sadly for what appeared to be lack of power, it was closed and sadly, it had been awhile since we had those cups of coffee! 

With Lovingston closed, we headed to a bit further west thinking we could grab lunch at Devils Backbone and then hit a few of the wineries in that immediate area.  With the restaurant closed, we headed the ¼ mile to Wintergreen Winery.  They were open, but without power - meaning no air conditioning and no running water – i.e. restrooms (see cups of coffee above!) so we decided to move on.  This would be a good point to add that the temperature was over 100 that day even in the beautiful mountains. 

At that point we all got on our phones searching for an open winery – one with air conditioning AND running water.  Finally one winery answered the phone and they assured us they had power, air conditioning, wine, running water and food.  Thank you Early Mountain Vineyard which is in Madison County, just about an hour away from where we were at the time.  It wound up being worth the trip!  Even if we were not desperate for food, wine and a restroom (see coffee above!) Early Mountain would be a very nice place.  After they pointed us to the restrooms, they took very good care of us.  They brought the wine flights we requested to our table and the tastings were generous enough that we could enjoy them as we ate our lunch.  For those days when it is not over 100 in the mountains, they have a beautiful patio with a fire place and furniture sitting round fire pits spread around the property (fire pits not necessary on this trip).  The indoor space was beautiful with a large central fireplace and seating areas set up all around. 

I enjoyed the time spent at Early Mountain; the wine flight was nice with lunch and our visit was relaxing, but if I were going for just a tasting, I do not think I would have been as happy.  The tasting was expensive, $12 for 4 wines, red or white.  At that cost you really want to take time and enjoy, not just stop by for a quick tasting. 

Leaving Early Mountain and heading home, we thought we could fit in one more winery so we stopped at Keswick Vineyards.  C and I had been there a few years ago and enjoyed it.  It was about 4:25 when we arrived and felt okay because they did not close until 5.  I guess our server did not feel that way.  Our server was neglectful, bordering on rude.  It was sad since we had other options but chose Keswick and got such bad service.  People - service is huge in this industry.  Do not act like we are imposing on you.  

These pictures are Early Mountain.  So beautiful!