East Coast Trip Day 9: Wine Tour

Tom, Janice and I signed up to take the Wine Tasting and Vineyard Tour. It was an all day tour and boy was it fun!

Riding in style on a luxury Blue Ridge Coach.

On the drive, Greg told us a bunch of history about the wineries and wine industry in Virginia. It was fascinating to listen to. 

Greg, our guide...sorry he's blurry.

We went to Prince Michel Winery first. They greeted us with a glass of Pinot Grigio and hot hors d'oeuvres.  

Prince Michel Winery

Brad, the wine maker, took us on a tour of the winery. This is the pressing room. 

 This machine can press 20,000 pounds of grapes in three hours...or something like that. :)

 A view into the "tank room." The wine is held in these stainless steel tanks.

 This machine is able to separate the grapes from the stems at a very rapid rate.

 Who's thirsty? Every box is a case of wine. That's A LOT of wine!

 This is the dessert wine in an "onion" bottle.

 We did get to see the bottling process.

 This automated machine packs the cases.

Here they come...

Picking up 2 dozen bottles at once...

Lining up with the cases...

In they go.

Did you know that wines are actually packed in cases upside down? This is done to keep the wine in contact with the cork, which keeps it from drying out and allowing air to seep in the bottle. 

 We tasted 10 wines at Prince Michel. Each taste was a swallow or two. The owls on the tables were for pouring out any wines you didn't care for or want to finish drinking. I poured out most of the reds. I just don't care for them...still.

There was some time to shop. We picked up a few bottles of wine and some Peach Bellini mix. Tom spotted this wine rack that we loved. Maybe one day. :)

 Prince Michel Vineyard and Winery

 They have the neatest sculptures out front. They wine glasses are filled with these pieces of metal that spin in the wind. The top of the wine glass also spins. I really like them.

 Our luxury coach for the day. It reminded me of band trips in high school.

 Barboursville Vineyards--the setting of this vineyard was incredible!

 The main house with the name.

 Governor James Barbour, for whom the vineyard is named.

 The plans of the original building on the property. This building was designed by Thomas Jefferson himself. Sadly, it burned down on Christmas Day in the 1880's.

 The tasting room.

 The wine shop.

 Exactly what the sign says.

 Drawings of the original building.

 Barrels stored in the Octagon room with crystal stoppers (I think they called them bongs.)

 The barrels are about 4 deep throughout the room.

 Janice listening to Frank give the tour at Barboursville Vineyards.

 More wine!

 Frank, our tour guide.

 This vineyard does not use an automated packing machine. All of their wine is boxed by hand.

 The ruins of the original building are still on the property. Look for the 4 chimneys in the background.

 The vineyard is 220-acres, yet they still have to purchase 10% of their grapes from other farms to meet their production demands each year. They average 500,000 bottles sold per year. It is 1% of the production their sister vineyards in Italy make per year.

 We tasted another 9 or so wines here. None of us cared for them as much as the wines at Prince Michel but the experience and scenery were great.

 Another look toward the ruins.

 I love this man!

 The planters had these beautiful plants in them. I have no idea what they are, but I liked the triangular leaves.

 They also had heart shaped leaved plants.

 The tour bus arrived back at Massanutten around 5:30 pm. We made kielbasa shish kabobs and baked macaroni and cheese for dinner. It was delicious! The kids liked being able to make their own kabobs. Dad grilled them so they had a yummy smokey taste.

Janice loves to do cross stitch. The girls have been watching what she is doing and she asked them if they'd like to learn how.  When I was a little girl, Janice taught me how to cross stitch. It is fun to see the next generation learn how to do it also. She took the girls to town and they each picked out a kit.

 First things first, you must sort the thread and make sure you know which color is which.

It took them a while to get the thread sorted. Tomorrow, they will have to double check it in natural light. It may have to wait one more day though, because tomorrow, we are heading out early for Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virgina...three hours away!