July is almost gone, so I figured I'd catch up with everyone via blog. It's been a great month wine-wise, and I learned something: Durham, NC, may be a fairly quiet town (hell, it's really quite dead), but it's a great place to buy wine!
Apparently, North Carolina is one of the most rapidly growing wine regions. There are hundreds of wineries there, up from just 20 or 30 twenty years ago. It takes about 10 years for a winery to begin producing good, saleable wines, so these wineries are quite young yet, but the business is booming. Now you know!
Anyway, we found a great wine store in Durham, Total Wines in the Brier Creek mall (it's next to Barnes & Noble, so there's your excuse for going to the mall, should you need one). The place was awesome, like they just emptied an entire supermarket and stocked the shelves with nothing but wine. Wines were arranged by region of course, and there was an aisle with things like dips, crackers, and spreads, and also an aisle with all different kinds of beer. Loved it!
We also visited the Chatham Hill winery, located in nearby Morrisville. We had a tasting, and were allowed to try 6 varietals for just $5, plus you got to keep the glass. Then we took a tour of the place, which was really just 2 rooms, one for the barreling and storage and one for the bottling and labeling. Chatham Hill doesn't have a vineyard, so they import their grapes from California and northern North Carolina. We learned a lot; everyone should visit a vinery as soon as they can. It made me more determined that we really need to organize a North Fork, Long Island trip for the group. I brought back a shiraz for the group to try on 8/4.
Not only that, but we managed to get my aunt, who is not much of a drinker, completely hooked on riesling. She was out of control! So it's true, there really can be a wine for everyone (you hear that, Leighann?).
We'll catch up more in August. Meanwhile, feel free to share your wine stories here on the blog; I could use some light reading. See you soon!
Apparently, North Carolina is one of the most rapidly growing wine regions. There are hundreds of wineries there, up from just 20 or 30 twenty years ago. It takes about 10 years for a winery to begin producing good, saleable wines, so these wineries are quite young yet, but the business is booming. Now you know!
Anyway, we found a great wine store in Durham, Total Wines in the Brier Creek mall (it's next to Barnes & Noble, so there's your excuse for going to the mall, should you need one). The place was awesome, like they just emptied an entire supermarket and stocked the shelves with nothing but wine. Wines were arranged by region of course, and there was an aisle with things like dips, crackers, and spreads, and also an aisle with all different kinds of beer. Loved it!
We also visited the Chatham Hill winery, located in nearby Morrisville. We had a tasting, and were allowed to try 6 varietals for just $5, plus you got to keep the glass. Then we took a tour of the place, which was really just 2 rooms, one for the barreling and storage and one for the bottling and labeling. Chatham Hill doesn't have a vineyard, so they import their grapes from California and northern North Carolina. We learned a lot; everyone should visit a vinery as soon as they can. It made me more determined that we really need to organize a North Fork, Long Island trip for the group. I brought back a shiraz for the group to try on 8/4.
Not only that, but we managed to get my aunt, who is not much of a drinker, completely hooked on riesling. She was out of control! So it's true, there really can be a wine for everyone (you hear that, Leighann?).
We'll catch up more in August. Meanwhile, feel free to share your wine stories here on the blog; I could use some light reading. See you soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment