I absolutely love being outside on a nature walk. A “walk” to me can be a hike of 3 to 5 miles, and as long as I am surrounded by trees, I am fine. I love the way the sunlight bounces around through the trees and makes dappled patterns on the ground. I like seeing butterflies float by as if they have all the time in the world. Mostly, I just love the stillness that woods have. Going to Natural Bridge was an escape of all sorts…not just because of the hurricane. My husband and I took our first trip there around 15 years ago. This time around, we went in late summer and got to experience it with our children.
After a fun morning walking on the trails and seeing the wax museum, butterfly exhibit, and toy display, we were ready to do something else. We happened to find a brochure for a winery and orchard right down the road from our hotel. We had to hurry along some back roads to get there because they were closing in an hour. We have been bringing our children to wineries since they were little, but some wineries have started new policies about that. I read the brochure and thought surely since they were an orchard they wouldn’t mind. As we turned down the gravel road, we passed rows of apple trees and off to the left were the grapes. Ahhh. Grapes. What a great fruit.
As we pull up, we see what appears to be a historic (or so I thought) outhouse outside. It was painted red with a sign on it reading “Johnny’s House”. Ha. How quaint. We go inside and there is a little Jack Russell Terrier running around. He is adorable and apparently his name was Pepper. The girls fell in love with him. I see a wine tasting going on and I don’t want to intrude, so I wait until is over before I approach. There are a tremendous amount of wines that sound sweet with some very interesting names. Finally, it is our turn. Our girls are having a good time with the dog and the apples, peaches, and nectarines we let them pick out. I look down and happen to notice that the guy about to pour our wine is barefoot. Very laid back. He doesn’t even charge a tasting fee. Wow. This is not like other wineries.
There are 30 wines to taste, and each one is different from the last. A lady comes in and starts talking all about wines beside me. I comment about the flavors I taste in each sample and then she says “he didn’t say those were in there.” I told her I could tell that one had scuppernong flavors, and apparently it made her mad. She finally stopped talking about how much she knew after that. Bless her heart. As we were nearing the end of the tasting, Mr. Wineman pulls out a can of cheese whiz. I thought it was a joke. So far there had been no crackers to cleanse my palate, but that was fine with me. He asks me to hold out my finger and squirts some cheese on it. He talks all about their fiery wine and how I can lick the cheese and then drink the wine. He says it tastes like pepper jack cheese. Oh it sure does buddy. It was really different. I like different. He ends with the hottest “wine” of all, something made out of Habanero chili peppers. I look at my husband and then we drink. Whew…I feel a hot flash comin’ on. I felt like a little kid as he handed me my sticker. It said “I kissed the devil at Peaks of Otter Winery.” We ended up buying Chili Dawg, which went with the cheese so nicely, and the Mountain Sunrise because I like the Norton grape.
So, if you are ever up in the mountains of ole’ Virginny, swing by this here winery and sit a spell. The apples are crisp and the peaches are ripe.
“A bottle of wine begs to be shared; I have never met a miserly wine lover.” ~Clifton Paul Fadiman
