Wine and Water

Cool clouds over the lake

Another gorgeous day on the lake. The pesky humidity is gone and we are left with perfect temperatures and a scattering of fluffy clouds. We took a morning walk though the park and down past the marina so Phin could take a dip. Here’s the daily shot-today it’s a big stick!

Phin-with-a-stick

After lunch we headed over to Three Brothers Wineries and Brewery. Originally we had planned on visiting Wagner vineyards, but we passed Three Brothers on our way here and after looking it up decided this was the place for us. Not only was it closer to the park, but with three wineries and a brewery all in one location we couldn’t pass it up. They definitely have a good thing going there- the place was packed! For good reason too. For a mere ten bucks you can visit three separate, and distinct, wineries and one brewery. The $10 buys you a passport that allows 5 tastings at each location. Well worth the money we thought.

rows & rows of grapes

Each winery has a different theme which is reflected in their labels and buildings. By far the coolest was Bagg Dare, which had a down home feel to it and was located in an old building tucked back in the woods along side a swamp. This is the entrance sign…

Bagg Dare entrance

This is what greats you when you walk up to the building. All we could think was that Mike and Frank would love this place!

old trucks and gas pumps

close up of signs on the building

Unfortunately, the wines really didn’t match the gritty feel of the place and neither of us were very impressed with the tasting. All five of the wines were very, very sweet- to the point that more than a tiny tasting cup would have been too much. This is definitely typical of the area, sweet wines are what this region is known for but not what you expect when you walk up to this place. The wine we both liked best, and the one we purchased, came from Stony Lonesome Winery. This winery had a more typical feel with a classy wood filled interior and a huge deck over looking the vineyards.

baby grapes

Look how tiny the grapes are! This is a Reisling grape, the same kind that made up the wine we bought – a dry Reisling called Zero degree that was the least sweet of any wine we tasted. I also purchased a bottle of grapeseed oil along with some local Yancy’s Fancys Champagne Cheddar. Cause you can’t have wine without cheese!

each row was labeled by type of grape

The brewery was okay, but none of the beers we tasted jumped out at us. Tim liked one of the really dark kinds (can’t remember the name) and my favorite was actually the root beer that we tasted at the end- yum! We both had high hopes for the Raspberry Wheat but all we kept thinking was how it wasn’t nearly as good as the Long Trail Blackberry Wheat that we get back in VT. How spoiled we are! All in all is was an enjoyable visit and a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.