Wine Links - Travel and Taste

Wine Links - Travel and Taste

As we continue to travel, we'll continue to put up more links.  The ones we've started with are states where we've done some tasting thus far.  We will be adding more as time goes by and as we head to neighboring states.  Keep checking back, we never know when we're going to hit another winery...

Both of us enjoy travel, and both enjoy driving, so there's never any telling where we might end up, especiallly on a decent weekend.  Any time is a great time to enjoy a tasting!

When you're planning a tasting trip, don't rule out criss-crossing a state line to visit neighboring wineries, such as in Maryland and Pennsylvania.  It may be closer to hopscotch than to stay in one state and travel further.  After all, less travel time = more wine, right?


Maryland

Here's where we visited our first winery, all the way back in January 2012.  It was the Linganore Winecellars and Berrywine Plantation, all part of the same group.  Linganore provides classic grape wines, and Berrywine offers sweet fruit wines.

More than 40 wineries are open in Maryland at this point, and others come online fairly often..  Maryland has a Passport, available at low or no cost, and, as you travel from winery to winery and register your visits, you can unlock discounts for wine festivals and other offers.  It's a fun way to just keep track of where you've been, too.

Maryland Wineries


Virginia

My niece and her husband got married at Kinloch Farm, in Caret in 2012.  That gave us the chance to try Virginia wines, and so we traveled to several on the Northern Neck that weekend. We found some really good wineries and surprising wines. Virginia is chock full of wineries, from the far southwest to the shores of the Chesapeake and north to Winchester. 

Even if you've got a lot of time on your bucket list, you may never visit them all in Virginia.

Virginia Wineries


Delaware
 
Living in such a small state as Delaware, you'd almost think we'd have done them all very early on.  You'd be wrong.  The nearest winery to us in Delaware is at least 50 mi (72 km) away, and takes at least an hour on slower roads.  That doesn't mean they're not worth it--they definitely are.

Delaware only has a handful of wineries, all of which are in the southern portion of the state, otherwise known as "LSD" or Lower Slower Delaware.  Most of them are very new, many not older than 10 years old.  A couple, like Nassau Valley, have their own vineyards, others buy grapes from other vendors and ferment them.

But Delaware also has some really fine breweries, such as Dogfish Head and Iron Hill, and they also merit a visit.  The link I've provided will have wines, beers, and spirits.  Hey, it's all alcohol, right?

Delaware Beer, Wines, and Spirits


Pennsylvania

Another state with a boatload of wineries is our northern neighbor, Pennsylvania.  Robb's family is from the Poconos, and when we visit there, we just might happen to stop at a winery... or two... or three.  I read somewhere that the Commonwealth has some 150+ wineries.  Good Lord, we'll never get them done, either.  But it doesn't hurt to try.

One of our favorite wineries, Paradocx, in southern Chester County, is just spitting distance from the Delaware line.  They offer some of their varietals in returnable 3.5 L paint cans with a pouring spout at the bottom for about $40.00.  (The regular wine bottle is 750 ml, so you're getting 4-2/3 bottles at a clip here.) You pay a deposit, open the can, consume the wine, return it, and you can get the deposit back--or use it on the next can.  These wines are quite good.

Pennsylvania Winery Association


New Jersey Wineries

Although it is just across the Delaware Memorial Bridge for us, for the longest time we had avoided discovering any wines in New Jersey.  We are kind of sorry we did, because there are some really fine ones there.

So far, we've visited some of the wineries close in to Delaware, some near the White Horse Pike on the way to Atlantic City, and some down around Cape May.  There are some real gems in each of the areas we've been so far.

One of our favorite Jersey wineries is Auburn Road, near the Cowtown Rodeo and Flea Market in Pilesgrove.  They offer a nice tour and great wines, along with a very friendly staff.


New Jersey Wineries