Grayhaven Winery

On our way down to Williamsburg, Virginia, we took a side trip to visit Grayhaven Winery in Gum Spring, Virginia.  We bought a Groupon for a Winery Cellar Tour, Artisan Cheese Board, And Souvenir Wine Glasses For Two.

First let me say this place is in the middle of nowhere 😉 However, this isn't that strange for us to go to somewhere using the GPS and it taking us along the minor roads to a far away place!!  I will say we were relieved to discover that Grayhaven Winery did exist and what a lovely place it was, run by a very lovely couple.

As many of you know I don't drink alcohol, or at least very little alcohol, but wanted to treat dh  to a tour and as we were only 90 minutes from our destination, I knew I would have no trouble driving the rest of the way.  We got there just before 1 pm I think and we were joined by another couple shortly after who had also bought a Groupon for the same thing.  We got to taste a number of their wines; though I declined most of them, as it turns out I only liked the super sweet wine, that was called Jam Jar and their Port/Desert Wine.  I could have drunk those by the gallon............but remember I was driving!!

The owners of the winery were super friendly; I forgot their names, sorry!  The husband guided us through the wine tasting and the wife gave us a tour of the winery and explained how everything worked.  They are a small winery who make under 5,000 cases of wine per year.  They only sell through the winery, not in any retail stores and everyone is hands on in the growing, processing and distribution of their wines.  Making it a small boutique/indie type of winery.  After the tour we were treated to a cheese and cracker board that was just lovely.  Dh enjoyed his with a glass of wine.

Here are some photos from the day:

The selection of wines we tasted.

 The owner of the Winery, again sorry I forgot his name, but he is originally from South Africa.  

The lovely Jam Jar wine, which was infact the cheapest wine they sold!!! 

 A view from the patio where we sat and ate our cheese and crackers.

Another view from the patio. 

 Our yummy cheese and cracker plate, there was olives also, but neither of us like them.  See the napkin on top of dh's wine glass, the wasps were out in force as they had just harvested the grapes.

 The koi in the pond were huge.

Dh's favourite wine was the Rendezvous Cabernet Sauvignon 

" Flavors of black currant and tobacco flow smoothly over the palate in Grayhaven's Cabernet Sauvignon. While delightful on release, this medium bodied wine is supported by a healthy tannin structure, making it a great choice for home cellar aging. Serve Grayhaven Cabernet Sauvignon with zesty Italian dishes, veal with porcini cream sauce or prime rib with red wine demi-glaze. "

If you happen to be in the area, it is a worthwhile place to visit and you will be made very welcome; I know we were, and do have their cheese plate it was so, so good.

They let us in AGAIN!!!

Yup, we are on vacation in the States.  This time in the state of Virginia.

We visited a Farmer's Market and as always it was very interesting.

One stall sold mushrooms.  The two bags at the back and the two bags at the front were Lion's Mane Mushrooms. There seems to be two spellings for that mushroom Mane and Maine.  They were selling for $10 USD a bag.  If I remember rightly she said they tasted like crab?  They have a website called Steve Haas Mushrooms.  Never saw Steve, just a lady.

There was a stall that just sold Orchids.  This one is a deciduous one and a rarer colour.  As I pointed out to dh, "this one drops it leaves on purpose, unlike mine!"  Mine drops it leaves through lack of attention!

Sunflowers are "happy" flowers don't you think?

More lovely flowers. 

Didn't buy anything, but did enjoy the market and the lovely weather.