Horton Vineyards (part II): April 2011

Well its been a few days, er weeks. So I left you at Autumn Hill and on the road to Horton Vineyards. From the view Horton is stunning, its like a little castle surrounded by picturesque vines. Because the storm was clearing when we got their, the gray skies contrasted with the sun and greenery to make a gorgeous view. Once inside it was everything that Autumn Hill was not. There were bedazzled t-shirts, souvenir nuts & chocolates, aerators, every wine accessory possible crowding the entry with a tasting table practically in the middle of everything. This wasn't the only tasting table, this was the reds, the "L" shaped bar had the whites, fruit and chocolate wines. Oh you read correctly. This place had 40 wines and for something like $8 you got to try 12 or 15. Crazy! The reds, not so hot, they had one red table wine that was alright. None of the whites really stood out to me either, but what we all did enjoy were the fruit wines, specifically the peach and pear. They were a little sweet, but not too much so, a good refreshing summer sipper that could also mix with champagne or sparkling water.  Yum! The chocolate wines were odd, I think the regular chocolate tasted like real chocolate, which was really odd and the white chocolate was way too sweet. After all of us meandered through the excessively over crowded room to finish our tastings I think we almost all left with a bottle of the peach wine. After sitting on site drinking the peach with a red things got a little bit crazy.

We decided to enjoy the rest of the bottle outside, but on the way out someone spotted some Swisher Sweets (yes the same ones you tried in high school with the plastic tips) and picked them up. They were promptly doled out to each member of the crew. Kelly, Dan and Adam had wandered into the vineyards or someplace away from Debbie and I when I spotted a little blue ball sitting in a puddle. It almost looked like a mini Easter egg, a solid bright blue. After a few glasses I was curious so I picked it up under Deb's close eye and shook it to see if it was hollow or not, nothing. I looked for the seam to see if I could pop it open, no dice. So I shook it again and squeezed it lightly, still nada. Now I'm really getting curious about this funny ball, so I sqeezed harder...then POP! The little blue egg that it was burst all over my face and sweater! After my initial shock wore off we couldn't stop laughing about it. Meanwhile we found the others in vineyard and had a little photo session.

As photo session ended and hungry tummies got a little feisty we opted to go to Charlottesville for dinner since it was much closer than DC. What followed was dinner at Miller's (the bar where Dave Matthews got his start) where we made fun of a snoring server on break, who wasn't a server at all, but in fact the owner! Then we wandered down to a little Greek place where we sat outside and listed to the Drive By Truckers play in the amphitheater as our host had his new bartender whip up amazing mojitos and the feisty ones continued to be feisty even after their meal. Awkward. The concert was great, and once it finished we, the girls, stared in awe as we watched tall, cute guy after tall, cute guy in flops, ripped jeans and/or shaggy hair leave the concert. We were so ready to move to Charlottesville after that! The drive back was quiet as I was very sober and everyone else dozed off. Tip of the day: if you get feisty on my tour you probably won't get invited back, so stick to the happy drunk and its fun all around!