It’s hard to believe that the holidays are upon us, but indeed they have arrived! Of course, food and wine are synonymous with holiday cheer, and lots of food, wine, and cheer were found at Gray Ghost Vineyards this past weekend.
With our holiday logo glasses in hand, we joined the holiday festivities in the Gray Ghost barrel room. We were treated to unlimited wine samples and all the food we could manage to eat. Special tasting for given of the Merlot, the Adieu, and the newly-released Reserve Chardonnay. Warren was eager to try the Reserve Chardonnay; in fact, he swiped Paul’s tasting ticket to enjoy a second glass. The Reserve Chardonnay is done in the California style without the heavy oak flavor; its honeyed texture and vanilla/nut finish make it a natural pairing with corn chowder, creamy pasta sauces, and crab cakes. Warren stocked up on the salmon and spinach dip while sipping this one. (In the meantime, Paul wondered what happened to his tasting ticket for the Reserve Chardonnay.)
As we enjoyed food and wine, we marveled at the decorations made from wine corks. Al Kellert, wine maker, creates Christmas trees, a fireplace, reindeer, and large holiday candles from wine corks, and these pieces are the source of Gray Ghost’s annual cork counting contest. Participants must guess how many corks were used to construct one of the chosen pieces, and this year it was the holiday candles. Paul attempted to be scientific about the matter and generated a very educated guess. Warren copied off of Paul’s answer and added a few corks for good measure!
We had a great time and even did some holiday shopping while we were at the winery. In fact, this was the second consecutive weekend we visited Gray Ghost,. The weekend before, we visited our friends from Woodland Winery, John and Megan Witherspoon. It was a bit warmer that weekend, and we were able to enjoy lunch and wine outdoors. However, with Santa on the way, the weather has turned colder here in Virginia, and we hope all of our readers are having a wonderful holiday season!
