The Tasting That Never Was

As the tours go by, I am reminded of all the special memories that go into each and every one of them. Each one has it's own unique quality or remembrance that we take away. As I sit here thinking back on the laughs, games and overall experience that we offer our guest wanting to dig just a little bit deeper into Lancaster County, I can't help but think and laugh about our last R&D day.

R&D... short for "Research and Development" came to light when we started planning our tours. Little did we know that it would one day become a very important part of the whole piece. Sometimes we get just a bit giddy when planning a day for R&D, as if school kids going on a field trip... I guess we actually are.

Our visits always appear on the surface as if we are quite versed on wine. What we lack in knowledge on the subject, we make up for with three different things:

1. A desire to learn
2. A willingness to sample
3. A fun-filled sarcastic bantering back and forth amongst each other

So not to long ago, we decided to go for a tasting at two wineries we have never been to in Chester County. We did our homework and left messages. It was still early in the morning and for sure a message should be plenty.

So off we went, map, pen and paper in hand ready to conquer the wine world. There is nothing better than the sweet anticipation of sampling wine. Next thing, who is the designated driver? Paper... scissors... rock! Paper... scissors... rock! Darn, I am the DD today, which means that I will be just a little less "educated" We had two victims on our list, Old Mill Race Wine and Black Walnut Winery.

Black Walnut first! We thought for sure they would be there. Working on there dream getting ready for the summer season. I commented on the labels as we were driving there. Simple elegance. As we drove up, we thought to ourselves wow, they are really doing a lot of work. So we knocked, walked around and called. No one answered, we poked into the basement and saw all their stock. Case upon Case of wine with those beautiful labels. We went upstairs and saw some construction workers there filling us in on where the owners were. W0rking. It seems that they did not have the winery open yet. As we left, walking by each and every case on our way out, we left dry as a desert. We had a good feeling there and thought to ourselves that this will soon be on our list.

The next one was Old Mill Race Wine. As we approached, we noticed that there was a detour. We had to circumnavigate around until ultimately reaching our destination. What beautiful countryside. The property with it's wine tasting room directly in front of the vineyards, boast a home on the National Register of Historic Places. A home built in circa 1767 and occupied by Zachariah and Abigail Hartman Rice. Both were integral during the Revolutionary War. So we go to knock on the door and alas, once again no one there. We lost out again. We could see the wine in the tasting room, but must have just missed the owner.

So although we did not get to taste wine, we know that these two are keepers. Their appearance, websites and for me the labels are all it takes to sell me. I guess that means that one day soon, we will have to plan another trip for wine tasting. Hopefully just hopefully, this time I will win at Paper... Scissors... Rock!