Sitting off of Day’s Point Road in Smithfield/Isle of Wight County, SummerWind is a family owned and operated Vineyard that has been selling their grapes to wineries throughout the State of Virginia since 2008. Having began their grape growing journey in 2005, The Pugh family’s vineyard is about 11 acres in size and consists of varietals such as Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Manseng, Viognier, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Chardonel. While they were successful selling their fruit to other wineries, the family had planted the vineyard with the intention of making their own wine and decided to make that dream come true in 2015 when they started the next chapter of the vineyard’s adventure and began this process! All these years later SummerWInd Vineyard’s dream of making their own wine came to fruition with their Official Tasting Room Grand Opening this past Saturday! It was a very exciting day that included an outpour of support from the local community as well as folks from places like Yorktown, The Eastern Shore, Hampton/Newport News and even visitors from out of state! All were there in anticipation of SummerWind’s very first vintage, which included five wines from 2017 and an announcement that three more reds from the same vintage will be released this March! So! About the wines! What are they you ask!? Well, let’s start with The Petit Manseng. A delightfully dry and citrusy white wine that delight’s the nose with floral notes and ends on the taste buds with a hint of pineapple! Then we go to "The Two River’s White," which is an extremely satisfying blend of Chardonnay and Viognier! This white lingers on the palate with a buttery mouth feel and will please those wine lovers that enjoy both the semi-dry or semi-sweet. Next, you must try SummerWind’s “Warwick Squeak,” which is a Sparkling Rose that starts out dry and has that satisfying prickly bite you often find in sparkling wines, but then delivers the splendid naturally sweet flavors of strawberry, raspberry and melon. As if that wasn’t enough, we move onto the red wines from this 2017 vintage. The first being SummerWind’s Cabernet Franc! As a 100% Cab Franc, this is very much a light, French style version of this varietal and gives beautiful black cherry and deep rose notes. Last on the list is “The Pagan!” This red was a hit, to say the least! A blend of Chamborsin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot, it produces flavors of strawberry and red raspberry while it coats the tongue with velvety soft tannins and is a winner for the bold red and semi-sweet lover alike! Enough said, right?! If all that wine talk wasn’t enough, SummerWInd will also be featuring Charcuterie boards and light fair food for your enjoyment! And, I'm sure there will be some salty ham and local peanuts mixed into that fare! So put this gem on your list of things to do! They are open Fridays through Sundays and encourage large parties to call and reserve special tastings or events during other days of the week! Business Hours Friday - Saturday 11:30am to 7pm Sunday 11:30am to 6pm As usual! Keeping is Salty & Sweet, lol! Check out all these links for more information about SummerWind and look for my next blog soon to know what your next stop on The Salty Southern Route will be! Love, SaltyMeg https://www.facebook.com/SummerWindVineyard/ http://www.swvsmithfield.com #loveva #ridetheroutefromnutstosnout @visitvirginia 
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 What says Suffolk like PEANUTS! Suffolk, Virginia has had a long love affair with this beautiful legume, and one of the ways it celebrates it, as well as the city’s agricultural heritage, is with the family friendly Annual Peanut Fest! And, It is happening this week! In fact, it’s happening right now!
Suffolk’s Peanut Fest has it all! We are talking a 5K Run, a parade, amusement rides & games, delicious food, a cornhole tournament, top notch bands, a motorcycle rally, a demolition derby, a wing eating contest and last but not least, the World’s Only Peanut Butter Sculpture Contest! Need I say more?! This festival has been going on for a long time, too! The very first Peanut Fest was in 1941 and by the time the second one rolled around, it produced a crowd of nearly 50,000 people! Over 30 years later, the City of Suffolk continued this tradition by celebrating the modern predecessor of today’s Peanut Fest with “Harvest Fest” in 1978. Which brings us to what we know the Peanut Fest to be today, four fun filled days in October that brings out around 125,000 people to Suffolk every year! This festival is so awesome that it has been featured in Southern Living, The Southern Farmers Almanac, Best Festivals-Mid Atlantic, Sauveursand Virginia Business! And this year marks the 41stanniversary of all the fun! Oh, and did I mention they top it all off with fireworks! Anyway, Mr. Peanut is in Suffolk waiting for you. So, head down to Suffolk’s Executive Airport (1410 Airport Road, Suffolk, VA 23434) and have a wonderful long weekend enjoying friends, family and PEANUTS! See ya! Love, SaltyMeg The Festival dates are October 4th through the 7th! (Thursday – Sunday) Check out the link below for all the details! http://www.suffolkpeanutfest.com #loveva #ridetheroutefromnutstosnout @visitvirginia |
The Salty Southern Routeis a joint tourism effort of the towns of Franklin and Smithfield, Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surry and Sussex Counties, and the city of Suffolk, Virginia. Archives
June 2024
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