North Alabama Wine Trail
Wills Creek Winery
My sister, Kim and my cousin/sister, Donna, who both love wine, and I were enjoying a bottle of wine and the beautiful view at Wills Creek Winery a few months ago. My favorite wine offered at Wills Creek is the Sweet Muscadine. We were given a “Wine Passport” for the North Alabama Wine Trail that they stamped for us. This is what started about two months of weekend wine excursions. Although I was not a wine person when we started this adventure, I have certainly gained an appreciation for wine. I am slowly developing a taste for and actually enjoying wine these days. Princess (Peach Chardonnay) is my favorite wine from Wills Creek. You can get a bottle of wine (or two) a nice cheese platter and sit out in the back and enjoy the gorgeous views. It is so peaceful that you may not want to leave!
J. Berta Winery
A few days later, I went to Albertville with sis looking for a certain color Yeti tumbler she wanted. As we were driving back, we saw the sign for the Jules J. Berta Winery so we decided to check them out and get our “Passport” stamped. We were so surprised that they are just a couple of minutes right off the highway. When we were there, they were having a wedding in the vineyard which looked like a beautiful event. After tasting most of the wines on offer, I ended up choosing the Sassy Frass White Sangria and the Dog at Large Blackberry as my two favorites. Both of those are available at ABC Stores.
Maraella Winery
Well, the next weekend rolled around and sis was ready to roll on down the road again and finish up the trail. We started that Saturday morning at Maraella Winery in Hokes Bluff. Alonzo Lee gave us an informative and entertaining tasting. My favorite here was the Cremisi Muscadine. I was really surprised that my Favorite Winery of the North Alabama Wine Trail ended up being so close to home. Hospitality means a lot to us Southern Girls and you are really made to feel welcome at Maraella. We were really enjoying ourselves but knew we needed to get on the road. After a fun visit, Alonzo gave us directions to White Oak Vineyard and we were on our way.
White Oak Vineyard
When we arrived at White Oak Vineyard, it was bright and sunny and perfect or enjoying the beautiful view. We went into the tasting room and sampled some great wines. The wines at White Oak are on the dryer side than any of the other wines we have tasted. I would have to say my favorite wine at White Oak was the Norton. I think sis liked their Blueberry. I always thought that I liked sweet wines but I believe I am more of a semi-sweet person. Since we were so close, we decided to go on over to High Country Cellars and then on to Fruithurst.
High Country Cellars
From White Oak, we went to High Country Cellars. We went from the really dry wine at White Oak to some pretty sweet wines at High Country Cellars. The friendly atmosphere was really enjoyable. They have a huge selection of wines with cutesy names. Their number one seller being the Skeeter Piss. I loved the Black Cherry Semi-sweet wine. Sis bought some Skeeter Piss and some wine slush mix. We also backtracked after our stop in Fruithurst so she could get some of their Blueberry Wine.
Fruithurst Winery Company
We left High Country Cellars and went to Fruithurst Winery Company. My top pick here was the Semi-sweet Red Muscadine. Fruithurst was one of my favorites wineries because of the history. It had been a well established wine-producing area in the late 1890’s. Unfortunately, the last of the wineries were closed due to Prohibition in 1919. They have so many documents showing wine being put on trains and sent to various locations. It was really interesting reading all of this history. Fruithurst is now owned by cousins, Josh and Dylan Laminack. When we were there, we were told a distillery was opening soon but we have not had a chance to go back and check that out yet. It is definitely on our list though.
Since sis didn’t find a Blueberry Wine she liked as good as the one at High Country Cellars, we stopped back there on our way home so she could get one from them. As I have said before, I am not a wine person but I think I bought about 3-4 bottles of wine. I knew Stella, my daughter would drink them. I bought a Red Currant wine from High Country Cellars that I am saving for Thanksgiving to serve with my famous “Turkish rice” aka ic pilav. I won’t rat sis out on how many she bought ;-). We were on a wine kick and we started the Birmingham Shelby Wine Trail the next weekend. I think we spent a month and a half or two month’s of Saturday’s going to all of these great Alabama Wineries. We still have a few more to complete all the wineries in Alabama. I will post those as we visit them. Get out there and check out these jewels we have in our beautiful state. You can have an enjoyable afternoon and see some beautiful scenery. Of course, always drink responsibly and/or have a designated driver. Cheers ya’ll!
