Winery Wednesday and Sunday? Merrie Mill Winery and King Family Winery

 This is maybe getting out of hand, but in such a fun way!

Quite a view! King Family Winery at Roseland Farm. 

A quick review of two really great ways to spend an afternoon!

Merrie Mill is a newly opened winery venue, quite close to Foxcroft Farm. Friends invited us to join them on a Sunday evening, as they had a reservation. When we arrived, I thought there must be an event also being held, as the lot was packed! Nope! Just popular! 

The tasting room is large, and open, but with a very quirky decor...

We were seated on the back patio, under cover, but they did have some lovely umbrellas for shade at the open tables. (It is steamy in Virginia in August.) We ordered wine and charcuterie, and both were quite good. They serve the True Heritage wines made from grapes at Castalia, another nearby estate, and I enjoyed both the Chardonnay and the Rosé. Huz liked the Red Blend. 

I can only have the cheeses on the charcuterie plate, but they were complex and lovely. The meats were a touch exotic and Huz says very good. 

We had a lovely time and only sorrow was they finish serving and close at 5:30. But, they were generous in letting us finish up our eats and not kicking us out!

Ratings for Merrie Mill Winery;

Wines: *** maybe even ****! (Go True Heritage!)

Atmosphere/location: **** The atmosphere was great, and so close to Foxcroft! 

Food: **** Charcuterie and cheese, but also some other lite bite offerings. And, had a food truck serving oysters on premises. 

Recommend a reservation. 

Last Wednesday, we fired up the Random Winery Generator, and it spit out Thatch Winery. Cool! Except, they aren't open on Wednesday. So, we tried again.... HarkVineyard... also closed on Wednesday. Geez, Winery Wednesday will somehow have to morph into Thirsty Thursday! 

Third try we got a winner, King Family Vineyard in Crozet. 

We have been to King Family before, when we attended the weekly Sunday Polo Matches at Roseland, the estate owned by the King Family , where they grow their grapes and make their wines, but play polo too!  And, I mentioned in the last blog, I have enjoyed my fair share of Crosé, the rosé from their vineyard, located in Crozet, VA. 

But, we had not had a tasting yet at the tasting room. We arrived late morning, and had the place to ourselves for a while. 

I chose the White Flight, Huz chose a Classic Flight. 

It had been a rainy morning, but the sky was clearing, so we went out to the patio, and enjoyed the spectacular view while enjoying our tastings. 

Clouds departing to the other side of the mountains. 

This is my White Flight. They were supposed to have information about the wines through the QR Code in the center. I couldn't get my QR Code to open. I persisted, and finally did, but the internet was too slow to play the link to the video on youtube. 

Partner in wine. 

We chose our favorite wines, and returned to the tasting room to order a bottle of chilled Crosé , and buy a block of cheese and some (gluten free) crackers. We chose the bottle, as it made financial sense, and just brought home the remainder for the next day. The cheese we chose was a very aged cheddar from The Big Cheese- a sponsor of the Roseland Polo. It was excellent. The crackers were also tasty, but then Huz read the ingredients and there were some no-nos for me, so I kept to just cheese and wine- no hardship. 

A lovely way to spend an afternoon!

Ratings for King Family Vineyard:

Wine: **** all good, some excellent

Atmosphere/location: **** gorgeous, peaceful views!

Food: *** cheese and crackers

When you want the barn to be "in the shot". 

And, now, it is Wednesday, AGAIN! YIPPEEE! We may or may not to get out to a vineyard, as we are getting really lucky staying here..the generator guy has been here today, the guy putting in the large window to replace the one at the end of "Tod's Tavern" came by to do a recon, ( there is a great window with a destroyed seal and a rotted out frame- it has taken 9 months to get someone to do this) and now dear friends are driving past on a road trip! It sure is handy to be so close to Interstate 64- we are the best

 place to stop for a potty and a refreshing drink.

When you get the barn, and the guy!