Well, yesterday I told you what I’d done a week ago, so I guess I’m making progress given that today, I’m prepared to share what I did Saturday.
I was hoping to stop at a League member’s garden that was open for a special tour on our way to the Horton Pig Roast, but as is our norm on weekends, we were running late. Luckily, some people get their acts together better than we do, and the Knight’s cousin poured me a glass of Freedom as soon as we arrived.
You can’t tell from the photo, despite my efforts of putting the wine glasses in the floor and using the white ‘fridge as a backdrop, but my glass (left) has PANK printing, and the Knight’s (right) has red. Mine has a cat on it, which I want to ask Mrs. Horton about; I happen to know she is a dog lady, but I suppose she could like cats too… The Knight’s features a Lincoln quote, with a nod to the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.
The wine, like many of Horton’s whites, is a little sweet and fruity. I tried to get more information from their vintner, but ever the company man, he basically just recited what is written on the price sheet:
Freedom – (Sweet Tropical Wine) – Fruity wine shows aromas and flavors of granny smith apples, peaches, and mangos. Serve chilled with hot spicy food. Nickname: Porch wine
What’s funny is I am not big on peach or mango, but I *ADORE* this wine and bought several bottles, along with more of their sparkling Viognier, which might well be my favorite libation EVER. (Nickname: Dom Virginion – need I say more?!) The Knight and the vintner know to send more of both my way every time the Knight works at the winery.
I am biased. I don’t care whether you like sweet, fruity whites or not… How can you NOT give a shout-out to a local vineyard that not only celebrates our history, but asks its customers to pause and “remember those who have fought and died for our freedom”?
And yes, I suppose in an effort to be transparent, I should note that we do business with the Hortons quite regularly, but this is not a paid endorsement. I’ll also note that my BIL and the Knight’s cousins drink reds and have found offerings they buy regularly at Horton’s too. They are an award-winning winery in many categories, year after year.
After a very pleasant afternoon in the shade with the Knight’s cousin, his wife, my brother inlaw and his girlfriend and some grape pie, we still did dinner at Bavarian Chef at the original, Madison location. We didn’t take advantage of the restaurant week menu. I ordered the same things I order almost every time and it was outstanding as always. Is there a support group for men with a cream corn problem? If so, I’m signing the Knight and his brother up.
I should have gotten a photo of the grape pie. Big, fat, red grapes, whole, with some VERY purple gelatinous stuff to hold it together. The Knight’s cousin made me eat a bite after he tired of my unintentional game of 20 questions. It wasn’t bad, but not being a fan of grape jam, jelly or even Kool-Aid, that one bite was plenty. (I couldn’t find an image that was close enough… no top crust, and really… the gel was more of a dark lilac than the rich blue-red-purples I see in the online images that came up in my search…)
Have you tried anything new lately?
Chan Knits 
I’m not a fan of sweet wines but Hortons is on my list of places to visit. They have grapes from Dr Franks, one of our favorite NY vineyards.
Sweet AND fruity??? oh my…:D. Sounds like a good wine.
And here I was getting all excited that someone else liked, much less had heard of, grape pie. My mom used to make it. I haven’t even thought of it in ages–I need to go make one!
I’ve made peach mango jam before, and it was some of the best jam on the planet. They go well together. (And if you can find them, buy Ataulfo/Alfred/Champagne mangoes, the kidney-esque little yellow ones rather than the big mostly green mostly for cooking Keitts and the like.)
Love finding a new great wine!
I’m a stick in the mud when it comes to wine. Red-red-red!!! I looked at Horton Vinyard’s web page and was about to order some of the Eclipse Red when I saw NV Route 33 Red and realized I have bought that before and enjoyed it. Cheap and good, just the way I like it!!
I’m thinking grape pie is creepy. But I would have to try at least one bite. I shoved a fist full of basil right off of the plant into the cavity of a chicken that I threw in my slow cooker today. It smells amazing. I’m hoping it tastes as good as it smells. And we tried the Lazy Dog Cafe. It’s been open about a year, but we hadn’t tried it. They have a huge patio, and dogs are welcome. We didn’t bring Holly. I think the crowd would have been too big for her, but we met a sweet 1 year old huskie.
I’ve seen recipes for grape pie, but I’m only a fan of raw grapes, not jam or juice or anything else. Plus, skinning grapes sounds like way too much work for this highly efficient (translation: lazy) cook. I do like the wine bottle label, though!
go ahead and sign me up for the cream corn support group. Not because i want to get over it, but because i’d enjoy being among my people, swapping corn recipes!
I prefer sweet wine and found a delightful one last year – a rhubarb wine produced in South Dakota. It’s called Red Ass Rhubarb and almost tastes like a slice of rhubarb pie. My mouth is watering just writing about it.
I like a sweet, fruity wine on occasion, but live mostly in Red Land. I don’t do grape jelly, or juice, so not likely to try grape pie, if it ever showed up out here, which I doubt. Tried something new…um…Went to the Melting Pot Saturday before Show Boat. It was okay at best, but not worth the Big Bucks.
I don’t even like the idea of grape pie. I’ll eat a handful of grapes and of course drink the wine but I’m not a fan of grape juice or jelly or much of anything else.