Hey guys!
Recently, right after Christmas, I visited the DUPLIN Winery in Rose Hill, North Carolina. Just a few weeks prior I had just tried their white sangria and was a definite fan of it. On Christmas Day I tried the red sangria which tastes like sangria but with a splash of fruit punch flavor. Apparently the DUPLIN wine discovery was made this past year by my future in-laws and they wanted to visit the winery for a little family fun — of which I was happy to be a part of since I’ll be marrying into the family in 2021.
The trip took about an hour from Fayetteville, NC on some back ways highways. The DUPLIN Winery is located in a small town but it’s clearly thriving. It has multiple aspects of it:
the store where wine tasting are offered and cases of wine can be bought
the bistro
the vineyard — located in another part of Rose Hill
When we first arrived we payed onsite for their next wine tasting workshop. It was $10.00 and included the following:
wine tasting of 10 different wines
crackers made in-house
complimentary take home wine glass from the tasting
20% a case of wine purchased same day
one glass of wine — when visiting the bistro or bar the same day
Really not that bad of a deal to be honest. I’ve done other wine tastings that costs more and didn’t have half of what was offered at this location.
As we waited for the tasting to begin we looked over the different wines available in store, checked out the holiday collection, and looked over the gift shop for some potential souvenirs. During the wine tasting each of us was given our own plate of homemade in-house crackers and cheese dip (I wasn’t a fan of the dip). We sat at a ‘U’ shaped bar with the bartender on the inside walking around to refill out glasses for each wine. We were given a booklet of all their wines that were categorized by type and then ranked from Dry to Sweet in each category. We also had a wine tasting sheet where we could rank each wine and write down notes for ourselves.
Special Note: DUPLIN Winery makes their wines from muscadine grapes which means that their wines are on the sweeter side. In addition, a few of the wines that were meant for the tasting were sold out so the bartender had to make some adjustments and had us try some other fan favorite. Also, if my memory serves correctly, the bartender said that they harvest their grapes from each hurricane so, we were drinking the last of the Hurricane Florence harvest.
After the wine tasting we all picked out wines — enough to create a 12 case. I ended up getting the Frosty Frolic holiday wine and Sunset Red. I don’t like the Frosty Frolic by itself, but I loved it when it was paired with the ‘Jolly Juice’ sweetener mix for slushies. Yes, I bought the ‘Jolly Juice’, and I decided to buy a jingle bell wine stopper and a DUPLIN wine cover. I’m satisfied with my purchases.
Once we settled our wines into the car we went back to have lunch at their bistro and to redeem our one glass of wine. As we sat around the table each of us gave a long hard look at the wine list and settled on our choice for the meal. Everyone but me wanted to taste another wine that they hadn’t tried at the tasting. I, on the other hand, decided to stick with the Jolly Juice wine slushie. What can I say? I find something I like and I stick to it. I paired my wine with a classic bacon, egg, and cheese burger. Now full and only slightly tipsy we made our way back to Fayetteville, NC.
How are you finding happiness in the ordinary? Have you gone #BeyondYourWindow in terms of adventure, travel, or perspective recently? Feel free to share your journey by engaging with the blog on social media or using the hashtag. As always, happy seeking!