Friday, February 23, 2018

Ananda Artisan Wine Tour

Our Ananda Tour Group at Lunch

We took the Ananda Artisan Wine Tour today to four vineyards.  The first, Peacock Sky, was the best experience. There each tasting was paired with a food to compliment the wine.  This is a ‘degustation' experience in the French tradition. Our hostess was from Manhattan and on her way to becoming a world class product representative.  She was very good at explaining the effect each food had on the taste of the wine and why.  We had lunch at our next stop, Stonyridge.  The tasting was fast and straight forward without food.  The platter style lunch came after and was nice.  Our group was fun and all interested in learning more about the production of wine.  A young couple had just moved from Scotland.  She was born in New Zealand and had spent the last 9 years in Scotland with her bonnie beau.  I could not understand a word he said.  Wayne often quotes Churchill, “two peoples separated by a common language”.  The second couple was from Georgia but living in England.  I could understand both of them.  

Tantulus Vineyard

Our third stop at Tantulus was the most glamorous. The chandeliers were made from the vineyard’s old vines.  The new Canadian owners began with a different and more suitable grape variety, but gave a nod to the old.  The fourth and final stop was at Mudbrick, a vineyard we had visited.  The personnel at all the vineyards are frequently French.  Whether to add to the ambiance or simply a coincidence, I don’t know.  The wine industry is just a baby here.  The oldest vineyard was established in 1978. Way too many sunset pictures are at Flickr.