This is a story of Apples, Birdhouses, and Wine. How the three connect is not as bizarre as it may sound.
During a recent Quilting Shop Hop, we had come across Greene’s Trading Post. Now Greene’s is one of those roadside stands that offer the traveler a little bit of everything. The one thing that caught our eye was hardy birdhouses for truly reasonable prices. Unsure at that time about our birdhouse needs we purchased a single unit. Our neighbors were so impressed with the quality of our purchase that a few days later they traveled up the road to Lenoir, NC to acquire their own units.
They came back rather stocked up, and we became a little concerned that the word might really spread about these birdhouses. This, of course, would create a spike in demand and could force unit prices to rise. Affordable housing for birds is, I believe a campaign issue for at least one Presidential hopeful.
Tucking our fears aside we decided to wait until the mountain apples started shipping. Greene’s carries a wide selection of apples, and the fresh ones are the best. It would be a month or more before we got the word that fresh-picked apples were on their way to market.
Now if you have read one our blogs before you know that we don’t make causal jaunts without first checking out the available wineries along the way. Of course, one of the big keys to finding establishments to visit is finding the ones that are open during the hours and day of our excursion.
I cannot remind readers enough to check vineyard websites, and if you have any doubts about the information listed, then give them a call. I have never had a bitter wine, but have driven away from a winery with bitter feelings because their website said open, but the sign in the window upon arrival said closed.
Our trip to Greene’s (5361 Blowing Rock Blvd, Lenoir, NC) was uneventful, other than Google took us right past the location. Fortunately, we spotted the post in time and were able to make a U-turn. We purchased a couple of bags of apples and three birdhouses. One of them was a three-story structure, and another looked like an old fashion outhouse.
Back on the road, we headed to Six Waterpots Vineyard and Winery in Hudson, NC. We both love the Tudor architectural style, and photos online of the winery featured a beautiful home with timber-framed appearance. This turned out to be not only the winery but also the home of the owners Jim and Dawn Sullivan.
The Sullivan’s have been in business for 10 years. They have hand-crafted wines made from their own homegrown muscadine varietals. There were also reds and whites at Six Waterpots made with a variety of vinifera wine grapes ranging from Sauvignon Blanc to Pinot Noir.
Lately, half of this wine team has been finding real joy in Fruit Wines. Six Waterpots offers quite a collection of these in blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, green apple, peach, and raspberry.
For our tasting, we tried some of the fruit wines, a white, and two of the reds. The blackberry wine was very good, as was the Sauvignon Blanc. In the end, we walked away with a bottle of Pinot Noir.
While paying, we were offered a small sample of the most amazing wine that included as one of its ingredients Ghirardelli chocolate. It was beyond delicious. I will not tell you how much a bottle cost, but I will say that we drive a Prius, and we don’t spend that much on a tank of gas.
Six Waterpots is a wonderful winery, and Jim and Dawn are terrific hosts. Dawn is extremely knowledgeable about wines and provides you a true education during your tasting. We rather missed out on hearing Jim play the piano, but we understood the grandkids were visiting. Since this is also their home, be sure to check their website for hours of operation, or call ahead to confirm when they are open before you visit.