A touch of winter has appeared along the Wine Road, and with it our thoughts turn to the holidays. Thanksgiving is now days away, giving many of us a long weekend off work and time to share with family and friends. Shopping malls have limited appeal, but a trip a along the Wine Road is the perfect solution for a post-Thanksgiving outing.
Many wineries host their Holiday Open House the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving, while others have special wines open just for the weekend. Surveying the Wine Road wineries’ offerings, I discovered library wines, magnums and half-bottles that will be available to sample and/or to purchase as holiday gifts or stocking stuffers. I also discovered some end-of-vintage specials.
How do you find out about these events and open houses? There are several ways, but often the information comes to you. Wineries send out emails to their mailing list announcing their open house events. If the open house is really open to everyone, they will also post it on their website, Facebook page or Tweet about it.
Here is one open house that is posted on the Wine Road events page:
Scandinavian Christmas with Glögg at West Wines – November 27 – 29
Welcome to Swedish Christmas traditions in the Tasting Room. Swedish Glögg, cookies and all our holiday decorations are waiting for you. Glögg is a red wine spiced with cinnamon, cloves, orange rind and raisins, which has been simmering for hours. Let us share our family traditions with you.
This one is from a winery website:
Thanksgiving Weekend at Pedroncelli November 27 & 28
Join us over the holiday weekend from 11-4 Friday and Saturday for a local author book signing as well as a craft fair. We’ll be pouring our latest releases along with chocolate pairing with our Port and a library wine from deep in the cellar. There is no charge for this event so bring the relatives and maybe try your hand at Bocce (weather permitting) to work off some of the turkey and fixings.
These are just two of many tasting opportunities during the post-Thanksgiving weekend. Check out your favorite wineries and discover new ones as well. It’s a lot more enjoyable to shop along the Wine Road for your holiday gifts than hunt for parking at a shopping mall, spend hours walking through crowds and waiting in line. Plus the scenery along the Wine Road can’t be beat.
Happy Sipping!
