NC Winery Tour: Chatham Hill
Winery number eight is in the books, and I’d say it was a success. Chatham Hill Winery was our closest winery yet! At just over 30 minutes away, I could go there all the time…and I might.
Located near downtown Cary, Chatham Hill is a quaint building with both indoor and outdoor seating. Since my average body temperature is around 200 degrees, we opted for indoor seating with air conditioning. I do not regret this decision! We did however, enjoy a fairly comfortable (when there was a breeze) outdoor lunch before the winery. Crosstown Pub & Grill is a cute little restaurant in downtown Cary, again, with indoor/outdoor seating. The food was delicious. I had a fried green tomato sandwich (one of my favorites), and a blood orange cider. Em had the turkey-guac burger and a Painkiller - she let me have a sip. So yummy!
As she always does, Em had researched our food options prior to our day trip. From what she learned, Chatham Hill does offer charcuterie boards (yum!), but we decided to opt for something a little heavier.
The winery was just a five minute drive from Crosstown. When we arrived we were greeted by the bartender, who gave us the tasting details. This tasting was a little pricier than most we have done so far. However, you do get a souvenir wine glass. So, that’s something. We had the option of a semi-sweet or dry tasting. Em obviously chose the dry, but surprisingly I did too. Again…no regrets.
We tried five wines as a part of the tasting, four of which we really liked, three of which we really really liked and two of which we bought. There was a time, not too long ago that I didn’t love Chardonnay. But, wouldn’t you know it…I brought home a bottle of the Chardonnay and the Merlot (my favorite red). Em brought home a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc and the Merlot. I can’t speak for her, but both of my bottles are gone. Still…no regrets.
The one wine we didn’t care for as much was the Rubio - not bad, just not our favorite. Overall though, this was probably one of my favorite tastings so far, taste-wise. The bartender also let us try a raspberry dessert wine that was delish! It tasted just like raspberries.
We sat at the bar (emphasis on sat because we have come to find that not all tastings have seating). We very much prefer when there is seating. It seems to slow the pace of the tasting, and we really took it slow this time. We had a great time chatting in between tastes, and ended up deciding to stay and have a glass of wine after the tasting. We both opted for white, and the opposite of the white we purchased. So, I got a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc, and Em got a glass of the Chardonnay.
Our bartender was kind enough to not only double as our photographer, but she took us back behind the bar for a backdrop of wine barrels…is there anything better? This space was actually huge/a fantastic spot for events, which was surprising because the building looks pretty small when you see it from the front.
We had a great time at Chatham Hill. Our one complaint, just like with winery number seven, was no gift shop, but hey…you win some you lose some. Plus, we did get to bring home our wine glasses. So, not a total loss souvenir-wise. Cheers to you Chatham Hill Winery! (I’m sure I’ll be back!)
-D
