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Lakeridge Winery is one of my favorite places to go when I need to escape the tourist nonsense that always takes over Orlando around the holidays. It’s about a 45 minute drive from the tourist attractions and I don’t think many out-of-towners know about it, which is great!
I got off to a rocky start with the Lakeridge Winery. Before I ever went to the Winery and Vineyards, I bought a bottle of one of their most popular wines, Sunblush. I like supporting local business, and I love wine, so why not? It’s to date one of the only two bottles of wine I’ve ever poured out. I thought something was wrong with it. It tasted like licking a monorail seat. That reference may not make much sense to those of you that don’t frequent Disney World as much as I do, but imagine the smell that thousands of sweaty tourist make on vinyl seats. It’s alarmingly barnyard-esque. Now imagine that smell on your tongue. That’s what I think the Sunblush tastes like… and I’ve tried it sense, there sadly wasn’t something wrong with it.
That being said, I’m very glad I gave the Lakeridge Winery a second chance. While their wine still isn’t my favorite, most of it is way better than the Sunblush and it’s still a great outing.
Lakeridge host events almost every weekend, but they do free tours and tastings all week. The tour starts with an educational video on the history of the Cox family, the owners of the vineyard, and the general wine making process. After the film and a brief Q&A, guest are guided through the fermenting and bottling areas.
While it’s always interesting to see behind the scenes, everyone is waiting for the main attraction; the tasting.
The tasting is free an is an excellent way to sample the wines without having to commit to a bottle. Every guest is given a wine glass and a list of the wines being sampled to make notes on.
Like I said, the wine is not my favorite, but it’s still a fun day. I tend to prefer the big full bodied reds that just can’t happen in such a warm climate. It’s the tradeoff I make for living amongst palm trees (and totally worth it I might add). To me, most of the wines are sickly sweet, but others seem to love them.
The whites are the best bet and my favorite was the Blanc Du Bois Reserve. It’s still a little sweeter than I’m used to, but was perfect for drinking outside while watching the sunset over the vines.
While the holidays are a great time to escape the Orlando tourist, they are not the best time to look at the vines, which are bare during this time of year. For that you should visit in late summer when the winery hosts a harvest festival and grape stomping contest. Any time you can make it out the Lakeridge Winery though, there is sure to be something fun going on. They have year round festivals and music events, and of course, Central Florida has great weather most of the time. The same weather that has made it difficult to produce more complex wines also makes it much nicer to visit the winery itself. A fair trade off I think. You can check out the Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards website for an up to date calendar of events…. and no matter when you go you can’t beat the view!
How nice! I studied environmental science at University and we also went to see wineries! It’s such a cool experience, I’d recommend it to anyone! (even if you don’t like wine!) 🙂
Clelia recently posted…Sri Lanka: 8 Days Between Heaven and Hell
For sure! You don’t have to enjoy wine to enjoy seeing how it’s made. And the vineyards are beautiful.
Ha, LOVE your description of ‘licking a monorail seat’ – ick! 😀 This place looks pretty awesome! I’m not the world’s biggest fan of wine, but I feel like I just need to push my boundaries a little more and try different types. Seems like this is the kinda place I need to be going to 😉
Emily Ray recently posted…12 Travel Instagram Pages You Should Be Following
Honestly, this wine is really sweet so a lot of people that “don’t like wine” love it and people that like wine tend to think not really like it. This might be a good place for you to start trying some wines!
Harvest Festival and Grape Stomping Contest? Along with wine drinking?
This sounds right up my alley, love a good HugeParty in Florida.
Cheers,
Ben
@HugePartyTravel
Ben Warner recently posted…Happy First Birthday: Blogging First Year in Review
Yeah! I missed out on it last year, but I’m going to make sure I’m a part of the harvest fest this summer!
I still haven’t been to a winery. This looks like fun!
christine recently posted…Schönbrunn Palace
It’s a really fun day. Highly recommended, whether you enjoy wine or not.
Looks like you had a fantastic time at the winery. I do love a good trip to a winery. My aunt lives near one in Australia and it’s always good to appreciate the wine!
Wow! I would love to visit the wineries in Australia. I love a good shiraz!
Wow, I never thought of the Orlando area as being wine country! I would much rather visit there than the theme parks any day! Lakeridge is great to know about!
Harvey (H-Bomb’s Worldwide Karaoke) recently posted…H-Bomb’s Sunday photo, week 57: trees bursting through temples in Cambodia
I don’t know if I would exactly call it “wine country” lol. But it’s definitely a fun day and a welcome break from the theme parks.
I’ve never been to a vinery or a vineyard before. It looks really like fun even if you don’t like their wine too much! 😉
Hanna recently posted…Vardzia: a cave city in Georgia
I’ve been several times and not particularly liking the wine hasn’t in any way impeded my fun!
What a wonderful view on this vineyards. Seeing those beautiful grapes hanging around their vines with a sunset sure is amazing. This winery sure will make finest wines that will stuff your cravings when it comes to wine tasting.