Each fall, or once we’re bit by the fall bug in September, we plan a day of Apple activities. It’s usually when Delicious Orchards has their Apple Fest. We experienced our apple day this past Saturday.
We started at Battleview Orchards. Here, we parked in the lot outside the store. There’s a line where you can wait outside for fresh amazing donuts. I highly recommend this. Since Tom got me a pumpkin donut from Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, instead I went inside and purchased and devoured a fresh apple turnover, right out of the oven. We explored the store for some fun fall treats to get ourselves in the spirit of fall festivities. They also have a cider bar inside. It wasn’t my kind of bar so I skipped it.
We bought a card outside, $1 for a group to pick fruit all season. That’s fine by me. I bought the card, they gave us a map and we drove about ½ a mile or so up the road to pick some apples. We turned up the dirt driveway and into the dirt parking lot. There’s a lot of staff on hand to accommodate the seasonal traffic. We grabbed a bucket for picking and ventured to the apples. If you plan on going apple picking don’t wait long. Because of the hurricane last August (I think) and dry weather conditions, they don’t have much crop and suggested people call ahead before picking. I guess I don’t need to tell you more because you pretty much climb trees and eat and pick apples.
Our next stop was up the street at Wemrock Orchards. I love this place. It’s on Rt 33, right off route 9. It’s really close to Battleview Orchards, which makes an apple day even better. (I recommend stopping at both places.) Wemrock Orchards offers samples of pies, donuts, salsas, and other delicious goodies. This is how I once bought an incredible strawberry and peach pie. There are lots of fun items in this store and an even better feature…. Wait for it… there’s a wine store! Yep! Farmers’ market and wine store. Love it. Usually, we stop here on the way back from Silver Decoy. After walking into the store, the wine shop is on the left. Although, this is a wine store and not an actual winery, I still thought it needed its own article because it’s a fun experience. The wine shop sells Tomasello wines only. I will get to Tomasello one day, but in the meantime, it’s nice to enjoy their wines at a closer location. Here, you can sample 5 wines for $5. We lucked out and Ann, our very kind and knowledgeable sommelier gave us more than 5 wines. She gave us wines based on what she thought our tastes were. And here’s what we had…. Oh, and to add to our fun fall day, they had a lot of fall-like wines to try.
Ann said to start with less sweet wines and end with the fall-like wines because they were sweeter.
Sangiovese – Knowing this is Kristen’s, my sister, favorite wines, we had to try it. This was certainly the driest out of their selection. It tasted fruity, smooth and strong. I really tasted the alcohol. It burned a little on the way down, but in the way that it would make you warm and cozy in the winter and leave you feeling just right. I took another sip and shivered with the alcohol. Maybe I’m a wuss and can’t handle it, but if you like tasting the alcohol, you’ll like this.
Winter Chill – I wanted to try this just for the name, but also because I know I like sweet whites. This wine is sweet, juicy, citrusy, and pleasant.
Dafodil White – This wine was lighter than Winter Chill. It was less sweet, dryer than the other white wines.
Moscato – Is my guilty pleasure. I love sweet wines, as long as it’s not too sweet. This wine was borderline too sweet for me. It went down easy although I could smell the alcohol. The weird thing is this wine reminded me of iced tea. Probably because of the light feel and sweetness.
Rainier Red – This is a red for me. It might be for you too as this is classified as their red table wine. I’ve seen this in other stores near us, so I think I’ll be buying more of it. Interesting to note, they’ve been making this wine for 78 years! It’s nice and sweet, but not too sweet. It is made with the Concord grape which I love to drink! This always seems to be my favorite grape. Since Ann got to know my tastes, she knew I would like this one.
Mulled Spice – Now onto the fall wines… This was my favorite out of the fall-like wines. It’s a basic red with mulling spice added. It’s sweet without going overboard and it’s bursting with fall flavor. I can just sit there and inhale the beautiful aromas. It’s fall goodness in a glass. You can also drink this warm on a cold night. I don’t care which way, I’ll just drink it. This is a nice fall treat.
Spiced Apple – This is similar to Mulled Spice. I thought the main difference was that it has less spice.
Broomstick Brew – This was also similar to Mulled spice, but less sweet. This would also make a warm and cozy experience. I enjoy the spice notes. The bottle is awesome. Probably needless to say, it has a witch on a broomstick on it. Compromising with Tom and in the fall spirit I bought this one.
Autumn Leaf – After trying the others, this semi-dry wine didn’t have the spice like they did, but would be an appropriate fall treat if you not into mulling spices.
After buying Broomstick Brew and apple butter, we went over to Delicious Orchards. We aim to get there towards the later part of the day so we arrive after the crowd has dissipated. We were still there in time to see cows in a petting zoo, clowns, a car show and buy some of the best produce around. Although, you may have missed it this year, I strongly recommend it for next year.
We’ve had a busy schedule, but I hope to get to the actual Tomasello Winery soon. I just checked their website and they have about 44 wines for sale! Who wants to be my designated driver?
