Feb 14thHappy Valentine’s Day!

Enjoy this day of love ❤️ with that special someone and your favorite wine! 🍷

Dec 31stHappy New Year!

We’ll be pouring one of our favorite red wines, a Nebbiolo from  Barboursville Vineyards and Winery in Virginia, to bring in the New Year. Pour your favorite wine, share a toast with your nearest and dearest and get ready for a New Year!

Hope 2020 is a healthy and happy year filled with lots of good wine! Happy New Year from the Kentucky Wine Lover!

Dec 24thHoliday Greetings from the Kentucky Wine Lover

Have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones and your favorite wine!

Dec 5thProhibition Repealed!

From 1920 to 1933, citizens of the United States were prohibited by the 18th Amendment of the Constitution from making and consuming alcoholic beverages. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified ending this period of Prohibition. We should all celebrate this day!

Before Prohibition, the United States had a successful wine industry. In fact, Kentucky was one of the biggest producers of wine during the 1800s. But this thirteen year period stopped the production and after 1933, it was slow to get started back. Things like the Depression and World War II slowed the development nationwide. Kentucky was delayed even longer due to some state laws that limited wineries from getting started. Thankfully, new laws in the 1990s allowed farm wineries to open their doors to all of us wine lovers.

Today, we can raise our glasses and toast the end of Prohibition, the growth of vineyards and wineries, and for the wine. It is a good day!

Nov 11thWining in October

October is a great time to enjoy the fall weather, wineries, and wines. There are fewer crowds and it’s easy to just sit back and relax. We wined the whole month, it was more fun than whining.

We started the month in the North Carolina mountains, home to several of the states great wineries. We stayed at Roaring River Vineyards, enjoying a lovely room right by the river. Not only do they have a winery but they also have a really good restaurant, Chez Josephine. We discovered a new winery nearby with really good wines, Jones von Drehle Vineyards and Winery. Of course, we visited one of our favorite wineries, Raffaldini Vineyards and Winery.

Back home in Kentucky, we enjoyed a lunch and a dinner at Fuego Grill, at Chrisman Mill Vineyards and Winery. The food and wine were excellent as were the cocktails made with rum from the Hummingbird Ridge Distillery. We enjoyed two evenings of music and wine at Brianza Gardens Vineyard and Winery, as well as an afternoon of barrel tasting. Last, but not least, Halloween was such a rainy, blustery day, it seemed like a great day for lunch and wine at Prodigy Vineyards and Winery. It was a good decision.

November is here and we’re looking forward to more wineries and wine. Retirement is so much fun!

Oct 12thMusic at Brianza

We spent the evening enjoying the wine and the music of Ashley Lilly, half of the music duo Rucca, at Brianza Gardens and Winery. While we missed Lauren, Ashley entertained with an eclectic choice of songs, starting with a stirring version of “Angel from Montgomery”, followed by songs such as a classic Shania Twain, a cover of a new a new Tyler Childers’ song, and the oldie “Brand New Key”, by Melanie.

My favorite might be Ashley’s performance of “Follow your Arrow”, by Kasey Musgraves. Catch the video on my Facebook page.

It was a great way to spend the evening!

Sep 30thChrisman Mill Vineyards and Winery

This month I celebrated my birthday at Chrisman Mill in Nicholasville, with lunch at Fuego, the winery’s new wood fired restaurant. Besides being one of the states oldest wineries, they now are home to Hummingbird Ridge Distillery and Fuego. Not only can visitors be treated to an excellent selection of wine, but they can also enjoy a cocktail made from the Jamaican style rum that is distilled there or enjoy lunch or dinner from the Fuego grill. For lunch we enjoyed a wood fired pizza and Argentinian Chimichurri burger sliders and finished it off with a slice of Hummingbird cake. It was a great way to celebrate.

If you haven’t been to Chrisman Mill for a while, I recommend a visit. There’s been a lot of changes and the results are excellent.

Jul 29th12 Mile Creek Winery

Early this year I wrote a New Year’s Resolution to visit some of the newer Kentucky’s wineries, those that have opened in recent years. This Saturday we added one to that list. 12 Mile Creek Winery opened in Campbell County and we talked about going right away, but time passed and they just celebrated their second anniversary and this was our first visit. It won’t be our last. We had a very nice visit!

Tami and Kevin Stewart have created a friendly atmosphere with a variety of wines to please any visitors. The tasting room is a lovely room with a comfortable feel. They have wine, food, and music most weekends. We enjoyed all of those Saturday night. I got to try a new wine for me, a dry white made with the Edelweiss grape. The floral aromas are followed by fruity flavors and combine to make an interesting wine.  My husband had Cabernet Sauvignon. Our food was excellent,  a Buffalo Chicken Naan Bread and a Naan Reuben. The music was Jeff Blackburn and Steve Maynard, who we always enjoy!

It was a fun evening! We had a nice visit!

Jul 29thRucca at Brianza Gardens and Winery

We became fans of a local music duo a couple of years ago after hearing them at Brianza. We saw them several times and enjoyed their music. Saturday was the first time that we have seen them for a couple of years (they were pursuing other parts of their lives), but they’re back. They played at Brianza Gardens and Winery on Saturday afternoon.

We enjoyed their show immensely! The music ranges from Fergie and the Indigo Girls to country classics like Johnny Cash. We especially were pleased that they remembered our favorite and sang a great rendition of “Hell on Heels” by Pistol Annies.

The wine, as always, was excellent. Thanks to the winemaking skills of  Tony Parnigoni.

It was a beautiful day to relax with good wine and good music!

Jul 29thMusic and Wine in Northern Kentucky

Saturday was a great day for wine and music lovers in Northern Kentucky. We started the afternoon with a visit to Brianza Gardens and Winery in Boone County, with a Mini Music Festival that led off with a visit from Rucca and ended the evening at 12 Mile Creek Winery in Campbell County listening to Jeff Blackburn and Steve Maynard. Good music, good wine and good food – what could be better!