March Madness Wine Tour {East}

Hello on this winter wonderland morning!  The first day of spring is technically tomorrow, but it sure doesn't seem like it here on the east coast.  Last night it started to snow and after continuing overnight, we woke up to a slushy mess and a two hour delay.  Ugh....where is spring??

On Sunday afternoon, Fred and I ventured out on our last Lehigh Valley Wine Trail
excursion.  Two weeks ago, we covered the western tour, so we still had a few vineyards to hit on the eastern side.

First stop...Franklin Hill Vineyard.  I'm normally wearing sunglasses even on cloudy days, so the glare caught me off guard...hence the squinting.          

Franklin Hill is situated in Bangor on a farm off of the beaten path.  Their first experimental vines were planted back in 1976, so they've had their share of wine batches over the years.  We always love to go to Franklin Hill during March Madness because they have great food-wine pairings.  Last weekend was no different.  They featured a white chicken chili made by a local restaurant with a semi-dry white wine.  Yum!

We ended up with a few bottles on our way out, which wasn't surprising because some of their wines are our favorites.  The nice thing about Franklin Hill is that they have a few stores situated around the valley for convenient purchases of wine on a moment's notice.  

Franklin Hill always has a coffee and dessert stand right by the exit door for coffee-to-go and a sweet treat to end the visit.  Normally they feature something made with their wine such as brownies or cake, but this year they had several varieties of biscotti.    



The second {and final} stop of the day was Amore Winery, which is literally just a few miles up the road from our house. 



Greg {the owner} was our personal server for the day.  He is also a professor at a local college by day, so the food he serves is always catered by the school.  Hence...it is pretty good.  On the menu...beef stroganoff with noodles.  

  
A fun part of being a passport carrier is the gift at the end of the tour.  This year's giveaway...a wine tote complete with a cutting board, knife, wine opener and two napkins.   

Although we don't need two, this item may come in handy on future wine tasting trips....

Overall, it was another successful March Madness, and I'm not talking basketball!  Enjoy your day!