Weather: Overcast, cool with a breeze most of the day. Occasional warm sun.
So today was an all day field trip. We meet at 9 and then drove about 40 minutes to Linville orchard (Map). Going there I was under the impression that it would just be an apple orchard, and we'd maybe talk about techniques like pruning or something. But well Linville Orchard turned out to be more of an entertainment centre. Its fall, so there were masses of pumpkins, giant scarecrows, hayrides, mazes, and a lot of kids on school field trips. They also have a market and bakery selling things like apple cider donuts, pies and preserves. We got a tour from the farm manager in a tractor pulled trailer. We trundled around and occasionally he'd stop and talk about some aspect of the business. It was interesting as he talked very openly about finances. Linville seems quite opportunistic. Eg, they can no longer use fallen apples to make cider because someone in the state got e. coli. But rather than leave them to rot, they gather them and sell the to kids to slingshot at targets set up in a field. So after touring Linville and stopping for apple cider donuts and coffee we drove to Chaddsford winery, which is only about ten minutes down 1 from longwood.
At the winery we were given a tour of the facilities. I was a little surprised as they didn't actually have any vines (apart from a few demonstration) as they're at another site about 30 miles away. But we were shown the process (separating grapes from stalk, crushing, primary fermentation, casking, bottling etc), and she explained a little about different varieties and styles. After the tour we had a wine tasting. It was some of the first wine Ive drunk here ( I dont buy it here because the liquor shop is ages away). So fun to try some American wines. There were a couple I quite liked. One I hadn't tried before, warm apple cider wine. Was, ok. All in all a good day.
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