Kathy & I enjoy visiting wineries – they have wine there! 🙂
This past weekend we met up with Earl & Bonnie and visited Morgan Ridge Vineyards, located about an hour east of Charlotte, and just south of Salisbury. Â I had come across a Groupon for a tour and tasting there, but had never heard of it before, so we decided to check it out. Â It’s out in the middle of nowhere (for us) but was worth the drive and we had a nice visit.
After a nice buffet lunch prepared by their resident chef, we received a tour from owner Amie Baudoin.  One of the things we like best about visiting wineries is hearing the stories of the owners, and Amie told us some good stories and gave us the history of the place, from a farm run by her father to the present day winery, to their plans for the future.
One of the things I find interesting, and the thing that sometimes makes me a lousy photographic documenter of things like winery visits, is that for all of the photos I took (only about 50, since we had better things to do – like taste wine!) I didn’t take any pictures of Amie during our tour, and I didn’t take a single photo of the vineyards, the buildings or the grounds. Â I kick myself after the fact, because you would never know I was there from the pictures I did take. Â I just forget, I guess. Â But I get so far out of “snapshot mode” sometimes that I do sometimes just forget. Â I spend so much time looking for little details that I miss the big picture. Â I will admit though, that when I am doing something like a tour I also spend time listening to the speaker, which I hope shows interest in what they have to say, and doesn’t just make me look like some distracted tourist with a big camera.
We’re getting ready to jet off to Nova Scotia in a few weeks. Â I do need to put my tourist hat back on for that trip!
I got a few images of the grounds at the winery but like you, Tom, I was mostly caught up in the details…and of course the wine. 🙂
The company was definitely the best part, but the wine was really good, too. Thanks, Earl!
Man! Nova Scotia! You folks sure do get around a lot. I’ve been thinking of visiting some of the NC wineries, though I’m not a big fan of wine. I just think that it would be interesting.
One of the things we like best about visiting the wineries, especially the smaller one, is meeting the people and hearing their stories. The larger wineries are nice, too. But the ones where you can actually talk to the owner and winemaker are the one we really enjoy.
Yeah, we’re trying to keep this Footloose and Fancy Free thing going as much as we can. A little tough do around working for a living, but we’re making the best of it!
Like Earl, you’ve produced a nice series – even though you didn’t get any shots of the vineyards or buildings. It almost never fails for me…I’ll go out and take tons of shots of a subject, and then when I get home I realize I missed several opportunities, and of course by then, too late!
Thanks, John. I think it comes from trying to experience the place, and not just document it with a zillion boring photos. Hopefully I can get by with just a few dozen boring photos, and a bunch of good memories!
Maybe you guys should live in a tent and have a postal box number since you’re traveling so much. 🙂 This looks like a neat place and you have a good series of images from it. I like the first image of the barrels the best. That shallow depth of field works for me. NIce image of Earl!
Thanks, Monte! Now that half of our stuff is in storage we’ve been wondering just how much stuff we really need. One more good purge should get us down to just the important stuff. We’re not quite ready for the 72 VW Vanagon, but ya never know! 🙂
I’m a big fan of wineries and wines in general too. In fact I wish I had more time to devote to learning to appreciate wines more (especially since that involves drinking the stuff).
Great photos Tom.
Thanks, Cedric. We really appreciate the people and their stories. The wine is just a bonus. Learning about wine is much like anything else. You taste enough wine to learn what you like, and after a while you start to notice the nuances and differences. It’s a lot of fun!