East Tennessee Wines – Mountain Valley Winery

We belong to a wine tasting group and every month we try to have a different theme.  Last month, we skipped wine and had a beer tasting.  Laurie and I held one tasting that focused on wines from Eastern Europe.  We’ve had wines from many, many regions of the world… Some really were terrific and others not so much.  The fact is that different folks like different types of wine…and differences are what make the world interesting…and sometimes scary too!

Our hosts for September are Larry (http://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com) and his bride, Beverly.  He’s thrown down the gauntlet for us Yankees!  The challenge for our group is to bring Tennessee wines for our tasting party…

This is the Mountain Valley Winery in Pigeon Forge Tennessee.  This winery is only minutes from most of the top tourist attractions in the Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg area…   Some of the top local attractions include: Smoky Mountains National Park; Dollywood; The Titanic; WonderWorks; Floyd Garrett’s Muscle Car Museum; Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies; Dixie Stampede Dinner and Show; Ober Gatlinburg Ski Resort; Smoky Mountain Opry; Smoky Mountain Knife Works, and; one of our recent favorites, the Sable Theatre. 

To read my review of the live show at the Sable Theatre, you can click on the following link: http://bigdaddydavesbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2014/08/pigeon-forge-tennessee-sable-theatre.html.

There are really too many attractions for me to list in this very family friendly tourism center.  To explore a fully expanded listing and related reviews, just go to http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g28963-Activities-Tennessee.html.

  

This was our host and server at the Mountain Valley Winery.  He was very personable and helpful.  Laurie tasted a wide variety of the wines...  I usually only drink dry white wines as red wines don't agree with my gout.  On the other hand, Laurie has a broader wine pallet to work with.

Tastings are free, although as you can see there are tip jars on the counter.  For a couple of bucks, one can sample quite a few varieties of wine!  In total, as many as 17 different wines are available at this winery.  While this selection includes wine made from berries and peaches, 13 of them are grape based…

It was no surprise to note that a variety of other wine related products are also sold at the Mountain Valley Winery… These gifts include wine gift bags, bottle openers, wine glasses, t-shirts, crackers, coasters, artwork/posters, snacks, etc.

They also had a nice selection of cheese from the Sweetwater Valley Farm near Sweetwater Tennessee.  In our case, we live much closer to the Farm than we do to Pigeon Forge so we have ready access to their many varieties of cheese.  Check out Sweetwater Farm at http://www.sweetwatervalley.com/.  

So how did we do?!  Following our tasting, we ended up with 4 bottles of wine.  I tasted them all…even the Merlot and the Rhubarb.  Yes, you read that right…Rhubarb Wine!  While the Blush was a little sweet for me, the Rhubarb wine was surprisingly good…not too sweet with a citrus finish.  My favorite was still the Chardonnay while Laurie’s was the Merlot. 

The Mountain Valley Winery provided us with a nice experience in pleasant surroundings…as well as a nice variety of wine.  They may not offer a Chateau Lafite Rothschild 2010 Red at $1,500.00 a bottle, but their wines are very competent indeed.  This Winery is located at 2174 Parkway in Pigeon Forge.  Phone: 865-453-6334.  Mountain Valley Winery also has an on-line store.  Website: http://www.mountainvalleywinery.com/index.htm.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave