Philip Carter winery

I was looking for fun things to do while Mac was home, so I wandered over to Groupon to see what deals were available. After some browsing, I found a wine tour, tasting, and picnic package at Philip Carter Winery. I bought the Groupon and scheduled our tour for a Thursday afternoon. Because the winery is the whole way out in Hume, Virginia, we went to Manassas Battlefield in the morning. For reference, it’s about a 50 mile drive.

The winery sits out near the edge of the Shenandoah Mountains, and the views are gorgeous. I’m a sucker for low mountains and rolling green hills (and the Rockies with brown prairie, but who’s keeping track).

Philip Carter was probably a distant relation of mine (the Carter and Page families intermarried a lot) and has the distinction of producing the first “real” wine in the American colonies. Philip Carter Winery dates their products with 1762, the year of this first wine, but actually started making wine 6-7 years ago at this location. The tour was pretty standard. The wine was okay. I’m not a fan of really dry wines, and most of their wines were more dry than not.

Our package included a picnic with artisan cheese and sausage. For the record, cheddar cheese and spicy mango chutney taste amazing together. Halfway through eating the cheese, I noticed that it was made from raw milk. I literally gagged and then fed the rest of the cheese to the stray cat who was hanging out with us. Being the good food scientist I am, I informed the gal at the tasting counter that they are legally required to tell customers if they are eating foods that are made from raw or undercooked ingredients. She had no idea what I was talking about. At least I tried? Overall, the winery was a nice second part of a day trip, even if the wine wasn’t to my liking.