Lemon Creek Silver Beach Sauterne

Description on the bottle:  The Lemon Creek Winery original was inspired by the past glory of Silver Beach in historic St. Joseph, MI.  The picture on the label depicts a familiar scene that could have been observed during the 1930's.  The wine like the beach is truly classic.  This late harvest wine is a wonderful meld of two French hybrid grape varieties, Vidal Blanc & Vignoles.  Its crisp, fruity taste is a treat to be enjoyed anytime.

Sarah says:  I couldn't think of the appropriate word to describe this wine until I read the bottle - crisp it is.  It's fruity and tart, but oddly isn't all that sweet.  It's crisp taste has a little bite that will definitely wake you up if you are in a wine lull - but it's a delicious bite that you will welcome.

Overall rating:  Thumbs up!

It was cold and raining - we look good considering!

Sarah says:  So, Jon and I went on a little anniversary trip this weekend and did some winery tasting.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I love my kids to death, but sometimes you just need a break!  We stayed in a lovely B&B in Union Pier called Garden Grove.  I actually wish we would have gone a little earlier in the year - this B&B had tons of outside sitting areas that looked like it would have been lovely to just sit and enjoy the scenery.  Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy while we were there, so we didn't really get the chance to explore the grounds.  Maybe we'll have to go back?  The beds were comfortable and the breakfast was delicious!  Pumpkin pancakes the first day, and veggie quiche the second - yummo!  We met our friends Amanda & James there (Amanda was also with me on my Chicago trip earlier this year), and had a low key first evening, first going out to dinner, then went out for some delicious ice cream at Oinks.  It was a nice dinner, we talked, we laughed, we didn't have to deal with chicken nuggets and potty breaks.  It was everything we needed to start a great weekend.  

The amazing chocolates at the Chocolate Garden

After breakfast Saturday morning, we headed out for the winery portion of the trip.  Poor Amanda, she doesn't even like wine that much, but she was such a good sport about it all!  She willingly participated in every tasting, and even found a few she enjoyed!  We visited 3 wineries right off the bat (yes, bottles were bought) - then decided to take a break to taste some chocolate and cider (apparently the west side of the state specializes in tastings!), then had some lunch and did a little antique shopping.  We stopped at a 4th winery too - but only stayed for a minute - they were busy and we were hungry.  Anyone who knows me well knows that when I get hungry my patience fly's out the window - none of us were really feeling another tasting at that particular moment.  We did end the day with two additional wineries, which was by far my two favorites.  I bought two bottles at one and a third at the second.  These two were directly next to each other - and we showed up about 20 min before they both closed.  So, our tastings earlier in the day were taking about 30 min each - we squeezed two tastings into 20 min time AND the lady at the last place was being pretty generous AND these were the only two, and oddly they both had it, had vodka as well as wine.  Let's just say - we were feeling pretty happy after these two.  Oddly, I was insanely sleepy after that and couldn't seem to make a single decision if my life depended on it.  Jon and I couldn't seem to agree or decide on what to do for dinner - we ended up going to a Mexican place (seemed appropriate for our anniversary since we honeymooned in Mexico!) while Amanda & James went to a fancier Italian place.  It gave us that alone anniversary time - both of us had great food and wonderful conversation.

We left after breakfast the second day - but Jon and I ended up stopping at two more wineries on the way.  We had no choice - they were right off the freeway - and right next to each other!  If my calculations are correct, and I do numbers so they are probably correct, we tasted 37 wines and 2 vodkas over the weekend.  We visited 8 wineries, bought 8 bottles of wine (no, we didn't buy a bottle at each place - some we didn't buy any, and some we bought 2!), and ended up with 5 new wine glasses (most places charge you $5 for the tasting, but let you keep the cup).  I can't wait to write about all of them - although it going to be fairly predictable - I like them all or else I wouldn't have bought them!  It was fun to do so much tasting!  I learned more about what I like and don't like - saves me from buying a whole bottle and having to suffer through it here.  I love white wines, dry and semi-dry.  Once it gets sweet - it's really iffy.  I'll drink chilled red wine, but if it has the words spicy, meaty, or "good with red meat" in the description - I'm not going to like it.  

Jon felt the need to smell the wine with his whole nose in the cup!

This particular wine came from the Lemon Creek Winery - it was the first winery we visited - since we were all wine tasting virgins we weren't sure what to expect.  We paid our $5 and tasted 5 wines.  I really liked their Riesling and this Silver Beach one.  We, obviously, decided to buy the Silver Beach since it was more unique.  I liked the wine - but the tasting setup wasn't that great.  It didn't help that a bachelorette party of 20+ women arrived on a bus at almost the same time we did, and they only had one lady working the tastings, so it took a LOOOONNNGGG time.  But even beyond that, it was kind of dark and they didn't have any of the delicious crackers that the other places had.  A few places had these crackers that I expected to be fairly bland, but ended up being these awesome buttery crackers - I probably ate a few more of those than was absolutely necessary to clear the taste from my mouth.

Anyways - it was a great trip!  I'm so glad we were able to get away!  I'm so grateful for my family members that are so graciously willing to help out with my crazy children.  My awesome cousin Shayna not only picked up Liam from the bus stop and Mary from preschool, but she took them to their swimming lessons the next day.  And then my cousins Tara & Gerrit taught Liam to ride a bike without training wheels and dealt with Mary locking them out of the apartment.  These people rock.  I'm so lucky!  If there is anything better than getting away for the weekend with the hubby, it's having great family to support you.  I have both!  And I have 8 bottles of wine to enjoy and write about!  Life is great right now.

I didn't even notice the great background when we took this!

Speaking of Gerrit - totally not related to wine - he lives a lifestyle that I'm not sure I will ever really understand.  I highly encourage you to check out his blog http://www.ergonomicguy.com/