What Did You Do Over the Weekend?

There was soooo much going on in Tally last weekend, it was difficult to choose which to do. From eco-fairs to worm gruntin' in Sopchoppy, I ended up at the Florida Wine Festival on Saturday. I'm not a wine diva (although I proudly wear the shirt), I do appreciate learning about wine.

I had read that 5,000 traditionally attend the Saturday event, but I'm not sure if that many showed up on April 14. I arrived just after the celebrity grape stomping (damn!) so I missed that. Some dude was handing out flyers to look at a giant colon (to raise colon cancer awareness), but I never got to see it.

But, I did sample some of the wines. My favorite Florida winery wasn't there, Schnebly in Redland's, Florida (my own stomping grounds) but I think I found a couple of favorites closer to Tallahassee. [Note: to appreciate most Florida wine, you need to be a fan of sweet wines].

Sea Breeze Winery in Panama City Beach, doled out all sorts of samplings of their luscious wine, including Blueberry, Blackberry and Island Red. I left with a bottle of Blackberry and Island Red. Blackberry is pretty self-explanatory and Island Red, as described on the flyer is "the new taste of the South." It's made with muscadine grapes and is a full-bodied sweet and acidic red.

The other winery I enjoyed was the Panama City Beach Winery. They were giving out samples of a couple of spirits but once I heard they had "Hurricane Class 5 Florida White Sangria," they grabbed my attention. Pure wine connoisseurs probably won't appreciate the sweet, refreshing flavor of pineapple, watermelon, passion fruit, key lime and mango all fused together. I left with one bottle.

I definitely need to get out to their winery for a tasting because other wines they make include: Chocolate, Coconut, Carrot and Tomato. With flavors that bizarre, they deserve a sampling!