Some gumbo, wine discounts along the trail

This note comes via Karen Cline, the PR extraordinaire for the Brandywine Valley Wine Trail. She sent it over on Saturday morning for heading out for Barrels on the Brandywine..

Below is some content about how things are going for Barrels this year. I’m working at some of the wineries to get a feel for what goes on at Barrels (since this is my first year for this event).

We’re now three weeks into the Sixth Annual Barrels on the Brandywine. The turnout the last few weekends has been great! Historically though, wine lovers will come out in force the last half of the month and if Passport sales are any indication, that will occur again this year.

Melissa and Tim Jobe’s Gumbo Kitchen at Twin Brook Winery is still a popular feature. When I visited their winery, I saw a large number of people grab a glass of their favorite wine and hunker down to a bowl of steaming gumbo. The gumbo is authentic, meaning that Tim has several pounds of sausage shipped up from the south so he can make “proper” gumbo. Their gumbo recipe will be published in an article soon---where and when to follow.

Last weekend, I was at Black Walnut Winery in Sadsburyville. Their winery is not yet open, so they are operating out of a tent. The tent provided more of a “festival feel” and didn’t take away from the fun of wine tasting at all. They offered your choice of five wines to taste and then three barrel tastings. That sort of selection is pretty common from our wineries—taste from the bottle and then from the barrels.

I had a tour of the barn Black Walnut is renovating. I was impressed by the enormity of the task they have undertaken. Renovations have been occurring three years now—when the owners weren’t at their full-time jobs, they have been at the winery, doing the work themselves. I can’t wait to see the finished product in a couple of months. Black Walnut is hoping to open officially for Memorial Day.

Some wineries on the Trail are offering case discounts, so visitors should be sure to ask about those to make the most of their “wine dollar.”

Today, I’ll be at Stargazers Vineyard. They’re the one winery on the Trail that is powered by the sun—100% solar! They even have a wine that is labeled “100% Sun, No Oak”. Cheeses are on the menu there each weekend. I can’t wait to try some local cheese today with my wine.