MTGlass

In case you need somewhere to go this weekend to truly get away from it all, take a trip to Boonville, North Carolina and visit Sanders Ridge. Located at 3200 Round Hill Rd, Sanders Ridge is set back in the woods and gives visitors the feeling of escape without really being that far off the beaten path. The restaurant and tasting room’s front porch rests lazily over a quaint pond while massive trees shade the area and its guests from bright sunny days and the Carolina summer heat. Guests are free to lounge on the front porch and take in the scenery, sit on the side patio and enjoy a well prepared dinner from the restaurant, or retire inside to either the tables, the bar, or the couches to enjoy the excellent assortment of wine and food.

As I bellied up to their impressive bar, I began my tasting with their Bordeaux blend, “2007 Big Woods”. This is an excellent blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a tiny bit of Syrah. This wine was very pleasant, it started with heavy oak on the nose and had a lovely, and lengthy, buttery finish. The chef had paired this wine with a pulled pork egg roll with a spicy peanut sauce and the flavors were very nice together. This wine would be great with Thai food or spicy Chinese.

Another standout wine from their tasting was their 2007 Chardonnay. While it is primarily aged in stainless steel, it spends 3 months in oak. This gives the wine a nice earthy feel but with no heavy oak linger that so many oaked Chardonnays acquire after aging for a while in oak. This wine has a nice aroma of apple and finishes crisply and cleanly; overall, a nice white wine.

Their “Sweet Kate” had just been released three days prior to my visiting them, so of course I had to try it. “Sweet Kate” is the Sanders Ridge Chambourcin, but with 6% residual sugar. This is a good wine if you prefer something sweeter, but still like a somewhat bolder wine. If you fancy a little less sweetness, then try the “2008 Round Hill”. It is also made with their Chambourcin, but with only 2% residual sugar. I wouldn’t call this a sweet wine at all. I thought the sugar of “Round Hill” balanced out the spices of the plain Chambourcin quite nicely. I could see myself drinking this wine on a regular basis.

Finally, Sanders Ridge had quite a surprise in store in the last wine that I tasted. Let me preface this by saying that I typically hate Muscadine wines, I often consider them too sweet for my palette. When I smelled the aroma of the “Carlos Muscadine” I had a feeling this wine was not the typical muscadine wine that I have found at vineyards and wineries across North Carolina. This wine is extremely aromatic and the smell took me back to my childhood, when I would stick my head in the fridge in the summer to escape the heat and encounter a large bowl of my mother’s fresh muscadines; it’s a cool, wonderful smell that you never forget. Once I actually tasted the wine, it was as if I had just picked a muscadine off the vine and popped it in my mouth. Their “Carlos Muscadine” has none of the annoying sweetness that so many other muscadine wines do. I was so impressed by this wine that I bought a bottle and enjoyed it the very next evening. Apparently I am not the only one that is impressed, “2008 Carlos Muscadine” won Double Gold at the NC State Fair and won a Silver Medal at the 2009 Indy International Wine Competition. I would suggest this wine to everyone, especially if you have despised muscadine wine in the past.

While their wines are excellent, Sanders Ridge has much more to offer. They have an experienced and excellent chef, an organic menu that changes seasonally, and a beautiful dining room. I look forward to visiting Sanders Ridge again soon to sit, relax, eat, and sip. I have heard that if you are planning on visiting them as the weather warms, then reservations are a good idea. I can see why this special place fills up quickly, it is wonderful on so many levels. I recommend Sanders Ridge to anyone and everyone that just needs to get away for a little while.