The Norton Wine Traveler's Wine Journal
| Wineries Visited: 248Journal Entries:  251Photos Uploaded:  0 |  |
| About: Former military pilot and retired educator enjoying life with rhododendrons, magnolias, travels, and Norton wine explorations. Recommended reading of Norton wines is Todd Kliman's The Wild Vine. | ||
Favorite States
| State | Your Reviews | Wineries in State | Percent | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri Wineries | 48 | 130 | 36% |  |
| Arkansas Wineries | 6 | 17 | 35% |  |
| Louisiana Wineries | 2 | 6 | 33% |  |
| Georgia Wineries | 15 | 51 | 29% |  |
| Alabama Wineries | 4 | 19 | 21% |  |
| Tennessee Wineries | 10 | 48 | 20% |  |
| Rhode Island Wineries | 1 | 5 | 20% | |
| Virginia Wineries | 49 | 270 | 18% |  |
| Kentucky Wineries | 11 | 62 | 17% |  |
| South Carolina Wineries | 4 | 23 | 17% | |
| North Carolina Wineries | 19 | 127 | 14% |  |
| West Virginia Wineries | 2 | 14 | 14% | |
| Illinois Wineries | 10 | 94 | 10% |  |
| New Hampshire Wineries | 2 | 21 | 9% |  |
| Massachusetts Wineries | 2 | 34 | 5% |  |
| Kansas Wineries | 2 | 36 | 5% | |
| New Mexico Wineries | 2 | 49 | 4% |  |
| Minnesota Wineries | 2 | 54 | 3% |  |
| Maryland Wineries | 2 | 69 | 2% |  |
| Wisconsin Wineries | 2 | 74 | 2% | |
| Oklahoma Wineries | 1 | 37 | 2% | |
| Iowa Wineries | 2 | 83 | 2% | |
| Idaho Wineries | 1 | 45 | 2% | |
| Pennsylvania Wineries | 4 | 190 | 2% | |
| Texas Wineries | 4 | 232 | 1% |  |
| New Jersey Wineries | 1 | 60 | 1% | |
| California Wineries | 15 | 1640 | 1% | |
| New York Wineries | 1 | 252 | 1% | |
Latest Winery Visits
Cedar Creek Vineyards (added Nov 02, 2018)
Wide River Winery (added Nov 02, 2018)
Little Vine Vineyards (added Oct 27, 2018)
Whispering Bluffs Winery (added Oct 22, 2018)
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Latest Wine Journal Entries
Wide River Winery (written Nov 02, 2018)
Wine: 
Winery: 
Ambiance:
The hospitality is over the top in this beautiful Mississippi River bluff winery setting. What a combination of sweet wine offerings (Niagara-Brianna, Vidal Blanc-Cranberry, Edelweiss-Niagara, Traminette-Niagara, Norton-Niagara, Norton-Raspberry, etc.). A long, narrow road to the winery, but a fun place to be upon arrival (you may need a drink by then). Very reasonably priced wines to boot. There are numerous locations in nearby cities, to include Illinois, where Wide River wines can be found.
Cedar Creek Vineyards (written Nov 01, 2018)
Wine: 
Winery: 
Ambiance:
Though we went out of our way to find this home-style vineyard in a beautiful rural setting, the owner/vintner freely admitted to us that he was slowly closing down operations. Grape harvest were down due to weather, various diseases were winning battles in his vineyards, vines were being pulled and ‘time’ was running against the winery’s history. We went to try specific varietals and found some of the bottled stock sold. Bottom line, if you are in the area, go out of your way to try wines of years gone by to never be offered again.
Little Vine Vineyards (written Oct 28, 2018)
Wine: Winery: Ambiance:
Drove out of our way to find this winery west of Atlanta (and it was worth it). The four grapes grown here are Lenoir (Black Spanish), Norton, Blanc du Bois and Herbemont (a grape more common to Texas). Though up to 9 tons of Norton can be harvested annually from 1.5 planted acres, the grape has not been a customer favorite so far. The owner has hopes that the 2016 harvest may be different when released. We particularly enjoyed the Blanc du Bois and 'Three L's' Norton/Lenoir (50/50) blend. Though not tasted, if you prefer an Off-Dry fruit wine a Norton/blueberry blend is available.
Stone Hill Winery (written Oct 23, 2018)
Wine: Winery: Ambiance:
Norton Wine Review: So many choices of reds, whites, rose, port, sparkling, or dessert wines which will accommodate all tastes. Stone Hill Vineyards year in and year out provides true award winning wines. Though they have a prominent gift store you have to pass through to get to the tasting rooms, you never feel like you are being pushed through a bad tourist trap. After experiencing a Stone Hill tower Norton tasting of wines from 2007-2016 and selecting, for my taste, the 2015 as the wine to wait for, I was able to pick up recently a couple cases of this Missouri Governor’s Cup winner (Stone Hill’s 2016 Norton was this year’s winner also). I will age in bottle this for six-to-eight more years or longer if possible. Hopefully, this will go down as a ‘classic’ Norton wine. If you want to know what Norton wines are all about, visit Stone Hill Winery. Beautiful location with parking atop a knoll in the town of Hermann. Enjoy this historic scene, restaurant and the best of what Missouri can offer in the way of wines. For those traveling by RV, there is a city park with full hookups at the foot of the hill which makes traveling through this section of Missouri very manageable.
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