Saddlehill Winery was not on my winery radar until I came across a post on Facebook of a woman looking to get a group of ladies together to visit on a Saturday afternoon … Of course, I commented that I would be interested in joining because I’ve never visited Saddlehill before, but that quickly changed to me wanting to go on a solo mission after doing a little homework and finding out that Saddlehill Winery had recently opened and the locals were raving about their wines and the alpacas that live on the grounds!

To prepare for my visit, I visited the Saddlehill Winery website where I learned more about the winery and how to plan ahead for my visit.

Since I’ve never tried any of their wines, I opted to reserve a spot for their 1 PM wine tasting, which costs $25, but required a $10 deposit to secure your spot online. Balance is to be paid upon completion of your wine tasting. And, to complete the experience, I made lunch reservations an hour after the start of my wine tasting in their dining room.

I arrived at the winery at 1 PM.

I walked over to the podium to be checked in and from there I was shown the bar area. I walked over to the bar and I was greeted by Lisa who was very welcoming and ready to share all of her knowledge about Saddlehill and their 16 wines …

Lisa asked me about my preference in wine and I shared that I enjoy both the sweet and fruity wines. She gave her recommendations and from their I opted to taste the following six wines for my wine tasting:

• Sauvignon Blanc was not one of my favorites, it was on the dry side.

• Starflower has a great taste, very refreshing, and perfect for the summer!

• Rosato was one that I had high hopes for, because I was looking for a rosé replacement … This rosé was very dry and it just didn’t do anything for me, but it may work for someone else, just not me …

• Raspberry was very delicious! It has the perfect amount of tartness, I loved it!

• Blueberry was a miss for me … I could taste the blueberry, but it didn’t have that tartness that I enjoy in a blueberry wine.

• Vinho de Sobremesa was definitely a fave, so much so, that I ordered it with my wine flight at lunch.

For $20, I ordered a wine flight that came with (4) 2 ounce pours of your faves or you could order one that already had the wines preselected. I ordered three that I enjoyed from the wine tasting and one that I wasn’t too sure on, but ended up enjoying at lunch.

For my wine flight, I ordered the following:

• Starflower

• Raspberry

• Mead is a honey wine that I thought would pair nicely with the salmon I ordered and it did …

• Vinho de Sobremesa

From the wine tasting to lunch was a smooth transition …

For lunch, I ordered their arancini, as an appetizer. For my entree, I ordered their salmon which came with roasted brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes. And for dessert, I ordered their apple strudel with a scoop of their vanilla gelato.

I truly enjoyed both the arancini and the salmon with my wine flight. Portion size was good, along with the food’s temperature. I did not care for the apple strudel, it just wasn’t anything to rave about …

After lunch, I walked the grounds and found the alpacas, a horse, a pony, a few sheep, and some chickens.

This is not a petting zoo.

The animals are there to look at, not to be fed or to pet. But, it was nice, because this is the first winery I’ve ever visited that had animals living on its grounds.

My experience at Saddlehill Winery was an enjoyable one, because I got to do everything that I wanted to do at my own pace on a beautiful, Saturday afternoon.

Contact Information:

For any inquiries, please feel free to reach out to me via e-mail at thiswomantravels@yahoo.com.