Florida Winery Tours

This next Florida vacation activity is an over-21 outing. Doesn’t that sound intriguing?

Wine is not just for California and Italy these days. During the past 15-years many states have developed programs that provide incentives to land owners to switch from traditional farming crops like corn and soybeans to non-traditional crops like grapes. Farmers have worked closely with state agriculture departments to develop hybrid grapes that will live in almost any environment.

A few years ago my husband and I discovered the Lakeridge Winery and Vineyard in Clermont, Florida by a complete accident. At the time we did not (and still don't) consider ourselves wine aficionados, so we almost didn’t stop. There was a bit of fear involved because our idea of a good wine usually came out of a box. But the winery sat majestically on the top of a hill looking over rows and rows of grape vines, so we took a chance and pulled into the driveway.

We fell in love with the experience and some of the wines. We watched their introductory video and then took the tour of the winery which ended in a wine tasting. Besides being a great marketing method, it was great fun listening to the host describe each wine and then share a sample with us. There were probably 15 of us at the tasting and they had them about every 30 minutes. Just taking an unscientific study (by my visual testing method) I would say that 2/3 of us went home with at least two bottles and several went away pulling the little red wagon to their cars in the parking lot hauling a case or even two. They also had a large variety of wine themed gift items. Lakeridge Winery and Vineyard became a regular stop when we had visitors. Check out their website for the dates you are vacationing to see if they are having a special events at the winery.

Recently we made a stop at the Rosa Fiorelli Winery, Inc and Vineyard in Manatee County -- an easy visit from Tampa, Sarasota, or Bradenton.

The day we visited they were very busy, so I don’t know if we got a true picture of the tour and tasting. I have to say that this tasting definitely had the best food; that day there was a variety of summer sausages, chocolate, fruit preserves, and veggies. It was great to see examples of what foods go with what wines. My only complaint was that the tasting area and sales area was very small. We had six in our party and another couple joined us and the area was maybe five feet and only three chairs plus a cash register. While we were there I would say another eight people came and had to wait, so it was a bit over crowded. With this said, we still went away with a case of the winery’s selections. There are tours available, but no one from our party participated and I don’t feel right giving a recommendation. I think my husband and I might go back with just the two of us and take the tour on another day because we really enjoy hearing the history and the dynamics of the process.

There are several other wineries in Florida in all areas of the Sunshine State. Word of advice: Definitely check out their websites and maybe even call to see what their particular winery has to offer. I offer this suggestion because in Michigan I visited what I thought was a winery (based on their sign) and found that it was a wine store on the side of the interstate and although they did offer tastings, it did not offer the same enjoyable ambiance as other wineries I have visited.

Let me know if you have visited any of the other Florida wineries. I would love some more recommendations.