This Past Week At My House

This past week I signed up to volunteer at a winery. I was scheduled to work during a wine festival in the Northern Neck of Virginia. It was a long drive to Heathsville, Virginia, but it was nice to get away and do something new and different. The wine festival took place on the grounds of the Historic Rice Hotel/Hughlett's Tavern. This building is the oldest surviving structure in Virginia's Northern Neck.

The wineries set up their cabana's behind the hotel/tavern. The winery I was volunteering with was Vault Field Vineyards.

They are part of the Chesapeake Wine Trail. I have visited all these wineries and love the wines at Vault Field Vineyards. So many wineries age their Chardonnay completely in stainless steel. I'm glad they still age their's in french oak. What a spectacular wine, along with their Conundrum, which is an interesting mix of several whites. Their 2008 reserve red is a wonderful, bold meritage of four different grapes. Vault Field Vineyards is an award winning winery, and it was fun to pour their wines for the day. We soon were very busy!

This past week we bought a new gas/infrared grill. The infrared part is suppose to cook the meats/vegetables more thoroughly than gas alone, while keeping everything moist. Bill had the job of putting it together.

We soon we had a brand-new grill. The first one we've had in over three years.

Our maiden grilling adventure was with lean, pork loin chops. We've never grilled pork before, but my sister Becky does it all the time, so I thought I'd give it a try. From grill to plate, they were hot and juicy!

I paired the chops with potato perogies, brussel sprouts and green beans. Delicious!

Have a great week!