The first time we headed down to Elkin was for my older sisters 30th birthday – she wanted to do something fun out of town and since we love wine it was an easy decision. Since then we’ve gone back three times and still haven’t made it to all the vineyards Elkin wine country has to offer. So when Julie said she wanted something low-key we thought that a return trip with some of her girlfriends would be perfect.

I found a cabin located at the Slightly Askew winery and it was perfect for us! Also it was the only cabin I found that slept more than two :) Seems most of the rentals down there are for a romantic get away weekend. But this cabin slept 8 and had a huge kitchen and a hot tub. We arrived Friday and spent the evening at the house decorating wine glasses, playing catch phrase, and sitting in the hot tub until almost 3am talking. It was a fun relaxed evening and since not everyone knew each other, a good way to start the weekend.

Saturday we woke up and make a huge brunch including “MTO” eggs benedict – in that we had poached eggs and hollindase and then several other options to build them with. Also cinnamon rolls, fruit, and of course mimosas! Then we headed out for some tastings.

We started at Slightly Askew since the rental came with a free tasting. They have lots of blends and sweet wines with fun kitchy names. I bought one that tastes like the beach (a lime coconut white) and figured it’d be perfect for our Florida vacation this year.

One of Julie’s friends is also engaged so we had to get a shot of all our rings :)

From there we drove to Dobbins Creek, which when we came down the first time was our favorite – and this time was no different. All the wines on the list are amazing – and can we talk about that view?

Then on to Menarick which includes a lot of Spanish and Portuguese grapes – and a few delicious fruit wines. Plus the owners are some of the nicest people ever!

Then it was back to the house to freshen up for dinner at 222 Public House. If you need a good restaurant this is our favorite in Elkin! It has AMAZING pizza and wings. We stuffed ourselves and then laid around the house watching fun wedding-y movies. And since we were up so late the night before we all crashed pretty early :)

The next day the cabin owners recommended a winery called Herrera Estates for brunch. They’ve only been open a few months but sadly brunch was not much to talk about – nothing was really that great :( But we didn’t let it sour the weekend and just moved into the bar to taste their wines!

And by this point we were all starting to move a little slowly – so two of the cars headed home but a few of us more adventurous spirits headed out to one more winery…or so was the plan. We did a tasting at McRitchie – another of our favorites from a previous trip and they have wines and yummy cider! When we were getting ready to hit the road though, the couple next to us said they had just come from Jones von Drehle just 3 minutes down the road and it was worth the visit. So, since we weren’t in a huge hurry to get back we decided why not and headed over. And we are so glad we did! This was my favorite winery of the whole weekend! They do an amazing job with EVERYTHING on the list, reds, whites, sweet, and fruit wines – which is hard to do. But everything we tried we loved and we all ended up with a bottle or three. One of the owners did our tasting and was so nice and knowledgeable. We will definitely go back.

If you are going to visit just one winery in the area this is the one I recommend with Dobbins coming in a close second! And for food always visit 222 – or for brunch try Shelton and skip Herrera :)

Overall though, the weekend was a success, Julie was celebrated, and my wine cabinet is restocked – just in time for Thanksgiving!

Have any of you done wine tastings around? Or been to Elkin? What are some of your favorites? Comment below – we are always looking for new wineries!