Originally Posted by
peaceandjoy
tropit, FL wines are fabulous and ever expanding. The hills around the lakes, together with our winters, provide great conditions for the vines. Well, unless there's a late frost, as we just had.
It really is a beautiful area, if I do say so myself, lol. Some of the vineyards have been here for ages and ages, but in the last 25 years or so, there has been an explosion of wineries, and now many craft breweries as well. Those, and our lakes, have really become a huge tourist attraction.
Riesling, Chardonnay, Gewurztraminer are the most common whites, Pinot Noir is common for red, but there are so many varieties now. Here's an interesting read from my fav:
https://www.wiemer.com/exploring-var...ulia-vineyard/
We have quite a few lovely quilt shops, including a couple of Mennonite shops that don't have the decor of a traditional LQS, but fantastic pricing. If you're ever in a position to be in the area, definitely worth at least a couple of days to visit!
I've seen pictures of your area...gorgeous! The closest I've ever gotten to that area, physically, is East Aurora and oh, Niagara Falls. It's all beautiful country. I was really taken with it.
We lived in the Santa Ynez Valley for over 30 years and it was a quiet and peaceful place that no one had ever heard of...until... the movie Sideways came out. It was filmed there and once people saw it, it became a major destination for S. California wine lovers. It got so crowded with tourists that we couldn't even get into our little town to buy groceries. The roads were so congested, especially on the weekends. The area completely changed. We finally just moved. It was just too much of a good thing. A little tourism is very good though...it brings in money to the local economy. We need a little more of that here, in Mendo. We could use a quilt shop too.