We Heard It Through The Grapevine...

Today we decided to take a drive through the Hudson Valley.  We got a glimpse of the

Hudson River as we drove in and around and up and

down the back roads.  This one was the Milton Turnpike, LOL!

We saw beautiful

flowers blooming beside the road and there were

apple orchards everywhere.

Then we found this old

winery.  It is the oldest winery in America, founded by John Jaques in 1839.

We decided to join in 

on a tour.

We signed up here

in the main tasting room where we visited with Franklin.  When Kevin, our guide was ready, we

followed him outside where we got a brief history lesson about the beginning of the winery.  We started our walk around the property where Kevin pointed out the

mansion that is being restored and soon to become a bed and breakfast.

All of the grapes are trucked in from different vineyards around the state and are then processed and bottled here

at this factory.

We

watched through the

window as the empty bottles were filled,

capped,

sealed, and sent on down the line

for a label.

Kevin then took us down into the

cellars.  We walked though lots of

doors and down long hallways.  We saw rooms where

the barrels of wine are aged.

Once we were back outside, we saw

just a few grapevines that are grown here at the winery for fall festival use only.

This is an

old press that Zachary and

Lauren tried to use.

The flowers blooming

around the property were beautiful.

When our tour was over, we ended up back in the tasting room/gift shop where we started.

What a fun day on the back roads

in the Hudson Valley.