Enoree River Vineyards and Winery
Newberry, SC
During a recent vacation to South Carolina to visit my wife’s family, I discovered a winery only a few miles away and decided we had to stop in for a visit.
I wasn’t expecting world class wines but figured it was worth a visit to a small, family owned winery in the middle of South Carolina. I try to support all wineries since making wine is a life style I wholeheartedly support.
They have two classifications for their wines; the more international styled wines are made from juice brought in from Chile. They also make fruit based wines and wines from grapes grown on site, Muscadine. Muscadine grapes are native to the Southern United States from Texas to the Carolinas.
After accidently driving past the winery and having to make a U-turn, we arrived at the winery and tasting room. Their new and very nice looking tasting room had shining hardwood floors, the prerequisite tasting bar, and several tables. We stopped in on a Thursday afternoon and were the only people there. We were told they get extremely busy on Saturdays. As expected, their busiest time of the year is the month leading up to Christmas. Everyone has to have some alcohol to successfully celebrate the holiday season.
I believe we were told they are getting ready for their 4th harvest of their Muscadine grapes.
On the day we visited, they had 10 wines available for us to taste for a reasonable $5 fee. We passed on a couple of the sweet Muscadine based wines, but sampled the rest.
1 – Sauvignon Blanc – This was made from juice brought in from Chile and it was very representative of the Sauvignon Blancs I’ve had from Chile and Argentina. The wine had tart citrus with a nice herbal element.
2 – Riesling – Again made from juice brought in from Chile. I have not had a Chilean Riesling, so I didn’t have a reference point for comparison. The wine had nice tart apple and citrus. This was made in a slightly off dry style and would be nice on its own or with some spicy food.
3 – Carlos (Semi-Dry) – This was a white wine made with the home grown Muscadine grapes. Even though it is listed s semi-dry, it was very sweet to us. This lacked the acidity needed to offset the sweetness so it came across as pretty soft. This was not our style of wine, but I bet it is very popular to the sweet wine drinkers.
4 – Carlos (Sweet) – Based on the sweetness of the semi-dry white, we passed on this wine
5 – Noble (Semi-Dry) – This was a red wine made from the home grown Muscadine grapes. Like the Carlos above, it was again very sweet and lacked the offsetting acidity. This had a more cherry to berry flavor profile.
6 – Noble (Sweet) – Once again we passed on this wine because the Semi-Dry was sweet enough for our tastes.
7 – Merlot – This is again made with juice brought in from Chile. The wine also includes a bit of barrel aged Malbec to add some earthiness, dark fruit, and spice. An easy drinking style of wine, probably very popular for dry wine drinkers at holiday parties.
8 – Red Raspberry – A very nice, jammy style of wine full of, you guessed it, red raspberry. This as well as the other two fruit based wines would probably be a crowd pleaser mixed with some sparking wine.
9 – Blackberry – Obviously made with blackberries, this was again off dry but with enough zippy acidity to help offset the sweetness.
10 – Apple – As expected, this was once again a sweeter style of wine full of sweet apples.
Here’s a shot of the vineyards. I’m sure the rain they received over the last couple of weeks helped bring back the green color.
Here is a slightly closer picture of their vineyard.
Here are some while Muscadine (Carlos) grapes on the vine.
Here are some ripe Muscadine grapes about ready to be picked.
We bought a bottle of their Riesling and a bottle of their Blackberry wine. The Blackberry will probably be used to make a very interesting Blackberry Cake from the Winery’s Recipe section of their website. http://www.enoreeriverwinery.com/Recipies.html
The price for a tasting or a glass of wine is $5.00, souvenir glasses are $2, and wines cost $13 a bottle.
If you ever find yourself on I-26 North of Columbia, I recommend stopping by for a visit. They are only about a half mile off the highway.
Their website is http://www.enoreeriverwinery.com/
10 responses to “Enoree River Vineyards and Winery”
Kris C
September 18th, 2012 at 16:42
After verify their hours of operation, I spent over an hour driving out to this winery. I arrived before 3pm, well before their closing time of 6pm. When I arrived, the store was dark, locked up tight and noone would answer the phone. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND GAS MONEY! Learn from my mistake and don’t waste your time driving out to this place!
Cliff
September 18th, 2012 at 19:48
What day did you go Kris? I see they are closed on Sunday and Monday. I may add their hours to my post. If you went on a day they are supposed to be open, that would be a big issue.
Cliff
September 25th, 2012 at 16:50
It sounds like this issue involved a family medical emergency, and is not an issue for anyone planning a visit to the winery.
DDDowling
September 25th, 2012 at 19:44
Kris, you forgot to mention the really nasty voicemail message you left, as well. The people who own and operate Enoree River Winery are decent, caring, conscientious proprietors dealing with a very demanding course of treatment while trying to keep a business up a running. How about you cut them a little slack and not take their emergency as a personal affront to you. You have no idea what you’re missing if you don’t try to visit another time.
Laura LaBarre
September 25th, 2012 at 16:00
Cliff, As I have explained to Kris several times and also offered our apologies, we had to make an emergency visit to the hospital for my husband to receive a blood transfusion. He is currently struggling with cancer and was very weak. During the chaos of the moment, we neglected to leave a note on the door. We have apologized to Kris for her driving all the way and for us not being here. We are not perfect and do make our mistakes. We have apologized. We do not know what more she wants of us. Most people would be forgiving under such stressful circumstances.
Cliff
September 25th, 2012 at 16:49
Laura,
That sounds like a perfectly valid reason for an emergency closure. I hope your husband improves. Hopefully one bad comment does not impact an otherwise very nice operation.
I still feel my hearty recommendation is valid and encourage everyone to give them a chance and to pay them a visit. I’m sure we’ll be back again on our next visit. We may become regulars when we move to the area in the next couple of years.
DDDowling
September 25th, 2012 at 19:31
If Kris C is making such a big deal out of finding the winery closed due to a family emergency, then I have to wonder what sort of customer she would be; not accepting unforeseen circumstances and the apologies from the owner sounds like someone looking for something to complain about. I know the proprietors personally and their goal is to create wonderful wines to serve their customers and they work VERY HARD to please patrons. They have worked for YEARS to farm, harvest, produce, ferment, bottle and serve. That ONE potential customer would take to a public forum and threaten this business’s good name and reputation without the slightest regard, compassion or understanding for someone who is battling a life-threatening disease while keeping the business operational for customers is a disgrace! Kris C is the one missing out, due to her own rush to judgment and apparent unhappiness, in general.
Cliff
September 25th, 2012 at 19:41
I agree Dana, but I don’t want to speak ill of someone I don’t know. I just want to ensure anyone reading these comments that I left Kris’s comment but feel the winery’s extenuating circumstances greatly out weigh their issue. Hopefully Kris will give them another chance and I’m sure the winery will do everything possible to ensure they have a good visit. To me, a family member’s health is always the number one priority.
We had a very nice visit and look forward to visiting again in the future.
Stuff happens at small family businesses.
Cliff
DDDowling
September 25th, 2012 at 20:09
Cliff,
You are absolutely right, and I would hope that perhaps Kris might take some time to reconsider the entire scenario. To issue threats of spreading ill-will due to an emergency within a family that already has suffered enough stress is completely uncalled for.
vineyard
March 18th, 2013 at 21:35
Have you ever at any time had a really unforgettable glass
of wine? What about a memorable bottle? Which was more
critical to your practical experience, the business or even
the wine itself?