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Sideways

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Rob Spera
Vineyards at start of growing season
Vineyards at start of growing season
Wine tasting at Lakeridge Vineyards
Wine tasting at Lakeridge Vineyards

Sampling wines at the Lakeridge Winery in Clermont Florida reminded me of the movie Sideways. Filming of the movie Sideways took place between Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo CA. This part of California is near the town of Paso Robles, the town my dear cat Robles is named after. I cycled through the vineyards in this area back in 2011.

The Florida winery is just a few miles away from the RV park I’m staying in, so I bicycled over to the vineyards. Florida is famous for oranges, there is an orange in the middle of the Florida license plate. Grapes however, don’t grow well in Florida. The summers are just too hot and humid for grapes to survive. The only native grape found in the southeastern United States is the muscadine grape. The muscadine grape is the only grape that can survive the warm and humid climate in Florida. The Lakeridge vineyards are planted with muscadine grapes.The wines tend to be quite sweet. If you like sweet wines, the Lakeridge wines are quite good. While not exactly Napa Valley, the vineyard and wine making operation were quite interesting. The Lakeridge Winery is the largest wine maker in Florida producing over one million bottles a year. The muscadine grape has been cultivated since the 16th century, 150 years before the first planting of a vineyard in California.

2 thoughts on “Sideways”

  1. Anonymous says:
    February 26, 2016 at 3:13 am

    Rob ……

    You brought up the movie “Sideways” for which I have a fondness for all the wrong reasons.

    I have been drinking wine for 40+ years, but I am usually not a wine “snob”. I usually drink pretty cheap wine, but I have this great dislike for Merlot. Mainly because it is on lower end of the red wine “food-chain”.

    In this movie, one of the lead actors says “I am NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!”.

    I used to often mention this movie to my brother-in-Law (RIP) whenever he had a gathering where Merlot wine was being offered.

    This summer, my lowest child (son , age 33) is getting married in the SF Bay area and we are renting a Victorian house on a winery for a week with some of the family. This Victorian house is conveniently located at the southern end of both the Sonoma & Napa valleys, so we will be visiting both wine areas.

    We have previously spend four (4) vacations in the Sonoma Valley area and I haven’t yet drank any Merlot wine there.

    I’m enjoying your reports on your adventures around Florida.

    So keep up with your new “job” and please ….. no Merlot wine reviews.

    Frank (aka pinot noir man)

    Reply
    1. Rob Spera says:
      February 26, 2016 at 5:41 am

      Frank, your comment is spot on. I actually went to sites with info about that movie to get a little background. That is the most famous line from the movie, No $%^& Merlot. I have now have mostly switched to Pinot Noir after watching Sideways. I almost put that quote in the post. Have a great time up in Napa and Sonoma, sounds like a great place to spend time for a wedding. I am enjoying writing the blog almost as much as the travels. I’m still dealing with bugs and quirks in the blog website, took several hours this evening to fix some problems, which is why you may have received three emails with the same blog entry. I hope to head up the east coast through NC, VA, and PA in May, and then hopefully out west to the Rocky Mountains somewhere next summer. Frank, thanks for taking the time to read and blog, and especially writing comments on the blog. I very much appreciate both. Hope you are doing and feeling well Frank. We are both very fortunate to be able to enjoy this phase of our lives.

      Reply

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