A Corny Wine Weekend

This was probably one of the funnest weekends I've had in quite some time. I was visiting one of my friends I hadn't seen in over a year. First thing on the list of to dos was to go to a local farm that had a corn maze. I realize this technically doesn't have anything to do with food, but I did have roasted corn from this local farm...so I'm posting pictures from the corn maze because it is made of corn!

Yummy roasted corn!

Entrance into the corn maze. Called "The Maize"...I really like the pun.

The picture of the maze on the board is a real picture of what the maze looks like from the sky. Even though I saw what the maze looked like on their website, I assumed that it wasn't a true picture of what the maze would be like and that it would be easy, but boy was I wrong!

The maze was actually more challenging than we expected. My friend even said "I thought this was going to be more like a leisurely stroll." I think we were in the maze for almost an hour and a half. Though we did take a few breaks for water (they have 2 areas with free water), and breaks on some of the bridges that make you feel like you're on top of the highest mountain top looking over...CORN, heh. It was nice to breathe in some fresh air and admire the gorgeous blue sky from those bridges.

Success!!

The corn maze was really fun! We also got to shoot corn cobs out of an air gun. I never thought I would ever do something like that!

Next on our to do list was to go to Llano Estacado, a local winery. This was my first experience to go to a winery and go on a wine tour, which also included a free wine tasting. I had a really great experience and the people working there were extremely nice. I was expecting wine snobs, but they were all genuine and used language we understood when describing each kind of wine. Between my friend and I, we ended up tasting about 8 different wines. I've never been very good with picking out wines that I like (especially since you can't try the wine in the grocery store before buying it), so the wine tasting helped me pinpoint specific kinds of wines that I enjoyed. I ended up coming home with 2 bottles of wines, the Gewurztraminer and the Viva Rosso. And my friend came home with the Sangiovese.

Description from the wine menu:
Gewurztraminer - "Said to be the spiciest of all grape varieties, this wine becomes an excellent complement to hot spicy meals. The ample residual sugar in the wine will actually 'put out the fire' on hot peppers."
Viva Rosso - "A blend of Brachetto d'Acqui and Moscato, Viva Rosso is a lighter, effervescent Italian Red Frizzante wine with a delicate sweetness that is perfect for any occasion. The Brachetto d'Acqui qualifies as a DOCG wine in Italy."
Sangiovese - "This Sangiovese is made in a light, fun, fruity style. Its floral aromas are coupled with flavors of black cherry and plum."
Moscato - "The unique tangerine-zest, key-lime aromatics come from the grape and a special process known as 'stopped-fermentation.' Through this process we are able to retain the natural sweetness and flavor of the grape along with a touch of 'frizzante' (effervescence)."

I also really liked Llano's Moscato (description above), but I didn't buy it at the winery since I've seen it at local grocery stores. The other three wines are only available at the winery or off of their website (though I believe you cannot order the Viva Rosso online because it does have a slight carbonation so it cannot be shipped). The description of the Moscato was right on, I could actually taste the key-lime aromatics which really intrigued me and is definitely on my grocery list.

It was a great weekend and I already miss my friend. Hopefully we will have more fun adventures next time we see each other!