Forks of the Cheat Winery
Back when I lived in Morgantown, WV I stumbled upon the Forks of the Cheat Winery. I had been out picking wild blackberries with my mother, who was in town for the summer from Florida. We decided to go to the winery and pick up some local wine and the owner, Jerry, asked what we had been out and about doing, since we were all smudged and rumpled from being out in the wild berry patches.
When I told him we had been picking berries all morning and still did not have enough for a pie, he took us up the hill and showed us the Vineyard’s lovely cultivated blackberry patches. In the end, he and I had made an agreement that I could come out and pick berries anytime I wanted and all I needed to do in return was leave half the berries in the vineyard’s freezer.
That was an amazing summer, filled with amazing blackberry pies and blackberry ice cream. I remember, in particular, hosting a blackberry ice cream party at my apartment for a bunch of my friends.
Anyway, today as my dad and my daughter and I were driving back across the state from my grandmother’s house to my dad’s place on the Shenandoah, we made a little side trip to the Vineyard. A few years ago my dad stopped and bought some of their Bad Cat and Airmail Jones (both sweet whites). He wanted some more and I wanted to pick up a bottle of their Niagara. She tasted it that day when we had been out picking berries and tells me often that it reminds her exactly of the grapes that used to grown in front of her childhood home.
Of course, I ended up with two bottles for myself – Reisling (my favorite) and a bottle of their Schwarzer Bär, which they categorize as an off-dry white. Both were outstanding.
The Forks of the Cheat Winery has changed a lot, but the wine is just as great as I remember. Now the grounds have terraced gardens and areas to sit and look out over the mountains. Apparently they have a lot of food and wine events there now. No wonder, it’s one of the most lovely places in the area.
Now, the challenge will be to get all of the bottles safely back to Florida in my suitcase, because the winery is unable to ship to Florida.
No comments yet.