Central Florida Wine Lovers

If you are new to my blog, my name is Wendolyn and I like to get you out of your house. Not only do I enjoy to get others out and about, but I like to do it so that you spend little to no money doing so. I had the pleasure of visiting Lakeridge Winery this week. For those who do not know, I am a student taking 5 courses, work a full time job, and manage to publish a blog entry once a week. Needless to say, it can get hectic on my side. Only time I was able to fit this awesome tour in was at 10:30 am. Yes, I was buzzed before noon (judge free zone). Hope you enjoy my entry, and visit them soon.. 

The hill tops of Clermont instantly put you at ease. All the space around, the beautiful views are just very calming. Getting away from traffic and cars, and horns once in a while is needed and appreciated. You begin the tour with a video telling you the history, and some processes that go into making the wines. You are then shown around by an awesome tour guide, mine was Stuart. Stuart showed us around, we began where the wine is stored in big stainless steel barrels. Some hold as little as 2,500 gallons of wine, others hold as much as 25,000 gallons of wine. Next you are shown outside where you get a better view of the fields and vines that are patiently waiting to grow come spring. When it is time to get the grapes off, they use a huge blue truck to shake the grapes off, it grabs about 60 tons of grapes per day. This location has 80 acres, but they have another with 120 acres, all to fulfill our wine needs. Next you are shown where the wine is packaged, and sent out to their customers. They produce about 1.5 million wine bottles per year. They can be distributed to 25 states, and you can even get them at stores near you, or get them packaged and mailed right to your front door. After you are shown around out to try their marvelous selections of wine, and bubbly. You try a total of 8 different selections, depending what season you may have one or two added. Stuart explains to you everything he pours, what it is best with and describes the wine itself. There are 5 steps to wine tasting, won't go into detail, I rather him tell you specifically. But they are see, swirl, smell, sip, and savor. This tour is completely FREE, you are not forced to purchase anything afterwards either. I did however grab a bottle of their Southern White for only $10. All of their wines are award winning, they have a nice display of all their wines, and what awards they earned. This place is awesome because they have monthly festivals too. From arts and crafts, to seafood, chocolate, jazz, grape stomping. They have it all, this also a family friendly place. Kids are even allowed on the tour, where they are given grape juice when they get to the wine tasting portion. 

I hope you all enjoyed my brief overview of this amazing winery and will soon visit. If you get Stuart as your tour guide, tell him Wendolyn, the blogger sent you and he will have you cracking up the whole tour. I want to mention to you all, life is short. It is meant to be lived, to see new things, try new foods and make new memories. Do not let the thought of doing something alone, or not having enough funds stop you from having a good time. I do this blog for people like myself, people who love to go out, but unfortunately have to be on budgets. I will be rich one day, but until then, I will continue to explore and meet people down the road. Remember to always Love and allow to be loved. Xo

Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards

19239 US 27 N. Clermont, Fl 34715

352-394-8627

www.LakeridgeWinery.com

Tours:

Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm

Sunday 11am-5pm

Tours run about every 30 minutes