Caterwining

That there is Noah Stonefield—resident Bengal cat at Stonefield Cellars Winery in Stokesdale, NC. Went out that way last evening with Kimberly and the young 'un, who is in town helping to look after her mother following some fairly serious surgery. Stonefield's not a very large place, but they've got a decent catalog of wines, with some particularly good red varieties (my color of choice). Last night was their holiday open house, which meant free tastings and 15% off purchases; needless to say, this made for some mighty attractive bait, and we laid into it.

Without question, Stonefield's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and their Reserve Malbec are the best they have to offer. I'm also very partial to their Sangiovese and "Barrel X" varieties. Not quite as much to my liking but still most interesting are "Mountain Mama Madness" (available in both white and red) and "Dread Pirate Robert's Bloody Red" (which I usually cannot resist purchasing, even if it's not my favorite of the flavors, just because the packaging is awesome).

Stonefield is a scenic enough little spot, particularly now with their abundant Christmas decorations about the property. They have a rather charming little outdoor area with a fire pit and several tables, so since the weather has been unseasonably warm (in shirt sleeves in December), we sat outside after the tasting and each drank a glass—their warm mulled spice wine, which was indeed delicious.

After this little venture, we made our way over to Winston-Salem for another little wine event at our friends Terry and Beth Nelson's place—snagging a few caches en route, of course. Lots of food, drink, and good company. A Chilean Cabernet, a brand called Calina, also caught our attention here.

Today, it was out on the geocaching trail for most of the day; added a few more to the total, so now I'm 32 shy of 4,000. Lots of flesh wounds from hacking through brier hell today. I might need a spot of wine to recuperate....

Young'un with the old man. Apparently, her face is stuck like that.

Hmm. Looks like she might have gotten it unstuck, but I'm not sure it's going to last.