Childress Winery Tour
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Sunday dawned sunny and mild.. a perfect day for a cruise. Dave and Gretchen Newell had carefully planned our day. The group met at Fire Mountain Restaurant on Main Street in Kernersville for brunch. There were 11 couples ready for a leisurely drive to the winery. As usual, before we could leave the parking lot, we had attracted a small crowd of restaurant employees and patrons to look at the cars. I can't say that I blame them, it's always exciting to see so many fine automobiles in one place at the same time!
When we arrived, Dave went inside and arranged for us to park around the circular drive in front of the winery. I think the beautiful facility complimented the cars as much as the cars complimented the facility. If you have never visited the winery, it is well worth the time to take the tour. You enter the building through beautifully carved wooden doors. This enters into a spacious foyer with marble floors and a huge fountain. Off to the right is a banquet/meeting room large enough to handle 200 people. Beside the meeting room is a bistro where lunch is served daily. Across the foyer is a gift shop and wine tasting bar. Upstairs are offices.
The photo above left is where the wine ages. Each barrel is 59 gallons or approximately $5,000 worth of wine! I guestimated almost $500,000 in inventory sitting there. In the back of the room is a table for 24. It can be rented for dinner parties. The rock wall with the Childress logo is actually a water fall. Above right is the area outside the keg room. Across the hall is the bottling machine. Notice the fine detail of the recessed statues, hardwood paneling and paintings. This facility is nothing but first class.
Two more couples joined us at the winery for a total of 13 cars. After our tour of the winery, we headed back into Winston-Salem for some ice cream at Mayberry's on Cloverdale Avenue. The weather was great. The tour was first class and the company was exemplary... as usual. Thanks Dave and Gretchen for putting together such a relaxing day for us!
The "Library"... There is a sampling of each wine produced stored here.
