Mountain Spirits: Wine and Beer this week, December 15, 2011

Dec 15,  6 PM -8 PM  FrenchBroad Chocolate Lounge, 10 S Lexington Ave.,   Downtown Asheville NC  Holiday Pairing with Pisgah Brewing Company. Enjoy a pint of Valdez Stout and two Valdez truffles for ONLY $6 while mingling and listening to the live, original, electronic, soul/jazz/dub music of Ben Hovey.  Prepackaged Valdez bottles and boxed truffles will be available for purchase as scrumptious holiday gifts for the beer and chocolate lover! The lounge will be open to the public with complimentary tastes of the chocolate and beer until 8:00 PM (or, until they run out) in addition to the regular delicious treats on the FBC menu!  French Broad Chocolate Lounge, one of Asheville's favorite dessert spot.

Dec 16, 5 PM - 7 PM Hops and Vines, 797 Haywood Rd, Ste 100 in Asheville NC.
Seasonal winter ales keep rolling in as the weather gets colder, so we'll be tasting some big beers for the winter season . Dec 17, 3 PM - 6 PM  Argentinian Wines & True South Catering: We will be sampling three delicious, crowd-pleasing wines from Argentina that will be sure hits at holiday parties. We will also be offering samples by local caterer True South Foods that are great spreads for parties, such as their "El Diablo Pimento Cheese" or "Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Spread."

Dec 16, 4 PM - 7 PM  at Table Wine, 1550 Hendersonville Road, Suite 102, AAA Travel Center in Asheville NC. Friday Winedown - California Central Coast: tasting  92 point rated Pinot Noir. The lovely Anne Kaufmann of The Country Vintner will join us to pour these wines   $5/person, Free for Grape Nuts  Dec 17, 2 PM - 5 PM  FREE wine tasting: "Try Before You Buy" tasting featuring 4 great and affordable wines. Dec 23 - 11 AM - 7 PM  Christmas Eve eve All Day Tasting: Try 8 wines for free and try not to lose your mind listening to Christmas music!

Now through - Dec 31 - Deck the Halls  - 13 Surry County wineries and several local hotels and restaurants are participating in the 2nd annual event. Purchase a Deck the Halls passport, from November 12 through December 31 and receive complementary wine tastings from all 13 participating Surry Wineries, a collectable holiday ornament from each winery, a commemorative wine glass, invitation to 2 food & wine pairing weekends with live music, plus other great events at Surry Wineries during the holiday season.


Thanksgiving Weekend through December 31 - Yadkin River Wine Trail is once again hosting its Holiday Wine Tour. Visit five wineries: RagApple Lassie, Sanders Ridge, Divine Llama, Cellar 4201 and Flint Hill for the price of one ticket. Included is the tasting of five wines and a signature collector's ornament from each winery. $40.00 per couple or $30.00 individually. Tickets are available at each of the wineries and can be reserved by calling any of the wineries direct.

Dec 16, 7-10 PM at The Classic Wineseller, 30 church Street, Waynesville NC. Friday Night Live - Now inside the Wine Bar for the winter. This week enjoy Jared Teague and a holiday sing-a-long. The Two dimensional suitcase with the Wineseller's own Megan Smith.

Dec 17 at 1- 4 PM  Asheville Wine Market, 65 Biltmore Ave, Asheville NC. Free WIne Tasting: Holiday Wine Selections: Join  Tom Leiner for this exciting tasting of wines from four differnt countries. Geared for the Holiday Season, these wines are delicious, affordable and ready to perform at your home or office party

Dec 16, 6 PM - 8 PM, at Divine Wine, 1011 Tunnel Road East Asheville NC . Friday Wine Tastings - complimentary tastes of special wines and beer, along with an assortment of hors d’oeuvres. Each week we celebrate with a different theme and a few surprises.

Dec 16,  4 PM - 7 PM LaBouteille, 10 N Trade St, Suite A Tyon NC - Complimentary Wine Tastings every Friday. The last Saturday of each month 3-5 pm is a 10 beers for $10 beer tasting. Bring a dish of food to share.
Dec 17,  2 PM - 6:30 PM   Appalachian Vintner, 2-B Huntsman Place, Asheville NC   Asheville's Best Wine Tasting

Dec 17,  12 PM - 6 PM RagApple Lassie, 3724 Ragapple Lassie Lane Boonville NC - Listen to popular vocalist, Lisa Woods, visit with friends, relax, have lunch in The Back Door Cafe, sample RagApple's great wines, and check out the RagApple Lassie special collection of great holiday gifts. FREE gifts with the purchase of each case of wine between now and December 31st. Throughout December, RagApple Lassie will be open every day except Christmas Day

Dec 17,   2 PM - 5 PM The Wine Guy, 555 Merimon Ave and 1200 Hendersonville Rd., Asheville NC. FREE Saturday tastings are a great way to sample new favorites in a casual setting. Every week we sample 4 to 6 new wines. Light hors d’ oeuvres will be served and all wines poured will be specially priced.

Dec 17, 12 PM - 5 PM at Vino Vino Wine Market, 178 Weaverville Rd., Asheville NC. Every Saturday anytime between 12:00 and 5:00pm enjoy a sampling of wines from around the world. A 10% discount on each of the wines we are featuring.

Dec 17  , 4 PM - 8 PM  PM at Falderal Winery, 131 3rd Ave, Hendersonville NC.   Beaujolais Nouveau and limited-run Thanksgiving wines plus hors d'oeuvres. Nov 19   Free tasting -  Regular Saturday wine Tasting from 11 AM - 5 PM

Tasting Rooms:

Biltmore Winery, located on the Biltmore Estate, Asheville NC. Daily tasting and tours with Estate admission. Special events and tastings throughout the year.

Old North State Winery, 308 North Main Street, Mount Airy NC. Hours of operation are: Monday-Wednesday 11am-6pm, Thursday-Saturday 11am-9pm, and Sunday 12pm-6pm. Sample wines and browse the gift shop featuring wine related and gourmet gift items.

RagApple Lassie, 3724 Ragapple Lassie Lane Boonville NC Tours are "on demand" noon to six PM daily. Tastings are available noon to six PM daily and include up to 11 varieties of wine.

Calaboose Cellars, 565 Aquone Road, Andrews NC. Tasting room summer hours: Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from Noon to 5:00. This week check out the "Warden's White".
South Creek Vineyard and Winery, 2240 South Creek Road, Nebo, NC

Daily Tastings at Wedge Brewing Company, 125 B Roberts St. Asheville NC. Micro-brewery regular Tasting room hours: Monday - Thursday 4 PM - 10+ PM; Friday 3 PM - 10+ PM; Saturday and Sunday 2 PM - 10+ PM.

Daily Tastings at Greenman Brewery, 23 Buxton Ave., Asheville NC. The tasting room is open seven days a week at 4 o'clock, or maybe earlier