The Biltmore mansion located in Asheville NC, is modeled after a 16th century French châteaux that George Vanderbuilt built in six years. It’s a magnificent building that has 250 rooms, bowling alley, indoor swimming pool, gardens, a multi-million dollar view overlooking the Smokey Mountains, winery, and so much more.
If you book your tour a week in advance you can save $10 off the $59 tour fee. To learn more about the rooms I recommend renting the audio devise for $10. It looks like a long cell phone, and if you don’t mind snuggling up ear to ear with the person you are with, you can save $10 by only renting one.
Win
e tasting at the winery is included in the admission price. There is a smaller wine tasting in the gift shop next to the mansion that you can visit first. In the gift shop I was excited to see the free crackers, pretzels, dipping sauces, and wine samples. I tried the Christmas 2014 Rose and Christmas 2014 White for $12.99, both on the semi-sweet side, and delicious. After the tasting I asked the sales lady about the tastings at the winery, on the estate, a few miles down the road. She gave me two tickets for a complementary premier tasting, one full glass tasting at the winery.
We went to the premier tasting at the winery first where I had a glass of the “sparlking” Pas de Deux Moscato, it was just ok in my opinion. If you opt for a premier tasting it’s usually $3 for one glass or $8 for 3 glasses, get the sparkling or dessert wines because they aren’t offered at the free wine tastings. My husband Mike got the Biltmore Estate Pinot Noir, and it was kind of Meh, bland and watery, so much for our premier tastings. I’m glad we didn’t pay for them. But then we took a few steps to the free tasting room where we could sample all the other wines. Most of the Biltmore wines were awesome. I tend to like white wines and all of the white wines I tasted were great! The Biltmore Estate Chardonnay was wonderfully smooth with rich flavors of fruit and just a hint of oak. Mike likes the reds and he liked them all, but one stood out, the Biltmore Estate Limited Release Malbec $19.99. He liked it so much I had to try it, and I’m not a big red drinker but it was my favorite of the day.
The winery currently grows Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Riesling, and Viognier in the 90-acre estate vineyard, as well as grows grapes in California, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington.
I really enjoyed my visit to the Biltmore Estate and seeing it decorated for Christmas. I loved tasting their wines, it was definitely worth the 6 1/2 drive from VA Beach. I would like to plan a visit in the spring or summer to see the gardens. If you get a chance, check out this beautiful place.
Cheers – Carrie
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