Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Sparkling Wines, Schnebly Redland's Winery, Homestead, Fla.

Homestead, Fla.— Schnebly Redland's Winery & Brewery makes good sparkling wine. They are a farm-to-table winery, so this means they use South Florida grown tropical fruit to make their wines. Their tasting room is located just under 40-miles south of downtown Miami. This makes them the southernmost winery in the United States. 
Gran Reserve sparkling fruit wine, Schnebly Redland's Winery & Brewery,
Homestead, Fla.
Copyright 2014 by Helen A Lockey.
During a recent visit I bought a "Special Tasting" for $9.95, which gave me a choice of five different dessert wines and some sparkling. And I was allowed to keep the champagne glass (that could be used at a later date for another tasting at a discounted price).

Most of the wines at Schnebly are sweeter than wines from other areas of the United States. But this is not a surprising because the heat of South Florida lends itself to this style of wine.

Having said that the Gran Reserve sparkling wine, made from coconut and carambola, was surprisingly dry with pleasant oak overtones. But it was not too dry for my palette so I bought a bottle, for $29.95, to take home. 

My wine pourer said they no longer added oak to this wine because the carambola developed a natural oak taste as it fermented.

Sparkling Passion fruit wine, Schnebly Redland's Winery & Brewery,
Homestead, Fla.
Copyright 2014 by Helen A Lockey
I also liked the Sparkling Passion made out of South Florida grown passion fruit. It was refreshingly tart and slightly sweet. I bought two bottles ($29.95 each) with the intention using one to make pie.

There are a few places you can buy Schnebly flat wine like Publix, Walgreens, and Total Wines & More. But to buy the sparkling and dessert wines you need to go to the winery either in person or online.

If you do go to Schnebly Redland's Winery, bring a picnic lunch because all they have is snack size food. Also you are not allowed to bring in any type of beverage including water.

They are open seven days a week.  On weekends they have tours for $7 and after 6 p.m. they have a live band with a cover charge ranging from $10 to $12.50 per adult. 

Located at 30205 S.W. 217th Ave, Homestead, FL 33030
Phone (888) 717-WINE (Toll-Free) or (305) 242-1224

You can go to their website to learn more: http://www.schneblywinery.com

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