Did a fun first! Port & chocolate tasting...

[DizMe]

at the Golden Vineyard or whatever it is called in DCA. It is adjacent to the Wine Country Trattoria restaurant. They do wine tastings, port tastings, and you can choose cheese or chocolate to go with. We got 3 glasses of port, variously aged, and 3 kinds of Ghirardelli chocolate of various intensities to pair with them. The...steward? not sure what that person is called...told us all about the port and we had a blast mixing and matching chocolate with port. At $12.50, I thought it was great fun at a great price! They do this from noon to 4.

We also tried the wine that is made specifically for the Disney resort. It's from Italy and it's called Magicale or something like that. Pricey, but fun. We bought a bottle for our mom, which was interesting because they walk you all the way to your hotel with it! Or maybe it's just outside the resort. We were staying at GCH so I am not exactly sure how far they'd take you if you were off site. Anyway, it's kind of sparkly and fruity, not a dry wine, so it probably wouldn't appeal to those who prefer something with more bite. Can't say since I'm not a wine drinker. I figure since I liked it it must not be very good wine

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

Okay! I soooo want to do this!!! I hadn't heard of this one before, but it sounds like a blast.

I've read about Magicale before when lurking on the DisDivas thread The whole "escort" concept for leaving the park with a bottle of wine sounds...er...interesting. I really think we might need to try some and/or get a bottle.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

By the way, should we plan this for our kids-free Friday afternoon?

 

[DizMe]

By the way, should we plan this for our kids-free Friday afternoon?

I would! You could do it with kids, but I think it would be one of those activities better enjoyed sans children

 

[Capt. Swan]

this sounds like great fun! we'll definitly have to put this on our list of things to tackle.

If you do have a little one at your tail, will they still serve you? this would be a great break when our DD5 falls asleep in her stroller.

 

[prettyprincessbelle]

So the upstairs isn't a restaurant. I know it was a restaurant, it was closed and I thought I read/heard it would be reopened as a restaurant again, so now it's just a wine tasting area!?

It sounds fun!

 

[farmgirljen]

Ho much was the bottle of Magicale? I wonder if they would ship it....

 

[pixiewings71]

I wanted to try the Magicale for my bday in May, but I just couldn't justify the price.......it was pretty $$ as I remember. Now, I do like wine but I tend to prefer the less expensive brands (Beringer, Barefoot) so I pay about $5 for a bottle......it's really hard for me to pay more then that for a glass....but I really want to try it so I'm going to add it to my "list of things to do before our APs expire". I'm not a port fan, but pairing it with chocolate might be good.

 

[Queenbillabong]

at the Golden Vineyard or whatever it is called in DCA. It is adjacent to the Wine Country Trattoria restaurant. They do wine tastings, port tastings, and you can choose cheese or chocolate to go with. We got 3 glasses of port, variously aged, and 3 kinds of Ghirardelli chocolate of various intensities to pair with them. The...steward? not sure what that person is called...told us all about the port and we had a blast mixing and matching chocolate with port. At $12.50, I thought it was great fun at a great price! They do this from noon to 4.

We also tried the wine that is made specifically for the Disney resort. It's from Italy and it's called Magicale or something like that. Pricey, but fun. We bought a bottle for our mom, which was interesting because they walk you all the way to your hotel with it! Or maybe it's just outside the resort. We were staying at GCH so I am not exactly sure how far they'd take you if you were off site. Anyway, it's kind of sparkly and fruity, not a dry wine, so it probably wouldn't appeal to those who prefer something with more bite. Can't say since I'm not a wine drinker. I figure since I liked it it must not be very good wine

That sounds like fun I Magicale - so yummy!

Ho much was the bottle of Magicale? I wonder if they would ship it....

Magicale is $45/bottle and I doubt they ship it....

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

OOOH, I have to tell my mom!! Thanks!!!

 

[flatwhite]

Oh, thanks for posting. I might never have noticed it was an option~lol!
YUM! I love port..have not had any in AGES...

 

[l’amore bella]

Sounds like fun. I'll have to remember to go on my next trip.

 

[DizMe]

The Magicale is $45--that's correct. We brought it back on the plane in a suitcase (checked). We were told they don't ship, but you can have the hotel ship it. We didn't bother checking to see how much that would cost since we wanted to bring it to Mom's for Thanksgiving. If you wanted to ship it, I would get one of those prepaid flat rate boxes.

We first tried it at lunch. We ate at Wine Country Trattoria and it was on the menu, so we ordered a glass ($12 ). There was another one that sounded SO good...the Zen of Zin, I think it was called...but we didn't want to fork over another $9 to try it.

I don't think there would be a problem bringing kids with you to the port tasting, as it's all outdoors and people of all ages are walking through there, but I didn't ask so I'm not sure.

 

[farmgirljen]

I will have to get a bottle of Magicale on my next trip...

 

[DizMe]

The Magicale was a hit at Thanksgiving! My sister and I were trying to remember whether it was $45 or $47...there is tax on it, and the total came to ~$51. Yowza!

Here is a picture of us in the port tasting place (me, sis, and my dd--I'm the one wearing shades). You actually do the tasting at that granite counter in the background; in this shot we were just waiting for our wine person to walk our bottle back to the hotel

 

[roxy72]

How fun! I didn't know that they do cute tastings like that. I love port and chocolate together, hmm...I'll need to add this to my itinerary. :0