Red Wing Dove and Hamilton

I took pitifully few pics of a recent weekend excursion.  Which I guess is OK since I am living in the moment, enjoying our summer!

 Hubby and I visited a cute winery just outside of Hamilton called Red Wing Dove.  {Right off the bat I loved that they had a metal building - we are looking to erect one large one at Highlands, and a few smaller ones to serve as guest cabins.}  We were the only ones there, and one of the owners was minding the tasting bar, so we got her full attention for the tasting.

One of the things I love most about these Texas wineries are the huge pieces of land they sit on, with the biggest skies!

Red Wing Dove had a nice open back patio with a water fountain quietly trickling.  It was very peaceful.

And the wine was very good!  The owner explained that they don't do "clubs" to artificially mark up their wines.  I can appreciate that philosophy, as I think that some wineries definitely inflate their prices on the wine to make yo think you are getting a deal by joining their club.  Don't get me wrong - the club activities are fun.  But we have learned a lot by now about what we like, wine-wise, and we are pretty choosy nowadays as to what wineries we want to join.

Big open patios with open views, peaceful and quiet.  Yes, please.  I'm sure we will go back!  They have lots of get togethers instead of one big shindig every three months like most wineries.  We bought some of their estate white, the Tinto de Texas, and some jalapeno-infused white wine called Peno Vino.

 Hamilton feels like the middle of nowhere.

 After the tasting we went to a meat market/BBQ place and had lunch.  Hubby loaded up on a rib plate, and I had the pork butt sammie.  We saw a group of people come in for packages of frozen chicken breasts wrapped in bacon - apparently a popular item as they cleaned out the freezer!  So when the owner brought more out, we snatched some up.

That evening at Highlands we grilled it up and served with a side of potato salad, also from the meat market.  Hidden in the basketweave of bacon was a perfectly seasoned chicken breast rubbed with pork rub. It was beyond good!  I'm already looking forward to our next visit to Hamilton!