Tag: Kissimmee

Island Grove Wine Company – Kissimmee, FL

If you like fruity wins, then I found the perfect winery for you. Island Grove Wine Company had a variety of fruit wines from blueberry to strawberry. And they are all made in Florida. I was looking forward to checking them out.

The winery is set up a little differently than the traditional wineries I have visited. This was a touch-less, serve yourself winery. The way it works is you put money onto a chip card. Then you insert that card into the different wine machines and select the wine you would like to try, as well as the size pour.

I made sure I had enough money on the card to try several of the wines. The first one was the Rustic Raspberry. This was one of their seasonal wines. I could smell the raspberries right away. This wine was super sweet to me, and it had a hint of tartness in the aftertaste. It is a great dessert wine.

The second wine was the Bold Blackberry. This was a blend of Merlot and blackberries. To me it was sweet with a dry aftertaste on the first sip. It mellowed out on the second sip.

For my third tasting I went for the Sunshine State White Sangria. This sweet, refreshing wine combined pineapples, peaches, and mangos. I really enjoyed all the tropical flavors. I could really taste the mangos on the second sip. I could see myself enjoying this on the beach, watching the sunset.

In sticking with the sangria’s, I went for the Sunshine State Berry Sangria next. This blended different berries and citrus fruits with their blueberry wine. The aroma was powerful with a slight spicy smell, but it was not in the taste. It was drier for a sangria. After holding it in my mouth after sipping I could taste a hint of pepper.

My final tasting was the Southern Strawberry. They blended strawberries with Riesling. I could smell the strawberry right away, it was very intense, but in a good way. The wine was light and sweet. The perfect dessert wine. I just wish I had some chocolate to enjoy with it.

This was a different type of wine tasting experience. The wines were great, and the casual atmosphere was perfect for sitting and enjoying wine with friends.

Check them out at www.IslandGroveWineCompany.com

Enjoy!

T

Boggy Bottom BBQ – Kissimmee, FL

I was helping my sister celebrate her birthday. We decided to go on an airboat ride to explore the Florida Everglades. We chose Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures since it was pretty close to her house (www.bcairboats.com).

While we waited for out time, we checked out their restaurant right there on the grounds. It was called Boggy Bottom BBQ.

It was a cute little restaurant, complete with a gift shop.

I went for the BBQ beef brisket plate. It came with one side, so I chose the sweet corn.

The brisket was extremely lean and very tender. It pulled apart easily with my fork.

They had six different BBQ sauces to choose from. I made sure I tasted them all.

  • Original BBQ – had a slight peppery taste
  • Mango Habanero – sweet and spicy
  • Texas BBQ – had a smoky taste
  • Sweet BBQ – very sweet with a small hint of smoke. This was my favorite
  • Hickory BBQ – had a smoke aroma of hickory wood
  • Mustard BBQ – had a strong mustard taste. This was not my favorite because I am not a huge fan of mustard.

This was a great, quick meal before the airboat ride, which was extremely fun. We got to see four alligators along the ride. Go enjoy a ride for yourself and grab some homemade BBQ either before or after.

Visit their website at www.boggybottombbq.com

Enjoy!

T