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Published: June 21st 2011
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For my birthday, Robert and Dominique took the boys for the weekend so Claude and I could do a mini get away. We decided to go to the Eastern townships.
Friday night when we arrived, there was a cake for me and the boys wanted it covered with as many candles as possible. You could feel the heat off it!
Saturday morning, my birthday, we headed out to the Townships. Claude had made a reservation in Lac Brome (used to be called Knowlton) at an Inn that has been a hotel since the mid 1800s. It was cute. Felt just like the roadside Inn it had been forever. The restaurant had a great menu yet the decore felt like a roadside tavern too. Relaxed, but very good food.
Our hotel package included tours of some of the local wineries. The wine industry is just starting in this area, and despite being colder in the winter than grapes usually like, they are making a go of it. the first winery in the area, L'Orpailleur, has been there for 30 years and pioneered many of the techniques that all the wineries in the area use to make it through the
weather. The first winery we visited overlooked Lac Brome. The view over the vineyards to the lake was beautiful. It would make a perfect setting for an Inn.
Second we visited L'Orpailleur. Their regular tour guide wasn't available so one of the ladies gave us a personal tour of the whole vineyard and a tasting herself. That was neat. They had a great video that showed how they actually cover their vines with soil for the winter and then have a special tractor attachment to uncover them in the spring. One of the wines they make is a Mistelle. These types of wines were originally developed in Portugal. After the wine is made, it is placed in large clear jugs out in the sun. It then sits in those jugs and ages (ferments) for 6 years. After that it is filtered and bottled. sounds odd, but it actually makes a very interesting wine. It is a before dinner drink. It comes in a very small bottle, like ice wine and is just as pricey.
We then visited a ciderie, as I really like the alchoholic apple ciders. Then we went to one last winery. It was the end
of the day but the young owner was there with his kids so he opened for us and gave us a tasting. They are a very young winery but the wines were good. With his 3 boys running around it felt like home! Claude has always been interested in having a winery, so seeing this fellow got him thinking. We even took note of some property for sale. With the whole industry just starting out it would be a good time to get started, but not sure we are up to that yet. Who knows....
After that great day of touring, we had a wonderful dinner at the hotel. In the morning we visited the famous Lac Brome duck farm and bought some very good duck breast and duck pate. then it was time to head back to Robert's to get the kids. It was a nice afternoon, so they had one last dip in the pool and we headed back to Saint Raymond. It was a great birthday present.
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Diane Lebel
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Glad the boys treated you well on your birthday