Keel & Curly Winery // CENTRAL FLORIDA TREASURE

I am all about having some you-time. 

As a mom, your identity becomes very wrapped up in taking care of others that it can be easy to loose the woman behind the mom. 

One of the things I love and enjoyed before children was going to vineyards for wine tastings. That is how I discovered that I adore ice wine and really am a huge fan of aperitifs and a good cheese plate. There is nothing quite like relaxing and sampling small helpings of various fermented beverages while you nibble on a hard cheese and lovely cracker. 

For my 31st birthday, my husband arranged a surprise trip to the local winery, Keel & Curley. They specialize in making wines from fruit other than grapes and are best known for the sangria. I am a HUGE fan of surprises! Craig organized it for my entire family to meet there and have fun together.

There is a playground for the kids, which is the first time I've seen that but what a smart idea! While the men watched all the kids outside, my Mom, sister-in-law and I headed in to sample some local fare.

At only $6 for a flight of 8 different wines, it is a steal! But believe me that you will want to grab a couple of bottles before you drive home. You will fall in love with several of their selections. They are truly divine even if you aren't a typical wine drinker. Many of their wines are very sweet, almost like an after dinner drink or a fruity cocktail. 

My favorites were the Winemaker's Reserve Blackberry Wine made with 100% berries, their traditional Merlot and their fruit fusion Key West Key Lime Wine. And as a part of your tasting, you receive a complementary wine glass with their logo. Fun!

If wine isn't your think, they recently launched a craft brewery called Two Henry's Brewing Company. You can sample both the wines and beers in their tasting room. Various cheeses and crackers are available to purchase and made the whole experience that much more complete. 

They offer tours on Saturdays and Sunday on the hour from 1-4pm of the entire winery at $5 for the tour or $10 for tour and tasting. Since I visited in June, I opted out of the tour but will definitely go when the weather is cooler.  

I enjoyed my time at Keel & Curly so much that I went back the weekend after my birthday when my best friend came into town. We met some lovely ladies there, including one who had a heart for Africa and started/maintains a sustainable community that is operated completely from people from the local area. If Keel & Curly wasn't neat enough, when it introduces you to amazing women doing extraordinary things to help the world around them, you can't help but like it. 

Any local ladies like to make a night of it? They are open Sunday through Thursday from 11am-7pm and Friday and Saturday from 10am- 11pm.  As long as we get a babysitter, I'm up for a little me-time!


p.s. Surprises are a tradition around here. I surprised Craig for his 30th and he surprised me for my 29th.