The South’s Best Wineries

Forget Napa or Loire Valley - discover these fabulous wineries in your own backyard and toast the best the region has to offer.

Dreamy Getaway

World-class food in a glorious setting makes this inn a splurge-worthy escape.

Cary Jobe, Annette Thompson

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Culinary Decadence

We dress up for the evening’s big event--dinner. Crystal chandeliers glow golden over our quiet corner table in the double-tiered dining room. The prix fixe three-, four-, and five-course dinners include plenty of options--such as seasonal vegetable tasting menus (perhaps truffles), a highfalutin pork-and-beans dish, and oysters served cold to hot (five different ways).

I start with the oyster appetizers, savoring each bite. The first is cold--an oyster in a tomato reduction and horseradish crème fraîche. It’s followed by a pickled oyster with shiitakes. The third bite warms my palate as I pause to enjoy the oyster poached in butter sauce with tomato caviar and basil. The last two morsels end richly--a tempura-fried oyster followed by one broiled with truffle hollandaise.

Unobtrusively the sommelier, Stephane Peltier, suggests pairings from the 900-label collection. He pours just enough wine to match the length of each course.