Brigette’s mom was in town this past weekend, so off to Biltmore Estate they went. We love the fact that our bed & breakfast near Black Mountain is just 20 minutes away from the entrance, making for an easy trip over to the beautiful Biltmore, where everything is done on a grand scale. [The photo above is of the thousands of sunflowers lining the road as it winds its way to the Winery on Biltmore Estate. Sunflowers as far as the eye can see…amazing.]
As mentioned in earlier blog posts, Brigette and her mom have been to Biltmore so many times in the past that they now go with specific missions of things to see rather than trying to see everything at once. This time, the plan was to visit the Biltmore Winery, to see the Flower Carpet and to check out what’s currently blooming in the gardens (with a side trip to the Gardener’s Place shop behind the Conservatory where Brigette always picks up a plant before heading home).
First stop — the Winery. The Winery is a converted dairy and you can take a self-guided tour through the Winery to see how the wine is made and where some of it is stored. This room shows some of the fermentation process:
The tour ends in the tasting room, which used to be where the milking process took place when the Winery was a dairy. Our tasting host, Mary Ellen, was fabulous and she made some really great recommendations, including the Limited Release Malbec, which might now be in competition with the Biltmore Sangiovese as Brigette’s favorite. Biltmore describes its Malbec as having “intense aromas of spice, blueberry and plum”. Yum.
Brigette’s mom samples the Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc de Noir
The next stop on our tour of Biltmore was to the South Terrace adjacent to the Biltmore House, where the Biltmore Flower Carpet is currently on display. Over 100,000 plants were used to create a neat pattern that you can view from the Library Terrace:
Our picture, of course, does not do the Flower Carpet justice, but rest assured, it is as grand as everything else at Biltmore. Our next to final stop was to the gardens, where the roses are in bloom and smell wonderful.
You can see an entire list of what’s blooming in the gardens at the Biltmore website.
Finally, it was to the Gardener’s Place shop, which is located behind the Conservatory. The Conservatory happens to be Brigette’s favorite spot at Biltmore because it shows off the creativity of Biltmore’s gardeners. Here’s the front entrance:
Walking around the Conservatory, you are greeted by several container plantings. These gave Brigette some great inspiration for next year’s flower containers at the Inn!
It was hard to choose which plant to purchase this time, but Brigette ended up with a beautiful dark plum Huechera (coral bells), which will be planted at the Front Porch Garden at the Inn, near the tulips that were purchased from Biltmore two years ago.
If you are going to be staying with us at the Inn on Mill Creek, feel free to purchase tickets for Biltmore right here at the Inn and save $10 per ticket, plus your tickets will be good for two consecutive days. With so much to do at Biltmore, you can definitely make a two day trip out of your visit.