What image pops into your head when you hear the words “wine country”? Maybe the sun-baked hills of Napa Valley in California, dotted with prestigious wineries and high-end cottage restaurants serving hyper-local plates perfectly paired with glasses of wine. Perhaps it’s a vision of the Finger Lakes in New York, with vineyards and wineries sprouting seemingly around every little bend in the road ushering in vanloads of bachelorette parties and organized bus tours. Some of us may wander a bit further, basking in the glory of Old World vines and practically ancient wineries sprinkled heavily across Italy and France deeply rooted in tradition and displaying a craft honed over centuries of practice. But I’m fairly certain about one thing – you probably aren’t thinking about the quiet woods of Alabama.

Our plan as we departed Florence was to work our way south through Alabama into Georgia and eventually Florida by hopping between wineries (and possibly a bee farm) for overnight stops thanks to our Harvest Hosts membership. We joined the program as soon as we started RVing last year, putting our membership to good use as we spent the early part of our first summer on the road leaving Pennsylvania before roaming around the Finger Lakes. I wrote about Harvest Hosts back then, but here’s a quick description of the program: members gain access to a network of unique overnight stops (wineries, breweries, museums, farms, golf courses, etc.) that allow self-contained RVs (and the people in them, of course) to spend a night parked on their respective properties. The only fee involved is the Harvest Hosts annual membership, but the premise is that overnight visitors will patronize the Host’s business during their stay.

We’ve used our membership fairly regularly in our travels, generally seeking out a Harvest Hosts location for a quick overnight stop if we’re planning a long (for us) drive over a couple of days. We estimated a five-day journey from Florence to Geiger Key and chose five Harvest Hosts along the way that matched our planned route. So, after a few calls (it’s recommended to call 24 hours in advance to request an overnight visit at a Host location), we had our first three stops lined up through Alabama and into Georgia. All three were wineries, and while that is currently the overwhelming majority of Harvest Host locations, other options are available with new Hosts added regularly. We’ve visited a cider mill in Vermont and an orchard in upstate New York during our travels, and Harvest Hosts recently added numerous golf courses to the list of Host locations.

Upon arriving at your chosen Host with your RV or camper in tow, simply present your membership card to the Host, find out where to park, and receive any other potential instructions. That’s basically it. Sometimes Hosts will have a sign-in book for Harvest Hosts members, but we’ve found that not to be the case very often. We always show our membership card whether we’re asked or not, just to do our small part to maintain the integrity of the program. The Harvest Host website features an interactive map that users can search by state, location, Host name, or simply browse the available locations. The map is available for non-members to view, but the details of each location are only visible after you’ve joined.

Our first stop was at a small winery in northeastern Alabama, which is where we had our first taste of the southern staple grape – Vitis rotundifolia, better known as Muscadine or sometimes Scuppernong (although technically scuppernong is a type of grape within the muscadine family). Wines made from the muscadine varieties are often sweet, staying in line with the southern tradition of sweet tea, but we did find a few varieties that were closer to the drier end of the spectrum. Muscadine grapes have a very distinct flavor which is prominent in the wine, coupled with rich, unique aromas that simply aren’t present in the more common wine grape varieties. Some say muscadine is an acquired taste, so if you’ve never tried it and you’re expecting something closer to pinot noir or shiraz, you’re going to be in for a surprise.

Muscadine grapes have the highest levels of the antioxidant resveratrol found in any grape variety thanks to the very thick skin enveloping the sweet, juicy pulp. So one might even consider muscadine wine to be a health tonic, assuming the imbiber is shying away from the sweeter variations. These grapes thrive in the heat of summer, which explains why they proliferate through the southern United States – unlike more traditional wine grapes, which require cooler temperatures to reach their peak. Muscadine grapes are also highly resistant to Phylloxera, a microscopic aphid that feeds on the roots of grapevines ultimately killing the plant. Phylloxera is responsible for destroying over 70% of the vines in France in the late 1800s. Through grafting rootstock of the resistant muscadine vines onto traditional wine grape vines, scientists and winemakers were able to deter the scourge of phylloxera – although no real “cure” exists to this day.

We sampled the wares at Wills Creek Winery in Duck Springs, Alabama after parking the RV about two miles down the road at their special event venue as instructed. The afternoon turned a bit chilly as autumn was in full swing, so we bundled up in a variety of Ashley’s knit outerwear and hit the country road on foot to leisurely complete the two-mile trek. As a very rough generalization, we’ve found the smaller wineries to be much friendlier and hospitable than some of the larger locations simply because the small wineries aren’t dealing with moving huge crowds through the tasting rooms. The smaller wineries also tend to offer free tastings, as opposed to paid tastings at larger venues (especially the big wineries in high traffic areas like the Finger Lakes).

After chatting with one of the winery team members while she poured our samples, we purchased a couple of bottles – one to enjoy outside while taking in the scenery and playing a game, and one to store in the RV to share in the future. While the Harvest Hosts annual membership is fairly inexpensive (currently $49 as of December 2018), we’ve found that we end up spending as much (or a little more) at the Host locations as we would for a night of camping in a state park anyway. So while we’re not saving money as a result of the program, we’re getting to visit locations we likely wouldn’t have if we weren’t members, plus we’re meeting more people along the way.

Our stop the following day was just as pleasant as the first, and we enjoyed an overnight parking area overlooking the vineyard as well as a stroll through the vines. Whippoorwill Vineyards is tucked a bit out of the way, but definitely worth the effort it takes to find. The tiny tasting room sits four people at the counter and you’ll likely get to meet the owners as you sample the range of wines available. Ashley made friends with both an inquisitive neighborhood pooch, as well as our equine neighbors during our visit.

One of the owners explained that the horses like to eat the persimmons growing just out of mouth’s reach in the nearby trees. He sells the fruit by the piece when ripe, but was kind enough to offer Ashley a taste while feeding the horses a treat. He also encouraged us to take a walk through the vineyard, which was a perfect way to spend the afternoon, glass of wine in hand and the sun just beginning to set over the treetops.

While being a Harvest Hosts member grants access to new overnight locations, the real attraction is meeting new people and listening to the stories they have to share. Whether it’s the business owner (remember our story from Eola Schoolhouse Brewery in Texas?), fellow RVers who happen to be sharing the overnight location, or other patrons sampling the wares, the true value of a Harvest Hosts membership is found in the authentic human experience of shared stories and time together.

We crossed the border into Georgia for our third stop. I’ve already revealed the names of two Harvest Hosts locations, so you’ll have to figure this one out on your own. But with the winery’s location just off of I-75, it shouldn’t be hard to deduce. We even happened to drive past it last year on our way to Reed Bingham State Park. This stop was more about convenience and less about the picturesque location, but we welcomed the easy access of pulling off the interstate onto a side road and simply parking in a paved lot at the winery. After a brief tasting, we spent a rainy evening in the RV before hitting the road early the next morning.

Our original plan was to spend five nights in various Harvest Hosts stops along our route. After calling one of the two next possible locations, we learned the recent rain in Florida might interfere with the suitability of the parking spaces – it was likely going to be too muddy to park an RV at our chosen destination. That’s just how it is sometimes when calling Harvest Hosts locations – and why they always recommend contacting a Host at least 24 hours in advance. We also discovered our second chosen location was along a long country dirt road, and at this point we were ready to just make some miles and finish the long drive south through Florida. So we opted to skip an overnight stop, drive a bit longer over two days, stop for one night in a state park, and arrive a day early in the Keys. But that’s a story for next time.

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