City Scape is a Winery in Pelzer, about 30 minutes south of downtown Greenville, or 15 minutes from Simpsonville, SC. Admittedly, when we pulled up, we weren’t super impressed – It just looks like someone’s house – and it sort of is, but in a small building off to the right lies their tasting room. You can make reservations ahead of time, but their website says they can accomodate small groups, so we took a chance.
You can get a basic tasting of all their wines for $6.95 per person or a premium tasting, which includes a cheese board, and you get to keep the wine glass for $12.95 per person. I’m not a wine snob whatsoever, whatever tastes good, tastes good. We sampled 4 Whites and 3 Reds and a Port. I really liked 2 of the whites – specifically a Strawberry Sauvignon Blanc, and the Green Apple Gewurz – which tastes almost exactly like a Green Apple Jolly Rancher. I don’t drink Red Wine at all, but I actually liked the Dark Chocolate Red. We ended up buying a case containing 4x of the Strawberry, Green Apple and Dark Chocolate Red.
The tasting room itself is rather small, but the staff was friendly and knowledgable. The outdoor seating outside adds some additional capacity and overlooks a few rows of grapevines. Tucked away on the back of the property is a little paddock with some goats that live on site. It was a great, really quiet atmosphere to sit and enjoy some of their delicious wine.
They also offer a course they call U Vint, where you make your own wine. It costs $75 per person, plus some additional cost for the Juice. You visit the winery a few times over a 4-6 week period, taking the same steps they do to make their own wine, and in the end, you get about 30 bottles of your own custom wine. We’ll probably be signing up for this soon, so we’ll let you know how it goes.
If you’re looking for something different to do on the weekend, put City Scape on your list. You can also now pick up their wines at The Fresh Market on Pleansantburg and Woodruff Road if you want to give them a try.