Biltmore Estate (Buncombe County, North Carolina)

While spending Christmas with my wife's family near Asheville, North Carolina, we came into some free tickets to tour the famous Biltmore Estate, the famous estate of the Vanderbilts, which was built between 1889 and 1895. We couldn't pass up the opportunity and so my wife and I, along with her two younger brother's and their wives (or soon to be in one case) decided to make a day of it.

Meeting up just outside the estate, we parked and took a shuttle through the magnificently kept grounds to the Biltmore House, which at one time was the largest private estate in the nation. The tour during the holiday season is punctuated with the magnificent decorations put up by the staff and true to the way the Vanderbilts celebrated the holiday in decades past. 

The mansion is expansive and we were able to tour large sections of it, though I'm told that in years past the tour was even more comprehensive. No complaints on my part though, it was still interesting to see the original furnishings and utilities, including an indoor swimming pool and exercise room (wooden dumbells, lol).

Finishing the tour of the house, we made our way to the estate winery. While most of the fruit is grown in California, they do have a small vinyard nearby and produced a unique cabernet sauvignon with the local grapes. As anyone that knows me is fully aware, hiking and wine are two of my great passions, and so this was right up my alley. We had the opportunity to tour the facility and taste a number of their wines - the syrah was noteworthy.

Afterwards, we made our way back to the cars and headed out. It was a terrific day though and fantastic time with family. I'm very glad we were all able to do this together.