Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers)

We request that reservations be made for groups of 15 or more ahead of time by e-mailing [email protected] with the following information: name of event or tour group, number of people, date, time of arrival, arrival by bus or cars.
Additional information regarding our winery tours and tastings can be found under our Information page here: http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/about-tours-tasting.php

In addition to our winery tours and tastings we do offer paid VIP Tour & Tasting Experiences in our private VIP tasting room. Details on these private experiences can be found under our VIP page here: http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/VIP/

Tours are currently self-guided, and run continuously throughout the day.
Additional information regarding our winery tours and tastings can be found under our Information page here: http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/about-tours-tasting.php

The tour and tasting can take anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many people are in your group.
Additional information regarding our winery tours and tastings can be found under our Information page here: http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/about-tours-tasting.php

The last tour is typically offered at 3:45 p.m. every day. We recommend arriving by 3:30 pm to allow you ample time for the tour, tasting, and shopping.
Additional information regarding our winery tours and tastings can be found under our Information page here: http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/about-tours-tasting.php

Although they may not participate in the wine tasting, children and those under 21-years-old are welcome to the winery, may participate in the tour, and stand with you during the tasting. We do have non-alcoholic grape juice available to try for those under 21.

US citizens: state issued drivers license, military ID, or state ID card.
International guests: Original passport preferred, or valid government issued photo ID with birthdate. Original passport will be required if government ID cannot be validated.

Please be sure to let your tour guide know of the special event, and they will do their best to try and provide a special cheer or toast during the tasting.

You may purchase wine and snacks at the winery and enjoy them outside or inside during non festival days. However, we do not allow parties or private events at the winery outside, or inside at anytime. Please do not arrive with food, gifts, and/or decorations with the intent of having a private party at the facility.

We can however create a custom gift basket of wine/chocolates/wine related products. If you would like to order a custom gift basket please e-mail [email protected] with the following information: how much you would like to spend on the basket, if there’s anything specific you’d like to include, and contact information.

Thank you for your interest in our special offers. Our offers, including any Buy-One or Buy-Two deals, can be held a few times a year, but we are not aware of those dates until the day prior. Make sure you are signed up for our newsletter by sending us your email address here http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/signup.php to ensure you receive the emails that advertise our offers as soon as we know them.

Unfortunately, there are several states that will not allow any direct shipments of alcohol, so it is not on our list for shipment. We have someone consistently checking for state availability, so please feel free to check back in some time, as it may change.

States that we CANNOT currently ship to:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Delaware
Hawaii
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Puerto Rico
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
West Virginia
Wisconsin

The following states have shipping restrictions:
Maryland Residents: 18 case limit per household, per year.
New Hampshire Residents: 12 case limit per individual, per year.
North Carolina Residents: 2 case limit per household, per month.
North Dakota Residents: 3 case limit per household, per month.
Virginia Residents: 2 case limit per household, per month.

Thank you for your interest in our wines! Unfortunately, we do not ship outside of the United States at this time. Please feel free to check back in the future, as that may change.

You should receive an e-mail when your order goes out for shipment with UPS tracking information. Shipments are typically sent out via UPS 2-3 days after an order is placed. Please allow additional processing time if your order was placed during a special offer or event. If you placed your order more than 3 days ago, please email [email protected] with the order number and/or phone number so we may research your order.

Yes, we can! Please contact [email protected] with your request.

Sorry, but no. Our facility is not for any type of commercial use, or organized activity including photo shoots. Of course our wine customers are welcome to take photos for personal use while they visit and tour our facility.

Thank you so much for reaching out to Lakeridge Winery for your fundraising efforts. We cannot donate wine, but may be able to help your cause in other ways. For all donation inquiries please email [email protected], with the following information:

1. Name
2. Date
3. Time
4. Approximate number of attendees of the event
5. Tax ID or 501(c)3 info for the benefitting cause

Sorry but no, our wines are produced in stainless steel tanks so we do not have used barrels.

Our apologies for any difficulties you may have had trying to sign up. Please send your full name, birthday, and e-mail address to [email protected] and we will forward your email and information to our web programmers and they can manually add you to our system. Our next monthly newsletter will be sent out in the first week of the month. If you have not received one at that time, please give us a call.

Gift card purchases can be placed by coming into our retail shop or by calling. Gift cards are shipped via UPS, so there is a $5.00 shipping fee.

Monday-Friday
We do not serve food at Lakeridge Winery on week days, although, we do sell a variety of gourmet items in our retail shop such as dried meats, cheese, crackers, and chocolates. You are more than welcome to bring picnic food, and use our picnic tables outside for a small lunch-in before or after one of our winery tours and tastings, as long as you are making a purchase at the wine shop. NO groups or parties, our festival grounds are not a venue. No outside food allowed on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday-Sunday
In addition to the food items in our retail shop we are currenly serving a variety of food outside at our pavilion from noon to 4:00 pm. Menu items vary but a sample weekend menu would be sweet fire shrimp, teriyaki beef or chicken, blackened mahi with mango salsa, gyros, Southwest chipotle pepper jack burgers, fries, and parmesan truffle fries. You can find more details about the food, plus the wine bar and music at our Weekends at the Winery event page. NO groups or parties, our festival grounds are not a venue. No outside food allowed on Saturday and Sunday.

Mission Inn Resort & Club (10.5 mi)
Address: 10400 County Road 48
Howey-in-the-Hills, FL 34737
Phone: (352) 324-3101

Holiday Inn Express Clermont (6.7 mi)
Address: 1810 S Hwy 27, Clermont, FL 34711
Phone: (352) 243-7878

Fairfield Inn & Suites Clermont (6.9 mi)
Address: 1750 Hunt Trace Blvd, Clermont, FL 34711
Phone: (352) 394-6585

Hampton Inn & Suites Clermont (7.9 mi)
Address: 2200, Clermont, FL 34711
Phone: (352) 536-6600

To find the directions to Lakeridge Winery visit our Maps & Hours page. On that page you will see a large map, and on the top left of the map you will see a link titled "Directions". Click that link and input your address to get directions via Google maps.

Lakeridge Winery is closed on New Year’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day to allow our employees to spend the holidays with their friends and families. In addition we close at 3:00 pm on Christmas Eve.

Our wines are not gluten-free. Gluten is a protein found in wheat and other grain products. Some people have strong allergic reactions to this protein. Although we do not use any wheat gluten directly in our processing, two of our ingredient/material suppliers cannot rule out traces of gluten in their processing.

The rice hulls we use as a grape press aid for all our grapes are processed in a facility that also stores wheat. The company cannot rule out cross-contamination.

Our sugar supplier cannot rule out the presence of traces of corn gluten, though they state that corn is not considered in the primary group of grains associated with allergens.

Lakeridge wines are not vegan certified, however, all ingredients used to date in our wines are animal byproduct free. Our grape juice contains an ingredient that is processed in a facility that contains dairy and eggs and they cannot rule out cross contamination.

Sulfur dioxide is a compound formed from sulfur and oxygen. It exists naturally in wine as a byproduct of fermentation. It also exists naturally in other fermented foods, such as bread, and beer. Sulfur dioxide shares a centuries old companionship with wine, having been used as a winemaking tool since Roman times. It is an antibacterial, acting to prevent spoilage. It inhibits yeast, keeping sweet wines from refermenting in the bottle. And it is an antioxidant, safeguarding the flavor of the wine and preventing browning of the wine’s color. For these reasons, we find it necessary to continue to use sulfur dioxide, but we use as little as possible. Modern technology makes it possible for us to carefully control and minimize the levels in our wines.

Health concerns in recent years arose from asthmatics who can suffer allergic reactions to anything with a significant concentration of sulfites. Their heavy use in restaurant salad bars was responsible for most of the severe reactions by sulfite sensitive individuals which resulted in government action. The low sulfite levels found in wine were not comparable to the mega-doses used in salad bars. But to protect susceptible individuals, Congress passed a law requiring that any wine containing more than 10 parts per million of sulfites carry the “Contains Sulfites” phrase on its label. Considering that 10 to 20 parts per million occur naturally in wine, that just about covers every wine.

Treating wines with care and regard for their perishable qualities will maximize their longevity and your future enjoyment of them. Following are a few simple guidelines for storing all wines and aging our wines.

Locate all wine away from direct sunlight and bright light, which can cause undesirable changes to the wine. Leaving the wine in the case it was purchased in is effective protection.

The ideal temperature for storing wine is 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Because this is difficult for most of us these days, find a cool place and avoid constant fluctuations and violent swings in temperature. Keep wine away from heat sources such as hot water heaters, appliances, and car trunks. Freezing a wine or exposing it to excessive heat causes chemical changes to the wine. It will never taste the same. Wines need a quiet place to rest, away from constant vibration. So, avoid storage near a washing machine, staircase, or above a refrigerator. For long term storage and aging (years), it is best to store any wine on its side. This practice keeps the cork moist and fully expanded in the bottle. If a bottle of wine stands upright for a few months, the cork begins to dry out, shrink and allow air to seep into the bottle. Air can cause a browning or oxidation of the wine, accompanied by undesirable aromas and flavors. For sparkling wines, a dried out cork permits the bubbles to escape resulting in a “flat” wine. Sherry and Port are not as sensitive to air, but it is still best to store them on their side.

Generally speaking, all Lakeridge wines are ready for drinking when purchased. Our white wines including Chablis, Sunblush, Southern White and Pink Crescendo, and our red wines, Southern Red and Proprietors Reserve, are “young” wines, intended for early enjoyment. Young in this case means that they have wonderful fresh, fruity characters which diminish with age. We recommend that these wines be consumed within 3 to 4 years after they are bottled to enjoy them at their absolute best. Our dry red wine, Cabernet Sauvignon, should be consumed within 3 to 5 years after bottling. And for our San Sebastian dessert wines, Cream Sherry and Port, we recommend consuming them within 5 to 7 years after bottling.

We add sugar to our juice, called chaptalization, to provide enough sugar for the yeast to convert to 12 percent alcohol during the fermentation. All of our wines are fermented to dryness, where all the fermentable sugar is consumed by the yeast. We then add sugar once more to sweeten our finished wines just prior to bottling. This achieves the desired level of sweetness in the finished product.