If you’re going to spend hours paddling down a river, I believe, you deserve some incentive. So does Benjamin Vineyards, which is set in rolling countryside about 40 minutes from Chapel Hill.
The winery is offering a Paddle and Wine Dinner on Sept. 26 that combines about three hours of canoing on the Haw River with a dinner featuring local foods and Benjamin’s wines. The menu – the important part – includes pork loin with pickled grapes and peaches in spiced wine. There’s also a sorbet made with the winery’s Creme de Framboise, a dessert wine made from raspberries that is a fun wine to play with when making spritzers or lemonade with a kick. Reservations are required.