I've often wanted to take a few days to tour around my state to the various wineries, but it's tough. Obviously, I don't want to go wine tasting and driving, and then there's the time, and heck with the cost of gas these days, well, I can barely afford to drive to work!

So, I thought this idea by Sara LaFave for creating her own state wine tour via bus was a fabulous idea. From Uncorked Tours: Wine enthusiasts can take bus tour to local vineyards:

The winding country roads of the Shawnee Hills Wine Trail are scenic, but shouldn't be navigated by wine tasters who want to imbibe at each winery along the way.

Born out of a need to make the roads safer and the picturesque wine trail more of an enjoyable tourist attraction, wine enthusiast Sara LaFave has created a business she calls Uncorked Tours.

LaFave is a hospitality-tourism major at Southern Illinois University Carbondale who embarked on the idea as part of a class project.

"I had to put together a business plan, and then I just decided to keep going and do it for real," she said. "We've done a lot of research, met with people at SIUC's Small Business Incubator, talked to all the wineries, and tracked down everything from T-shirts to wine glasses. It's really been a labor of love."

LaFave teamed up with her boyfriend Nic Skovgaard, who is also an SIUC student majoring in Public Relations. Together they have taken a simple concept from the drawing board to the wine trail.

Uncorked Tours will have its inaugural tour on Saturday, March 31. It will leave the parking lot of Eastgate Shopping Center in Carbondale at 9:15 a.m. and return at 6:30 p.m.

The tour includes stops at Von Jacob, Alto Vineyards and Winery, Hedman Vineyard, Owl Creek Vineyard and StarView Vineyards.

You can find out more details at the Uncorked Tours web site. Not real fancy, but it includes an itinerary and information about booking your tour.