With the first weekend of nothing planned what so ever in weeks, the wife and I were amazed how our Saturday was so relaxing. A quick trip to the gym, lunch with my uncle, and then it was time to hit a winery. As it was already 2 P.M., we decided to hit one that was close. Having not been to
Winery at La Grange since spring, it was an obvious choice. So a quick drive out I-66 to Haymarket and it became clear, we had made a mistake. I forgot I got the e-mail earlier that week that they were having a fall festival this weekend. Add to that a special event supporting the fight against breast cancer, and the parking lot and grounds were full.
But with few other options, we decided to fight the crowd and do a tasting. Thankfully the good people at La Grange had planned well for the day, with two indoor tasting bars, and multiple out door tasting bars, all up and running, our wait in the patio bar in their back porch was very small, and we were going to their selection of wine. For those of you who have never been there, this is a place where you can make a day of it. They have 11 wines on their tasting menu, and today they had a bonus wine that wasn’t on their tasting menu. So when you go, plan on being there a while, and with their beautiful grounds, multiple fire pits, and cozy indoor and outdoor seating areas, it is a great place to bring a picnic and just sitting back and enjoying. And if you’re lucky, you’ll see their ghost that haunts their tasting room house.
Below is the complete list of the wines on their tasting menu currently, however I was bit remiss in my wine blogging duties and left my notes on the tasting bar so I will only highlight my likes and dislikes from the list:
2010 Pinot Gris
2009 Viognier
2008 Fletcher’s Chardonnay
2009 Cuvee Blanc
2010 Rose’ of Merlot
2009 Benoni’s Dead but still Red
2009 Cab Franc
2010 Merlot
2009 Meritage
General’s Battle Field Red
2008 Tannat
2009 Snort
On the good Category, the 2009 Cuvee Blanc has a big lush tropical fruit nose. It moves into a pineapple spice taste, great balance of acid in this wine to make a delicious versatile wine. Other good wines are the 2010 Merlot which is a red fruit bomb with tannins and balance. It could use some time on the bottle for aging, but it showed great promise. The current vintage of General’s Battle Field Red was also a surprise, it is a meritage blend that showed good fruit, balanced tannins but maybe a touch too much oak. No matter how you sliced it, it would pair well with a juicy grilled steak.
The Bad category for me included the 2010 Rose’ of Merlot and the 2010 Pinot Gris, The Rose just had a funky nose that I couldn't really get by. It lacked flavor, structure or layers, and the funk re-appeared on the back of the tongue. The 2010 Pinot Gris tasted more like a chardonnay then a Pinot Gris. I think it must have been dominated by new French oak and that is why it had those characteristics.It lacked flavor, structure or layers, and the funk re-appeared on the back of the tongue. The 2010 Pinot Gris tasted more like a chardonnay then a Pinot Gris. I think it must have been dominated by new French oak and that is why it had those characteristics.
There was an additional wine not on the list above on their tasting menu, it was a Norton, but not a VA Norton. The grapes of the primary V=varietal Norton were brought in from Missouri due to the struggles they have had in VA. This wine was blended with a VA Cab Sav, and the results were very good. It is a great table wine, and the tasting showed bright red fruit with hints of smoke on the nose. The taste was more distinct red fruit, but the Cab Sav adds just hints of camp fire smoke to the finish. Medium body and well balanced, it was our selection to enjoy while enjoying the grounds at La Grange.
After finding a location near one of the fire pits,
we poured a couple of glasses. We noticed that the wine was very cloudy and we were concerned the bottle was bad. However, the taste was we remembered at the tasting bar so we figured it must be just be a touch of the sediment floating around. The sun’s low angle really gave this wine a funny look but thankfully it still tasted good. Upon seeing the same signs when we returned home and poured another glass, I researched bottle shock, however it didn’t seem to fit the billet. I’m not really sure what was going on with this bottle, but as long as it doesn’t affect the flavor, I guess I won’t complain.
