Waiting out Sandy....

After a particularly eventful day waiting for Sandy the Hurricane winner of 2012 that involved an early trip to work, hydroplaning and wrecking my car, and then a mandatory afternoon nap, it was finally time to unwind. To start the unwinding process, my wife and I decided we'd make one of our favorite appetizers, a big bowl of guacamole.

The question came up was what to pair with our delicious appetizer? I had recently taken a trip back home northern PA to harvest a doe for the freezer this year, and while up there I stopped by my favorite wine store to pick up some great Finger Lakes wine. For you regular twitter followers, search #FLXwine and you'll see all the popular spots to go in the finger lakes. Some of our particular favorites are Dr. Frank's, Goose Watch Winery, Shalestone Winery, and Atwater Estate. On our most recent trip to the Finger Lakes we noticed that like Virginia, local micro breweries are starting to pop up in large numbers give the more established wineries a run for their money.

After quickly running down the inventory, we were informed by our youngest kitty Gus that the winner was our  Red Newt Cellars 2010 Semi-Dry Riesling  Quickly, it went to the freezer to cool down, while I got into the process of mashing avocado's  toasting garlic, and slicing and dicing the ingredients for the delicious guacamole.

Red Newt Cellars is on the East Side of Seneca lake and has attached restaurant with a great view. They are known for making solid wines that rival any made in the finger lakes, and as you'll see below this one did not disappoint.

Before totally tearing up our appetizer, we took the time to enjoy our wine. Our thoughts included light floral notes, tropical fruits of lychee and mango were prevalent on the nose. The wine was a light to medium body with a great balance of fruit and acid. The predominant fruit was ripe Asian pear and a lasting lingering fruit that left the mouth with clean mineral effervescent feel that lasted long after the wine was no longer present on the pallet. It paired well with our afternoon snack, and was a delicious sipper to watch Sandy as she threw her best at us. If you are reading this, we won, Sandy lost, and we kept power...yeah.

A two night Merlot...

Ever have one of those nights when you finish of a bottle of wine and want just one more glass? Well the wife and I had one of those nights last night. We had enjoyed some white wines and just had a hankering for a red wine. Not wanting to open something super special, or something that required food, we headed to the cellar to find something the scratch our itch. After scouring a few choices we decided on a Merlot.

The Merlot in question was from '09 and came from a new join for us from a wine club situation 8 Chains North. We have been familiar with the wine maker Ben Renshaw long before he got to open his own tasting room through tasting as Fabbioli and Notaviva. However, it wasn't until more than year after he opened his tasting room, we decided to join his wine club. Our choice was largely influenced by some of his wine club only, limited selection wines that were going to be available, Malbec was the one that comes to mind.

So as we opened the bottle, we expected it to get better since we hadn't taken the time to decant it. Our  initial thoughts included a woody black berry nose with hints of smoke that didn't merry well together. The pallet presented a medium body, light and earthy. There were flavors of rich burnt wood smoke, light acid, and the feel of alcohol burn on the finish. No lingering finish. My wife comment how it paired well with her mint chocolate cheese cake, especially the mint!


The second day I was opening the bottle to wallow in my Fantasy Football lose. So many players did not play to their potential and left me need a drink to bury the pain. I reached for the bottle, pulled the vacuum stopper and poured. Although the nose didn't change that much, I was surprised more black raspberry on the pallet. the wine became what I would describe as lighter in body, and firmer more pronounced tannin's on the finish.

Enjoying a one time only wine....

After a rough day on the VAWine trail, there is nothing better than coming back enjoying a good dinner and some wine. Today's activities involved a tasting at two great wineries, Little Washington Winery and Ducard Vineyards, events that will be blogged about later. As a bonus Little Washington was hosting a wine and oyster event featuring Virginia oysters. A bonus hit for both me and my wife.

The raw oysters from Rappahannock River Oysters inspired us to have a seafood dinner, so after a quick stop at Wegman's , we raced home to make a scallop and pasta dish and finish the bottle of wine we had started at Ducard Vineyards.

While making dinner, our pre-dinner sipper was the continuation of 2nd Corps. It is a Viognier blended with a touch of Vidal Blanc. It was a fruit forward wine with good weight, but very little acid. It was slightly sweet which cut through an bitterness that is sometimes present in Virginia Viogniers.

To Compliment the delicious dinner seen the right, we decided to open a treat from us. A wine we had only got a chance to taste briefly while picking up our August Estate club shipment from Sunset Hill Vineyards. The wine of choice for tonight would be the 2011 Petite Manseng.

We were a little late getting it slightly chilled with our dinner, so I finished off the last of our pre-dinner sipper with the first few bites of dinner. However, when I finally got to the Petite Manseng I was pleasantly surprised. It displayed floral nose with hints of Asian pear, my wife got a good sniff of spice she described as coriander. The pallet showed a very light body with firm acid on the finish. It showed star fruit flavor with hints of rose petal. Overall it paired well with our dinner, but it is a food wine. It probably wouldn't fair well as a sipper by itself. However it was great pairing to end our day of wine touring. The worse part of this is that we won't get a chance to taste it again. This was released only to the estate club members as it had limited quantities, and won't likely be available for purchase by the time we head back.

I admit it. I have been lazy. I have photos and notes, and many a night I’ve kicked myself for not blogging. However, tonight’s wine was so good, I couldn’t say no. I first tasted this wine earlier this year on my first trip to Stone Mountain Vineyards.

Stone Mountain Vineyards has arguably the best view of any winery in Virginia. Perched high on a mountain and overlooking a vast valley. A trip to Stone Mountain is not for the faint of heart. The road at times is barely a lane and a half wide, but for those hearty enough to make the trip, it is well worth the trip.

My beautiful wife had hinted that tonight’s dinner was going to involve steak. We had debated choosing tonight’s wine many times. It had to be well-aged, and deserved a shot to be our featured wine of the evening. So more than hour ahead of dinner time, I opened the bottle and poured it into our decanter.

Red wines can stand a good decant before drinking. Our wine of choice tonight is the non-vintage Twelve Barrel Meritage from Stone Mountain Vineyards. It is just as it says, sourced from twelve barrels. It is Bordeaux style blend of 34% Cab Sav, 34% Cab Franc, 16% Merlot, and 16% Petite Verdot, and was old enough to not be cellared for too long.

From the decanter, my wife and I thought it had a great black raspberry nose. Each subsequent whiff revealed little hints of tobacco and wood. We agree it had a complex nose. It was a wine of light to medium body, and the first taste showed bright red fruit. That melded well with the acid and smooth tannins that were well rounded. It left you with a full mouth fell.

The real beauty of the wine was not revealed until we paired it with our dinner. Tonight’s dinner was a delicious steak with a butter, bourbon, and mustard sauce. It was paired on the plate with a spinach, apple, Asian pear salad with shallots and apple cider based dressing.

Paired with dinner, the wine became earthier with really dry tannins. It showed how versatile it was. The one comment that we had was that it was ready to drink. We didn’t think another year would add anything to this wine. Its acids would probably fall off, and might lead it to an earthy monster. If you are saving this wine in your cellar, don’t. Find a nice meal to pair it with, and enjoy. I hope this fall when we make it back down to the Charlottesville area, we get a chance to visit Stone Mountain again.

Memorial day leads to a beach celebration

This year my wife and I were crashing our friends vacation in Rodanthe, NC for a long Memorial Day weekend. Daily happy hours, and fun in the sun were the name of the game. However, for memorial day we decided we'd do festive meal to celebrate. And like usual, good food needs good wine.











Our menu for the evening would consist of grilled fresh tuna kebabs, Grilled zucchini, Caesar salad with real anchovies dressing, and a sweet treat of homemade salted caramel ice cream for dessert.










With all the fresh grilled food and salad, good white wine seemed to be a logical selection. We made two selections to pair with dinner for the evening. First was Apple Wine produced by Chateau O'Brien in Markam, VA. This is a non-vintage wine produced from a mix of apples grown in Stribling Orchard  right behind the winery. This wasn't my first experience with this apple wine. For those of you who haven't had it, you'll probably be taken back on how clear it is. It literally could be mistaken for dozens of white wines just by looking at it. However after just one taste will leave you wanting more. It has nice smooth apple flavor with a little acid on the finish like a good apple cider. It is a beautiful sipper by itself on hot days, but also pairs well with food, and as a bonus it is great to cook with, especially with pork.

The other wine we served that night was the Hiddencroft Vineyards 2010 Traminette. I was taken back by how good the nose was on this wine. It was mixture of tropical melon and honeysuckle and baking spices. The pallet presented good acid, very citrusy more grapefruit then lemon, but overall it was very pleasant and held up well in the summer heat of the beach.

As is obvious by the plate below, I spent as least as much time enjoying my wine as I did eating and savoring both to a great finish. 

Vacation Begins.....

I'm going to stray from my usual blogs involving local Virginia wine. I know, first I go on vacation and then I don't blog about Virginia wine, where am I doing? However, I figure in honor of vacation it is OK to bend rules.

Our trip to the outer banks was particularly uneventful. Traffic was non-existent, (that could have something to do with our O'dark thirty departure), but anyway, I was grateful for no traffic and aside from seeing over 20+ cops going around Interstate 64 in Norfolk, the trip was quite pleasant.

As with all great and warm sunny locations our group decided grilling was on order for dinner and what wine goes well with grilling? Yep, bubbly. However, tonight's wine is not a typical bubbly from a bubbly region in France, but from the down under continent of Australia. Other uniqueness about this particular bottle was its packaging. Instead of a cork as most bubblies are sealed with, this was sealed with a metal top like that of a beer bottle.




Tonight's dinner consisted of grilled shrimp, grilled spicy hot sausage, and Julia Child's recipe for potato salad. Our wine as mentioned before comes from Australia. It is a Saivignon Blanc done in an effervescent style. And best of all, a great view of the ocean.












This wine is made by Lake Chalice Winery and called Cracklin Savie. It was big citrus bomb. It had a lemon and lemon verbena on the nose. It followed with a crisp acidic lemon grapefruit flavor on the pallet with a surprising smooth finish with the acidic front it had. It went well with our meal and was very pleasant deck sipper for our first day of vacation.

Doing it even when you shouldn't....

I'm on day two after a small surgery...nothing life threatening, but something that needed to be done. With all surgeries, drinking and pain pills don't mix. Being the good patient I am, I have taken only a few pain pills (non-narcotic) since getting out, and have been "taking it easy." However, when the wife discussed dinner tonight and it involved Cabernet burgers, I couldn't resist just one glass of local Cabernet franc wine. Knowing that I'd only be drinking one, I wanted it to be good one. Reviewing out selection, we settled on a 2007 Cab. Franc from Ingleside Plantation Winery. Ingleside Plantation winery is one of the oldest in the state of Virginia with its roots going back to 1970.

As most Virginia wine fans know, 2007 was hot dry summer perfect for Virginia Red Wines. It was highly anticipated and many reserve and special red wines came from the local wine makers. Since 2007, there has been only one year that has come close to 2007, and that was 2010. It was even hotter and drier, and I know my wife and I are a chomping at the bit for the better red wines to be released from 2010.

Back to tonight's wine though, I quickly opened it and started decanting it a full two hours before we would even think about having any. I poured the half cup my wife would need for the burgers, and set the rest to the side to be enjoyed with our burgers.

Although it is a Cab Franc, like most good Virginia wine, there are few other wines blended in to add structure, and flavor. This wine is blended with 7.1 percent Cab. Sav, 7.1 percent Merlot, and 7.1 Malbec.




To accompany our burgers would be some roasted beets in a salad involving rainbow chard and a delicious Gorgonzola. Additionally, in the burgers would be a  black mountain cheddar cheese that is a sharp yet creamy cheese with an earthy flavor of mushrooms. In a phrase, full of yumminess. Even though I hadn't had a large appetite since my surgery, the thought of tonight's dinner had me salivating.








My wife helped herself to a pre-dinner beer, and of course I got talked into a sample. It was Wild Blue, a blueberry larger that was advertised a great summer fruit beer from BlueDawgBrewing in Baldwinsville, NY. I'm a little torn on fruit beers, some I like other's I don't. True to its name there was a light blueberry smell on the nose.







It was more that color of a dark pinot noir rather than beer. However that taste was a mild blueberry flavor with a good crisp bight to round out the flavor profile. I agree that this cold would be good summer sipper while sitting on the beach or lake on a hot August afternoon.
















With Dinner prepared it was time to pour my one glass of the night, no worries, the rest of the wine is not going to waste.










It was a lovely rich red color and displayed characteristics of raspberry and wood on the nose. My wife noted black pepper. The flavor of warm red fruit, ultra smooth with mid tongue light tannins. It also has really earthy lingering finish. This wine is wonderful right now. It paired well with the creamy Gorgonzola, but equally well with the burgers. A versatile wine for red wine food. The great part is you can still get it for just under $20 a bottle at Ingleside or on-line through their wine store. Something that is rare at other wineries, selling wine that is five years old that is.

American Soldier is just following General's Orders...

Wow, it is going to be a crazy month for many reasons. Unfortunately, my blog will be the one that suffers most. However, this blog has been running through my head since the idea was presented Thursday. I have been working nights lately, and when I was to be relieved last Thursday it was abundantly clear I wouldn't be leaving on time. Turns out I was stuck doing almost a double shift and fought pure exhaustion on my 35 minute drive home.

Upon arriving home, I quickly passed out in preparation for my hard earned night off. I was awakened later than I had planned with a text from my wife. Quite simply it said, "Put wine in the fridge, Seriously!!!" We had pretty much given up during the week drinking as part of our pursuit to lose 50 Lbs this year, and for the most we have done real good. But seeing how the text came in almost an hour after my lovely wife was suppose to be off work, I figured it was one of those situations in which breaking the rules were in order.

As I perused our selection, I quickly sent a quick text to see if red or white was in order. I was told white via text. That was little tougher, tonight's dinner was to consist of spicy black bean burgers and homemade backed sweet potato fries, so I need something a little heavier with good acid to stand up to the planned dinner. I selected a wine from the Chesapeake Region, specifically the Northern Neck and a wine we had picked up earlier this year on our winter trip.

I put the General Ridge GRV White into the freezer to chill, while I headed out to pick up my better half from the metro. Arriving back home, I quickly got to putting dinner together, while my wife opened the bottle for a pre-dinner glass. My initial thoughts were a little lacking. There was no acid back that I was looking for and the wine itself was rather tasteless, but I felt it was a bit cold so I was optimistic that it would get better as it warmed.

With dinner prepared, I did some quick research on the wine as a refresher. It is a blend of chardonnel and traminette, steel fermented, with a light 1.5% residual sugar. A little warmer, I noted lush white tropical fruit on the nose. It tasted of straw and unripe pear with just a hint of sweetness and balanced acid finish. It went well with dinner and was a good mid-week wine. It was versatile enough it could pair with lighter picnic fair, but probably not big enough to stand up to cream sauce pasta.

After two tough work days, it was just what the general ordered to clear away the stress of the day.

Virginia Blogger is richly rewarded...

In my last blog, I shared our Friday evening dinner, and is per the norm, we finished our bottle of wine with our dinner. Not ready to turn in for the evening, we decided it was time for dessert. Friday's dessert was a special treat from another winery we visited over Easter weekend, and so I sent my wife downstairs to pick out a good wine to go with our chocolate.

For those of you who have not visited Glass House winery, come prepared. They offer a variety of common Virginia varietals, but also their owner, Michelle Sanders, is an exceptional chocolatier who makes delicious chocolates on the premises. On our most recent visit, we weren't particularly impressed with their current vintages, but were impressed that they have moved to all glass corks for their bottles. It will be interesting to see if more wineries go that route. We ended up sharing a bottle of their Pinot Gris with our lunch there, but were drawn into buying some there delectable chocolates.

Our choice of chocolates for Friday's dessert was their Earl Grey Tea chocolate. My wife selected another bottle we had picked up on our Easter weekend wine trip. It was from a fairly new winery, and one we had not visited since their pre-opening in 2010.

Our initial visit to Duccard Vineyard had us most impressed with their viognier releases. Viognier is one of those wines that can be very bad if not done properly so for a new winery to have hit one out of the park off the bat left us thinking they showed great promise.

On this visit, the Viogniers were still very delicious, but it was their 2010 Norton release that had most impressed us. Norton is a grape that we have really enjoyed from VA made into wine. We are very excited and we can get a good release so when my wife popped the cork out of one of the bottle we have brought back from Duccard, I couldn't wait for glass to pair with my chocolate.

The initial nose was a classic Norton, blackberries and earthiness with hints of nutmeg and cassias. The wine was a dark inky purple with good legs. This Norton exhibited warm red fruit and light tobacco. It was very dry and left the mouth with velvety feel. It had firm mid-tongue tannins, but did bottom out a bit on the finish, however you wouldn't know based on the lingering full mouth feel.

Unfortunately, the wine kind of over powered the earl grey tea chocolate but by itself the chocolate was smooth with hints of fresh tea leaves that linger after eating. Overall both the dessert and the wine were very enjoyable by themselves. Even if they weren't a rock star pairing.

Flying Canine tackles Raw Fish......

Well my blogging for some reason has fallen way off. Maybe it is my goal to lose 30lbs by the end of June. Maybe it was the nasty bout of pancreatitis I suffered. No matter what the reason, I thought it was time to dust the shelf off and share my recent dinner night experience.

Our plan for the evening was a glass of wine to unwind, a dinner of Sushi from Yamazato, a bottle of wine, and enjoying an evening on the back patio. We called and ordered a variety of rolls from Yamazato while enjoying a glass of wine. Unfortunately, I hadn't got the wine in the fridge in time, so the Rose` from Flying Fox was a little warmer than would be Ideal. At this temperature it had a light strawberry nose, good acidic body, but presented a slighty funky after taste on the way down.

If you haven't been Yamazato it is slightly annoying to get to because where it is located just past 395 on little river turn pike. Thankfully for us the annoying length it takes to get to it, gave our wine a chance to cool while sitting in the freezer. Our casa gives Yamazato an A+ rating. Their fish is always fresh and tasty, and we hoped to have a great experience with our wine as we headed for home.

Once home, we gathered up some plates and headed to our back patio. Once all set up, I went to sample the wine again. Unfortunately, this time the wine had gotten too cold. All the fruit had been squeezed out of the nose and wine. It was really acidic, with an almost metallic taste on the finish. I set it aside to allow it a chance to warm back up. Focusing instead on some of the delicious sushi and our seaweed salad we had ordered.

Finally, the wine had warmed slightly and it felt just right. The wine's nose was a blend of under ripe strawberries and wet year watermelon. It displayed light acid and light body, not quite as dry as I like my rose`, but the fruit and acid balanced real well and made for an overall enjoyable experience.

I am one who likes a large amounts of wasabi in my soy sauce for dipping my sushi into, unfortunately the acid in the wine was strong clash with wasabi. It was a lesson learned that dry rose and sushi probably aren't the best pairing. Oh well, you can't win them all right???

Northern Neck Yields Rare Find.

Recently we visited Ingleside winery on the Northern Neck Virginia. It was bitter sweet day for me. On the one hand it had been more than 18 months for me since the last time I had been to the Northern Neck for wine tasting. If I only new that later that night I'd be in the E.R. it might make me rethink my choices.

Thankfully it was nothing life threatening, and with a little rest and recoup, I can now happily be wine touring and more importantly drinking good Virginia wine again, in moderation of course. But less about that and more about our trip. First Lessons learned:

1. Northern Neck is a summer time winery destination. Many of the wineries shutdown during the winter.

2. When visiting bring a DD, I'm previous trips I didn't realize how clustered the tasting rooms are. On this trip we only visited two, but drove by five in our short little day trip.

3. Ingleside plantation Vineryard is a day trip in and of itself. With three separate tastings "mostly whites" "mostly reds" and the "Full Tour." The first two are tastings themselves and the last one a combination of the first two, well if you go for the full tour, you are consuming almost two and half glasses of wine. You do the math.

We left Ingleside "like we usually do" with more than our fair share of wine, but the rare gem of the bunch was a wine they were still tasting from 2005. For those of you that travel to VA wineries regularly you know that most wineries don't produce enough wine that they can keep in the tasting room a year, maybe two and after that it is cellar collection at best.

Ingleside on the other hand, owns or controls so much acreage of grape vine that they grow the most unusual grapes, and can store it for you for at least the first three years. However even for Ingleside, a 2005 vintage is not common.

Most Virginia wineries say 7 years and a VA wine has peaked and starting to slide with rare exceptions. With that said, the night before we were heading off to NJ to sea concert of Eric Church and Brantley Gilbert, we decided it was time to open this rare gem and enjoy.

The Ingleside 2005 Cab Sav had a strong smell from the time the cork was pulled. It reminded me a really ripe black raspberry with a kiss of spice. It featured a smooth start with dark red fruit. It had light middle tannins and slight burnt tobacco finish. I think the light tannis says the wine is as good as it is gonna get, and my wife and I enjoy sipping it while watching upset night in March Madness.

Crowds Flocking from near and far for Virginia wine….Literally.

Arriving at the second of three new wineries we planned to visit on recent weekend wine trip, we found we had not done enough scouting and were greeted by a closed sign at Capital Vineyards. Not wanting to lose the time slot, the wife and I headed to one of our favorite locations for a glass on an extraordinary enclosed heated deck before heading to our last stop on our Saturday wine tour.

Chateau O’Brien is known for its great wine, engaging owners, and unfortunately it can also be known for its crowds. Based on the car already parked in their lower parking lot, we were glad we weren't going to be doing a tasting. However, after reaching their primary parking lot we realized that it wasn’t that crowded.

Entering through the front door, we were greeted by Howard O'Brien the winery owner. Howard told us that the deck was closed today because it is too cold to keep the heat up warm using the the gas space heaters, but invited us to enjoy the fireplace room which was warm and cozy. The wife and I agree that we needed a glass of wine so we quickly purchased a bottle of his Padlock red and headed for fire place. Since the fire place wasn't lit, we were lucky to snag the two seats right in front of the it to enjoy our glasses of wine.

This one is one of my favorites from Chateau O’Brien. It displays a rich full mouth feel, firm by not over powering tannins. It has dark fruit flavors with a slight leathery earthy finish. It will pair well with most red meats, but is equally good by itself for an evening sipper.

The atmosphere that day at Chateau O’Brien was a mixed lot. There were several small groups enjoying wine along with both the classic and reserve tasting bars full of people sampling the full selection that Chateau O’Brien has to offer. I usually recommend Chateau O’Brien to anyone looking for all the good a Virginia winery can be. Plus if you only want to visit one, this a location you can go to enjoy two distinctly different types of tasting and have great views along with a place to have a picnic for those of you who are like us and enjoy packing a lunch with you on the Virginia wine trail.

Wine enthusiast versus Wine Fan....It comes down to storage.

Taking a Break from wine drinking due to some medical concerns, I’m sorting through tasting notes, reviewing old pictures, and concerned that this blog that I have created will slowly fade into just a distant memory. I mean what is a person supposed to blog about on a wine blog when he can’t drink wine? Thankfully some of my fellow wine bloggers provided me an opportunity to blog about something that doesn’t involve tasting delicious Virginia wine, Wine storage.

After viewing pictures of the cellaring and storage techniques of some the other wine bloggers I follow (Virginia Wine time, Cellar Blog, SwirlSnipSnark, WineaboutVirginia), I think I have finally deciphered the difference between a wine enthusiast and people like me who are more like casual wine fans. It comes down to the wine collection. Don’t get me wrong, I love my wine, but even at peak capacity six cases of wine is my capacity for wine cellaring. However, even with that restriction, I’d like to think I’m able to keep a diverse variety of wines available around the house. Wine enthusiasts on the other hand, have storage capacity to survive a small nuclear holocaust. See other bloggers for good examples. Then there are a few who are just starting their adventure like JulesVine.

My storage system is fairly simple. My cellaring wines go in this electric wine “fridge.” My wife and I received this as a wedding gift. Its functionality kicked the bucket two years ago, but as it is always in the basement of my home where the temperature is mostly stable and cool, I’m not missing it. It houses all red wines. These are those bottles that only get brought out on special occasions, and must be at least 4 years old before they are even considered. Right now it primarily filled with 2007 VA red wines, with a few ‘06s hanging around for good measure. Additionally a pair of French stowaways are hiding within. They were gifts I received when I graduated college.

Next to that I have basic case storage of nicer wines that we wouldn’t mind hanging around a while, but will drink if it has been a tough week or will pair well with a nice dinner we have made.

On the wall we have our day to day wines. These are the wines that get cycled through our inventory. On the left are the whites, and on the Right are the reds.

In addition to the wall we have two additional case wine holders that sit on the floor that hold overflow. Usually that means day to day wines, with an occasional nicer one that is waiting for a place in the cellar.

As you can see, our storage area is quite full, and with my timeout from wine drinking I have been forced to take, it should stay that way, at least for a couple months until I am able to return to light wine drinking.

Route 9 Barrel Tasting: Sunset Hills Vineyard

When our group headed out for the Route 9 Barrel tasting, the plan had always been to end at Sunset Hills. It made sense, first my wife and I are wine club member so we get to use the upper level for the lunch we had pack with us. Second because we have been addicted to their 2010 Viognier which we wanted to let our friends try, and last because it has a great tasting room and a nice place to relax after a hard day of Va wine tasting.

So when we walked in the door and were pretty much directed down stairs to their private tasting room and production facility, we smiled because it had got a little later in the day than we had planned, and we were all really hungry. We have done the standard tasting many time, so my wife and I took it easy waiting to be pointed back to the barrel room. When the door opened up to the barrel room and the group exited there was about 10 or so of us ready to enter and talk to Nate Walsh Sunset Hills wine maker about what we were about to sample.

In the room were two barrels and a sign talking about futures for chardonnay so I expected chardonnay to be the white wine from the barrel to be tasted. However surprise, Nate walked around with a sample of the next vintage of viognier. It had the typical tropical flower and fruit nose that is associated with a viognier, but lacked a little of the balanced the explosion of fruit I have grown accustom too with their 2010 vintage. Overall it was well balance and probably will develop more until it is ready to be bottled.

Nate was curious about the group’s experience out during the route 9 Barrel tasting. It was toward the end of the day, and he was surprised that no one in the group and made it to all five wineries participating. Like ourselves, most people there had made it to four of them and for a few this was just their second stop, but they had said they planned on taking full advantage of the second day of the barrel tasting. I believe the two day event was the way to go. Trying to squeeze in that many wine tasting would bound to lead to trouble, especially because the wineries through in a their standard tasting which means a glass of two of wine at each winery visited. Although I didn’t say it there, I’ll admit it here. My pallet was pretty trashed even after four, something I’ll remember going into next year if we do this again. And we had only done part of the standard tastings at the other three wineries we visited.

After a big lead in, we found out the other wine we would be sampling the cellar was Nate’s Petite Verdot. It was right what we were expecting a smooth blend of fruit, oak and balanced tannin. I had found the nose a little over barring but coming from the barrel that was not so unusual. I’m excited to taste the final product when it is released, even if that isn’t in the foreseeable future.

The Petite verdot signaled the end of the barrel tasting, my wife and I caught up with our friends upstairs in the member’s only area for some delicious lunch. We opened a bottle of their 2010 Viognier and enjoyed conversation and some laughs and memories of the day’s experience.