Slightly off the beaten path from Marshall, VA, is a winery that first opened its doors in June 2011 Cobbler Mountain Cellars. Although it took some trust in the back roads we were following, we arrived to what we were surprised to find as a beautiful location for a tasting room. Driving on their private road, we drove by two different vineyard sites, along with a couple picnic areas, and a beautiful creek area that can be used by VA wine goers who pack picnics with them. The parking area is a big open field off the side of their road that greets wine tasters with a hike up a small side hill to their house which currently doubles as their tasting room. Although not up when we arrived, a sign is supposed to point you up to a parking lot closer to the house for winter wine goers and those who suffer from handicap situations.
Excited to try some wine, the wife and I eagerly hopped out of the car and made the short hike up to the tasting room for some wine. We were joined by the owner’s two kids and two dogs to make sure we had no problems finding the front door. Upon entering we had deja vous feelings of a day gone by with Fabbioli Cellars in finding an open rafter tasting room that although was small more than adequately covered all the wine tasting essentials. We were greeted by Jeff and his wife Laura; the owners for Cobbler Mountain cellars. They directed us to a bar made of an old wooden door on top of used wine barrels to start our wine tasting.
Cobbler Mountains current tasting consists of six wines and a hard cider that range from vintages of 09 and 10. Jeff started our tasting with his 2010 Chardonnay Reserve done in stainless steel. We noticed a pear montage on the nose, good fruit on the taste but had slightly bitter end for me. Jeff explained his background in wine during this taste. He got his start as a home kit experimenter in South Carolina and really enjoyed it. He continued to pursue wine making and eventually received formal training in wine making from U.C. Davis.
From there, we moved on to their 2010 hard cider. A blend of apples both local to the property and also nearby apple orchards. It presented a light honey taste, however I was left feeling it needed to be bit colder to bring out a little more of the crisp characteristics.
After the cider, we moved on to my favorite wine of the tasting, the 2010 Cobblestone wine. It is a blend of Riesling, Vidal Blanc, Seyval Blanc and Viognier. I detected a large smell of tropical melon on the nose and felt the characteristics of a good Viognier on the finish. This is a perfect summer sipper and would pair well with lighter fare. It got two stars from me and also found its way home with me.
With the whites completed, we transitioned to red wines and I become more inquisitive on the winery as a whole. Jeff gladly told me about how they broke ground on the vineyard on 2006. This site has been in his wife’s family since 1959 and that some of the vines in the front vineyard had been started in South Carolina and made their way north with them.
The first of the red wines was the 2009 Merlot. Like many Virginia merlots, I can say this wine is very plain. It displayed a lot of red berry on the nose, but was nothing fantastic. I found this wine to be a bit dry and had a weak finish. Nothing against the wine, I just don’t think it was my thing.
Moving forward, we were introduced to the 2009 Meritage. It was recently entered into the 2011 D.C. Wine Riot where it one the “People’s Choice Award.” It displayed nose of sweet cherry on the nose, but had a pleasant red fruit burst combined with complexity of green pepper, tannins and a full body. None of that is surprising when you learn it is a blend of Cab Franc, Petite Verdot, and Cab Sav. For those of you who are interested it is the Cab Sav that has made the move from South Carolina to Virginia with the wine maker. This wine too, somehow made its way home with me.
Next on our tasting menu was the 2010 Cabernet Franc. As many of you know, Cab Franc is a staple on many wineries tasting menus based on how well it does in VA. This Cab Franc had a tart red raspberry nose and was followed by and earthy dry red fruit taste. It displayed light tannins which makes it more approachable than some Virginia Cab Francs. However, it lacked a little on the finish which is what I use to judge the common from the exceptional.
From there we moved on the last wine in our tasting, the previously mentioned Cab Sav. They are currently pouring the 2009 vintage and have two different pairings to go with it, chocolate and cheese. As Jeff poured, Laura came down with a plate full of food to go with our wine. The plate consisted of two different type breads from Great harvest bakery, two cheeses from local cheese maker, including a Derby cheese aged in the Cobbler Mountain Meritage. They also suggested we taste the white bread with the local honey that sat is small pitcher to our right.
Jeff generously let us sample some of the wines again as we enjoyed the tasting plate that Laura has brought down to us. I asked him where he saw the winery going as they moved forward. He then eloquently described the Viognier vines that was recently planted just downhill from the tasting room. He also mentioned how they planned to build a barn type tasting room and production facility, and lastly he mentioned that next weekend they’d be releasing their Petite Verdot. I was slightly upset it wasn’t ready now as that is one of my wife and I’s favorite Virginia varietals, but as everything in wine, patience is a virtue.
Overall, I felt this was a young winery, and that it showed enough promise for a return visit. They had a few wines that were worth adding to the rotation, but not exceptional from top to bottom. As a destination though, Cobbler Mountain Cellars was a great stop. It's view is outstanding and I can imagine how that summer picnics on the grounds can be very enjoyable, even if an occasional bear might come by to stir things up.
