In the Vines Series…Blog #1

Two things I have noticed…1) Work is getting in the way of my blogging life style lately… 2) I did a bunch of research last week, and haven’t even started the blog series that will utilize that research…Although I don’t have control over observation #1…I can do something about #2.

Through my love of wines, and some great events hosted by local wineries, I recently enjoyed a chance to take a walk in the vines with two people ankle deep or more in the VA Wine industry. Over the next six blogs, I plan on covering the wineries involved, the people who gave the tours, and share the awesome experience I had learning a little more about everything from vines to wines.My first experience involved going to Hillsboro Winery in Hillsboro , Loudon County, Virginia. The evening hike in the vines with the Wine Maker, Kerem Baki, was offered to Hillsboro Frequent Winers, They wanted to give their winers a chance to learn more about the process, fruit, and people who make Hillsboro wines.

The process started with me with learning a little history of the winery. Hillsboro winery was established and vines planted in 2002 on a great parcel of land. The combination of being located on a severely sloping side hill, having a southwest facing exposure, beautiful scenery in all directions led to an almost perfect sit-up for a vineyard. Lots of sun, quick draining soil, and protection from late season frost are ingredients for growing great grapes, and that is half the scenario needed to make good wine.


Part of establishing their winery meant refurbishing/renovating the on-site 1820’s stone barn into a beautiful tasting room, that also host events, weddings, and of course afternoon picnickers for those on the VA Wine Trail.





























They incorporated a beautiful babbling brook, pergola¸ and plenty of covered and uncovered seating areas available for wine drinkers to enjoy a glass of their favorite Hillsboro wine. The best part their outdoor seating areas are how close you are to their grape vines, and they do encourage you to go and take an up close and personal view of them.












While waiting to start our tour with the wine maker, my wife and I enjoyed their outdoor seating area with a delicious glass of the Hillsboro 2009 Carnelian wine. This wine is made with 100% Roussanne grape. One of the many unique grapes grown at Hillsboro, you won’t almost anywhere else on the VA wine trail.

Unfortunately for us this vintage was only an ok sipping wine. It had an almost pee color, and didn’t hold up well when it got only a little bit warm. It turned bitter and reminded me of homemade dandelion wine when the heat of the day got to it. But chilled it had floral nose, and a mixed floral pear flavor. It had a medium to heavy body for a white wine, and can stand up to a variety of foods.

In the next of this series, I’m going to cover the first part of the walk in the vines; it includes several different varietals and some little known facts of Vineyard management. I hope you all are waiting with baited breath….On a parting note, does anyone else have experience with a 100% Roussanne wine???

New tasting room makes winery hidden no more…

With the last four day weekend for the foreseeable future upon us, the wife and I had some big plans for visiting VA wine country. Saturday’s highlights included a stop at a little hidden gem the wife and I have been visiting since 2008. It is run by nothing less the most personable owner and wine maker you’ll get to meet on the VA wine trail. When we heard this winery was opening a new tasting room this weekend, we sort of scratched our heads. In all the times we visited there, there had never been more than one other small group with us at the same time. The ability to taste wines right alongside the wine making process had always been highlight for us, so why were they opening a new tasting room??? Only time would tell.


After a quick stop at closer winery on the way out to Loudon County, our stomachs said it was time for lunch, and we made the right hand turn off route 9 towards Lovettsville and Hiddencroft Winery.


Once there, the changes to this winery were immediately clear. We were greeted by a larger parking lot quite a ways away from where the old tasting room used to be. Another welcome change was that it was quite full.


A beautiful crushed gravel walk way leads you through an old 1900’s barn and up to the new tasting room which is a restored farm house.




Clyde greeted us as we walked up the porch with a hardy handshake and directed us to one of three new tasting bars. Before heading straight to the good stuff (wine of course for you sickos), we thought we'd check out the rest of the new tasting house.

Upstairs featured many private rooms, which we could see coming in handy for private tasting, or for winter hours when the outside areas may not be suitable for drinking wine.












































The main tasting bars are perfect for housing intimate tasting of no more than 5 or 6.































Plus the kitchen offers them the ability to cook for some gatherings, or in the case of today have delicious hour’ deouvers for the guest, and best yet a whole separate room for settling up at the end of the day.

The outdoor patio made for a nice setting for hosting our lunch plus a few other parties, and if the patio isn’t really your style then there are picnic tables that are scattered around the outdoor area. Now that we covered the new part of the winery, let’s get back to old reliable.




The tasting consisted of ten wines three mostly dry whites (is there any other kind), four red wines (all dry), and three fruit wines. Now for the sake of not tainting anyone’s opinion, or letting my personal biases again chardonnay show too much, I’ll cover some of their better ones, even if only in my lowly opinion.


Their third wine of the tasting was their 2009 Traminette. It started off with a nice floral nose, with a lush floral taste with a light spice finish. It has a clean finish helped out with the 2.5% residual finish.


The first red of their tasting was a 2008 Chambourcin had a smoky delicious nose followed by red fruity black pepper taste mellowed out with a touch of smoke on the finish. I won’t lie, this is the one we took to our picnic, and it carried it most of the way through our evening also.


Something you won’t find on their web site but will if you find at the winery right now is their 2009 Tannat. This is the last in their red line up. This Hiddencroft Tannat has a Smoky red fruit nose, and our small sample revealed red berries smoke and some balanced tannins.


This was a great experience. We believe that the new tasting room and outdoor area will make Hiddencroft more popular and get more recognition that it rightfully deserves, and if nothing else, gives us a great place to have lunches in wine country.

Oil Tyco0n or Condiment on Hamburger?

I’m all about exposing people to wineries they don’t know about, and this year’s FLX wine tour included some places we had never been. One of those new places for us was a random stop J.R. Dill Winery .

Overall, we had a great visit at this winery. Their pourers were very entertaining, however they weren't producing the type wines my wife and I really enjoy, but they did produce some fun sipping wines that are great by themselves or with light summer fare.

After enjoying a quick evening out in VA wine country (Loundon County to be specific), the wife and I decided we were ready for easy evening drinking wine while enjoying an evening of sports and “Diners, Drivers, and Dives.” We decided to open up our bottle of Lake Glass Red.

This non-vintage blend of popular Finger Lakes red grapes has a green earthy smell. Not quite moldy, more like sniffing around the roots of a green pepper plant. The wine was a real fruit bomb. Raspberry was the predominant taste but balanced with a little green pepper, and burning sharp tannins on the back of the tongue.

This wine was not something I’d want every day but in the right situation with a juicy grilled meat, or tangy bar-b-que sauce this wine is a great compliment, or a sipping wine to top off a great evening on the start of a holiday weekend. Either way, it is fun and a signal of things to come from this winery.

Adventures in Cider

Along with my enjoyment of wines, I have been known to dabble in other drinks of the Alcoholic variety beer, whiskey, and cider to name a few. I have noticed in my travels around VA that cider makers are popping up here in there. The idea of this makes me smile. However today we are going to talk about a cider from the Finger Lakes Wine Region.


Bellewether Hard Ciders on Cayuga Lake was a break from our day of wine touring. Both the wife and I enjoy hard ciders. We started drinking cider together when we discovered a little cider place from PA. Although we quickly learned, like NY, most states treat cider more like wine then beer. With an alcoholic content between 5 & 6 percent, I view it more like beer, and wish it came more in six packs instead of 750 ml bottles.

But enough complaining about alcohol regulation and on to the cider, I generally prefer my ciders dry like I enjoy my wine. However after tasting every cider on their available tasting menu, my wife and I ended up buying Bellewether’s Liberty Spy along with another cider I’ll review when it gets opened.


Liberty Spy is actually a semi-sweet cider made from the popular Spy apple. So on a recent hot day when we were looking for something refreshing, out came this cider from the bottom of our fridge. It was just what the doctor ordered. With a little apple nose, it encourage big gulps. The flavor of good spy apple followed by mineral and acid mixed well with the small sparkling effervescence of the cider.

It is refreshing break for those hot summer days, when red wine just doesn’t work and you’re on strike from the pink stuff. Do my fellow wine drinkers also dabble in the enjoyment of Hard Ciders, or am I the odd man out?

Best in Category...."Riesling"

Fact: The Finger Lakes Wine Country prides itself in its Riesling. Walk into almost any tasting room in the FLX area and they will tell you about their Riesling(s). Whether they do it in a Dry, Semi-Dry, Sweet, or a Dessert varietal or in multiple styles, they’ll tell you why the unique micro-climate of the Finger Lakes is ideal for growing the Riesling grape.

Fact: I generally am not a fan of Riesling wines. I really haven’t placed why I’m not a fan, just something about the flavor doesn’t strike me as pleasant, refreshing or enjoyable. And the ones I do find favor in, are usually on the semi-sweet side.


So when on my recent wine trip through the FLX wine country, I went to name my best in category Riesling, it almost floored me that the winner was not a sweet or semi-sweet but a Dry Riesling.

The Hosmer winery 2009 Dry Riesling was the first clue that Hosmer was having a good vintage year at their winery. And indeed, the wife and I thoroughly enjoyed a number of their wines during out tasting. So the other night, when we decided to have a go round with the 2009 Dry Riesling by Hosmer at home, we were excited to see if it was as good as we remembered.

Straight from the bottle and a little on the chilled side, the nose was filled with vanilla and ripe banana. The medium bodied wine burst through with clean lush tropical fruits. Mango was the first one that came to mind while my tongue was balanced by the light mineral clean finish.

After the wine warmed up to room temperature, the smells and tastes only intensified with mineral finish getting stronger and stronger. Overall it was a delicious sipping wine that could be paired with a lot of lighter fare, and it's making a strong case for best in show for my FLX Wine tour 2011.

Sunset Battle of Red vs. White

Since we weren’t going outside to enjoy the sunset Saturday while Hurricane Irene was rolling through, we decided to have a sunset of our own. That’s right, some Sunset Hills Vineyard Wines. We had a dinner planned and we just couldn’t decide if it needed a red or a white to go with it. Since we had the whole night, we did both and held a little competition.


Representing white wines was the 2010 Reserve Chardonnay (not yet released).





The reds were represented by the 2009 Cab Franc (not yet released).


Each one promised to be well made; full of unique flavors, but the ultimate question was which would pair better with our dinner?

In the spirit of keeping the competition fair, we opened both bottles an hour before the meal was ready to give them a chance to open up, and we poured the glasses together. Our tasting notes came before the meal, and then we picked our winner.

Our dinner consisted of fresh made sage and rosemary pasta from Smith Meadows, an orange cream sauce with crispy prosciutto on top. On the side we had blanched green beans in a fresh tomato garlic sauce. The end result is pictured below.



The 2010 Sunset Hill Reserve Chardonnay had notes of vanilla and smelled of sugar and butter on the nose. The wine displayed good chardonnay fruit characteristics, some nice acid, and medium bodied smooth finish. You would hardly know this was done on French oak.

The 2009 Sunset Hill Cab Franc had a strong herb and green pepper nose. It was a dry yet lush wine with a tomato marinara feel in the mouth with soft tannins. For you purists it should be known that this wine contains varying amounts Petit Verdot (my personal favorite single varietal), Merlot, and Tannat. Although still young, this wine doesn’t resemble at all a typical Virginia Cab Franc. It will be interesting to see what a little time in the bottle will do for it.

Now for the real question…Drum roll please…the winner of the white vs. red wine pairing completion is…A Draw…Ironically each wine was well suited for a different part of dinner. The orange flavor and creaminess of the pasta paired very well with the Chardonnay; it even brought out more the acidic finish which added complexity to the Chardonnay. Meanwhile, the Cab Franc balanced well with the garlic tomato sauce on the green beans. It cut through the garlic on the beans and brought out more earth tones to the Cab Franc. So in the end, I guess it wasn’t much of a competition, and just an evening of enjoying good VA Wine. As a bonus, it made the time waiting out the rain of Irene go by faster.

Off to the Doctor…

We were on the road at 630 A.M. just to go see the Doctor, some people would think that having a doctor over 6 hours away from where you live is on the far side of crazy town, and for the most part I’d agree. However, in this case, I’ll make an exception.

This is my wine doctor and is arguably the best wine maker in the state of NY. Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars off Keuka Lake NY is one the best distributed wines produced in the state of NY. However, that doesn’t always translate to good wines. This however is indeed a rare gem.

Driving from the south, still 70 miles away, in the town of Mansfield is a sign on top of Hill encouraging a visit to Dr. Franks. It was the signal for my mouth to start salivating for good wine. When we finally pulled in the drive way, it was a race between my wife and me to the front door knowing what a treat we were in for.

As is par for the course at Dr. Franks, we were directed to a full tasting bar to start our tasting. Our tour guide for Dr. Franks current vintage of wines, was from down under and attending college locally. Although her accent was thick, it did not detract from the wine.

For those of you who have not wine toured in NY, it varies greatly from how wine tasting works here in VA. Although there is still usually a tasting fee involved, unlike here that doesn’t allow you to sample all the wines. It usually allows you to sample between 5 and 8 wines, and in the case of Dr. Franks, that is a good thing. Since they produce over 30 wines, to sample them all would leave you not only very happy, but also not likely to walk away. Dr. Franks tasting involves offering a choice between 2 or 3 similar wines in style or varietal and moving through 7 different choices. With my wife as my tasting partner, we sampled about 14 different wines, for you though, I’ll cover our four favorites below:



2009 Gerwurztraminer: Good fruity nose. This is followed up by a full fruit taste but the best part was the light mineral finish. We love going to Dr. Franks if nothing more than to drink is Gerwurztraminer.



2010 Muscat Ottonel: Bright summer fruit on the nose. This heavier white wine has pleasant flavors or peach to apricots, it is a little sweet for you total sweetness snobs stay away from it, although it is only 3% residual sugar.

2009 Lemberger: A little red and fruity in the nose, but then hits you with big black pepper and light tannins and light red fruit like raspberry.

2009 Merlot: A Dark fruit nose, blackberry or black raspberry with a hint of smoke, rolling into dark cherry taste with a finish leaning to burnt maple flavor. Very interesting and would have liked to have a whole glass to figure it out.

The perfect Sea Food Pinot Gris…

This summer’s family vacation found the Wife and me travelling to great cherry country of Northern Michigan. Where along with many other parts of the country, a large wine industry is emerging. This has been fueled by the decline in profitability of cherry growing and the exceeding endless demand for grapes, turning the former cherry capital of the nation into a large grape growing mecca. Our overall experience at the wineries in the old mission peninsula area of northern Michigan was very hit or miss, but one surprise was the great wines we found at Black Star farms and Winery.

Black Star farms has two locations, one on Old mission peninsula itself, and one on the western shores of west arm Grand Traverse Bay. Although they do share some of the same wines, each winery does have unique wines available only at that location, and the latter also produces a very yummy cheese on premise. It also boast a café that if we were to go back, we would stop at for lunch.
2010 Arcturos Pinot Gris is made from grapes from their seven hills vineyard on old mission peninsula, and was the perfect complement for our grilled scallops and grilled eggplant and tomato with pesto salad that the wife made. This vintage had a delightful lemon zest/lemon grass nose, although not nearly as lemon grassy as found in a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and ends with just the hint of something sweet almost vanilla sugar like. The taste came through very crisp with grapefruit flavor much like that found in a Fresca soda. It was balanced with effervescent qualities and clean finish, an important quality for my enjoyment of white wines. This Pinot gris contains .8% residual sugar, and is the perfect match to any grilled or steamed seafood dish.

Not your Mother's Bubbly

On our recent trip the Finger lakes winery country one of the highlights I was looking foward too was the chance to try a Finger lakes Pinot Noir Brute Rose. Now for those of you the do know me your probably sitting on the floor in dis-belief. I normally am not one to enjoy bubbly grape drinks no matter how good the quality and so to hear I was looking foward to trying them suprised even me.

Unfortunately the first few I tasted (not mentioning names to protect the innocent) only me a believer that no bubbly is really suited to my pilate. So when wife in I bellied up to the tasting bar at Goose Watch Winery on Cayuga lake, I waived off the offering as a palet cleanser. However, after a taste, my wife insisted I try what was left of hers. So taking a quick sip it instantly went on the to buy list walking out (full tasting review of Goose watch for another blog). Goose Watch Winery


So this past saturday, with temperatures soaring into the nineties, I put our bottle of Goose Watch Pinot Noir Brut Rose into the fridge and the wife and I headed out for a round of miniture golf. Coming back hot but victorious (sorry wife I just can't be beat) I was looking forward to my victory glass.



To my delight this dry brut rose reminded me why we bought it. Its nose had hints of strawberry and minerals but just enough to make the mouth start to salivate. The taste initially hits you as cold dry with the small delicate bubbles being just the perfect tecture. Next it gives just the right taste of sweet red fruit across the middle of your tongue before finish crisp yet smooth. A most enjoyable summer sipper no matter if it really hot or just warm and enjoyable outside. Even this usual non-bubbly drinker is made a believer.

P.S. My only regret is not having bought more....and maybe having drank it so quickly after returning from the FLX.

Playing 2nd Fiddle... Why it is important

Dinner last night was delicious! The wine pairing could not have been more perfect, and the dessert went down smoothly...ice cream usually does!!! But then it hits you, your sitting there watching a football game, it is still early in the evening and the taste for more wine hits your mouth. At this point I start looking over my collection and thinking how every wine in eye shot is goes perfectly with this dish or that dish. Or worse yet reserved for this birthday or that holiday, but with all those thoughts running threw my head, my wine tooth starts craving more and more. Am I the only one suffering with this Dilemma? Do I open a wine perfect for some other time and waste it on a Friday evening's 2nd bottle or just suffer with the urge to drink more wine?

As I sit there and grow more and more agitated, I remember the words the counselors told me in brief stent to alcohol counseling (long story for another day, no I'm not an alcoholic, the even told me so).

Serenity, Serenity, Serenity.... Only this time it is a wine New York State Wine!!!



From a Winery on the north west shore of Cayuga lake ----> Knapp winery www.knappwine.com. This table wine was the perfect answer to my Friday evening Wine Tooth.

This little red wine is currently only available in the tasting room, although it should be back online shortly. This a NV wine great for an evening of enjoying. At first wiff, I didn't recognize it even though I had just been to the tasting room and tasted it the weekend prior.

Its nose was very fruity like black raspberries with just a hint of all spice at the end. The imparted a white black pepper taste on the tip of the tongue before becoming a big red fruit bomb threw the middle. The wine was balanced by light but structured tannin that slid down the slides of the tongue. The finish was a big of a lit down as there was much of one.

Overall the wine was just what the doctor ordered to watch Baltimore finish off the KC Chiefs during the preseason. It wasn't special but filled the gap without making me feel like I had wasted a great wine on a quiet evening a home.

On a side note, if you plan on visiting the FLX wine region soon and might visit Knapp, be prepared. The have literally dozens of wines to choose from. Each tasting allows you to try seven of them. My personal favorites from this winery was their home made Grappa. They then use this to make some of the most authentic Lemoncello I have had since I left Italy. The also make an equally tasty limecello although not nearly as authentic.

Welcome to my journey into Wine Blogging

Hello, and welcome to my new venture into wine blogging. Although my experience and references don't speak to a great knowledge of wine, from reading a lot wine bloggers say I don't really need it. I have been drinking wine from all over the world for better than 15 years now. Starting at the ripe young age of 18 with an immersion into Italian wines while living in Italy to my now complete infatuation with VA Red wines that started three years ago, I have had wide variety of wine go down my throat.



I think for readers it is best to describe what I like in wine, that way you'll know if you and I are similar or different in our likes of wine. First and foremost, I prefer big red wines. Ones with a little fruit, good complexity and just enough tannins to let me know they are there.

For pale reds (known as by many as roses) I'm definitely of the dry rose family of wine lovers. I want good red fruit smells like strawberry followed by a complex blend of mineral and fruit before finishing crisp and cleans. My guilty please for rose is white merlot, the sweeter the better. Don't ask me why, I can't explain it myself.

For whites, my taste vary. The only thing I can say for sure is that if you like California chardonnay, keep stepping you won't like my reviews of wine. Aside from that, hope you enjoy my reviews. I have recently took a trip to FLX wine region so I'll probably start there, but with more than four cases of wine at my house now, well I probably won't be there solely.