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.

Route 9 Barrel tasting Loudon Valley Vineyard

The third stop on our route nine barrel tasting was a place that has branched out into the world of food. By day, it is a bustling little winery. By night, at least on the weekends, it is a mysterious and exotic tapa restaurant. Additionally, it offers warm soup and baguettes on the weekend for anyone who is hungry after a hard day on the Loudon county wine trail. For those of you who haven’t guessed yet, our third stop was Loudon Valley Vineyards winery with our host and wine maker Bree Moore. We first heard of Bree on a trip to Unicorn winery back in 2007 where she used to be the winemaker and last time we checked still does the wine consulting with.

We started by going to their standard tasting upstairs while waiting for the next trip to the barrel room tasting. The highlights of the standard tasting were the Vinifera white, 2008 Cab Franc, and the 2008 Syrah. However before we could finish Bree came up from the spiral stair case ready for the next group to taste the treats she had in barrels below.

We started off with a Pinot Grigio, It came out a bit cloudy and for me, well, it had a funky smell. However, having been to a barrel tasting or two, I knew not to judge a wine by its color or nose, unfortunately the funky nose carried over into the wine. I thought it might be just me, but when others went for the dump bucket, or tried to give it to their tasting partner and were turned down, I knew that it might be the wine.

Next up was the next vintage of Route 9 Red, a chambourcin wine. It again had an insignificant nose, but at least it did have some fruit on the pallet but the tannins over powered the flavor. I guess once this is in bottle and has some time settle it could be better, but it will take a tasting to determine if that is the case.

Last on the barrel tasting adventure was something we were excited for. It was the next vintage of her Syrah. It is one of the wines we like the best from Loudon valley. This was different from our previous experiences in the barrel room. This wine displayed great fruit and earthiness on the nose. It followed by a well balance wine with light tannins and soft earth fruit pallet with a lingering finish, just what we would want from a good Syrah.

Our experience at this stop in the barrel tasting was less than stellar, but the standard tasting was pleasant and well, we needed a small break from our barrel tasting adventures. So after getting our friends up, it was time to head off to our last stop on our Route 9 Barrel Tasting adventure.

Route 9 Barrel Tasting Hillsboro Winery

We started our route 9 Barrel tasting at Hillsborough winery. We are familiar with Kerem Baki, the wine maker at Hillsborough, from an event we did with him last year when he gave a tour through his vineyards. I did a small series of blogs based on that event that I encourage you to review, it was the in the vine series of blogs and the first one can be read here here. During this event, we got to sample fresh grapes before harvest from all over his 36 acres of vines. We were very excited to try wine that was still in the barrel. Upon arriving, our friends made their way to the regular tasting bar for their current vintage tasting, while we were directed down to their production facility. It was a small bar about 100 yards from their tasting room. We had seen it several times out the window from their tasting room and never knew the number of barrels that were stored down there.

Upon walking in, we were surprised by the large group of people already well into their barrel tasting. The room was stacked ceiling to floor with barrels from different grapes, years, and of course blends. In the back left corner were three barrels with labels on them describing the wine within, a table with crackers and a sign in sheet, and of course drain grates for any wine you didn't enjoy.

We opened with a 2011 single varietal chardonnay done not in traditional oak but in Acucia wood barrel. It keeps the fruit as the key flavor and takes away the buttery taste that happens with California chardonnays. We found this quite young still and needing a little more time in the barrel, but showed great promise.

From there we moved on to his 2010 Cab Sav. This too was quite young. It was still quite acidic and needed time to mellow and develop, but with several more months on the barrel it should be delicious.

The last on the scheduled tasting was the 2010 Petite Verdot. We are kind of home bodies for Petite Verdot. I always lobby that Virginia needs to change its signature grape from Viognier to Petite Verdot, but unfortunately my voice is small in the grand sea of Virginia wineries. This wine was great as it was. It was well balanced with equal parts fruit and oak. I was ready to buy futures of it right there, unfortunately they were not being offered so I instead just made this sample last as long as I could while Kerem answered more questions on the 2011 vintage, growing grapes, the starting of the winery, and of course what was in the rest of the barrels surrounding us.

Kerem knew he had a group of red wine lovers with him and he took advantage to let us try his 2010 Tannat. It showed very well, but more was the love that Kerem showed in telling why it does so well in Virginia and the pain staking care it takes to grow. Tannat is one of the last grapes he harvests so although October was very wet this year, Tannat still did quite well because it hung on the vine well into November.

Lastly, Kerem climbed high into his barrels to allow us to try his 2011 Fer Servadou. It is a lesser known grape from France that is only grown in three vineyards in the U.S. in which Hillsborough is the largest one. It was a bit pasty for me for some reason, but I know the end product will be quite delicious when blended bottled in the final product.

After finishing off our last sample and thanking Kerem for his time, my wife and I headed back to the tasting room to collect our friends. It was at that time I realized that this event wasn’t going to be for the faint of heart, and why I was glad they had extended it over two days. This many wineries in one day would not be an advisable undertaking, unless of course you have a limo. The walk back to the tasting room was all up hill and gave me a chance to enjoy the scenery surrounding Hillsborough winery.

Route 9 Barrel Tasting: 8 Chains North

By popular demand, I’m not following the chronological order of my recent visits during the Route 9 Barrel tasting event hosted in Loudon Country Virginia. Instead, I’ll be sharing our experience at 8 Chains North Winery first. This was our second stop on our tour of the day. In our group was my wife and two of her girlfriends. My wife and I were the only ones actually doing the barrel tasting on that day. Her girlfriends had never been to any of the Loudon County wineries so while we were enjoying tasting future releases, they were soaking up the current vintage releases.

We arrived to find cars parked on both sides of the small parking lot at the front of 8 Chains. Not surprising, they had two tasting bars up and running and there was a good crowd at each.

After checking with the Ben’s Fiancée behind the main tasting bar, we found out Ben had a group in the back and that we had enough time to do a regular tasting with our friends before the next barrel tasting would start.

Well, I guess she twisted our arm’s into it, but today’s run down consisted of their 2009 Sauvignon Blanc done in the fume style which for those your who don’t know means fermented on the leafs. Predictably I noticed a green flower smell on the nose, and had very green flavor. I thought it was a bit cold and that was hurting its flavor as I didn’t find it appealing at all. In past visits I had like this wine much better. From there we moved on to the 2010 Loco Vino. A semi-dry blend of Traminette and Vidal Blanc, this wine has a .05% of residual sugar. That is slightly less than the previous year’s vintage which allowed more of the spiciness of the Traminette comes through on the palette. This a popular seller in the summer and good patio wine year round. From there we moved on to the 2008 Merlot. This had a very delicious bouquet of red fruit and smoky essence. Although it tasted only o.k. the nose was a sign that this could get better as it gets another year of two in the bottle. After the merlot we moved on to a wine that is from another winery that Ben is the vineyard manager for in Loundon County, Otium Cellars. This was the 2009 vintage of their Dornfelder. Please feel free to follow this link, to find out all you care about the Dornfelder grape. We all agreed this was a unique wine for the Virginia region, and great day-to-day drinking wine that can be paired with food but doesn’t require it. From there we moved on to the 2009 Furnace Mountain Red. Unfortunately it was at that point that it was time to go back to the cellar and start our cellar tasting so after quickly downing the sample without enjoying it, we were off to the cellar.

For those of you who have never done a cellar tasting, what you taste out of the barrel is usually not what you’ll taste when it has been bottled. Being young the tannins and acidity levels usually haven’t had time to balance out so one or the other is usually very much present. However, what you do get is a chance to catch aromas and tastes you never get in the finished product as they ousted through the continued fermentation and aging product. The real value of these cellar tastings, at least for me, is the time you get to spend with the wine maker. I have done one other barrel tasting with Ben and knew what an engaging and open person he is. He’ll give you great answers to any questions and won’t hold anything back about the wine making process, wine industry, grape growing, and of course his personal expertise, vineyard management.

After greeting us and taking us back into his barrel room and production facility, Ben began our barrel tasting with his '11 Sauvignon Blanc. He explained how this would be the last year in which he does not use grapes that he personally manages as the basis for his wine. The vineyard he has planted behind his tasting room will be ready for their first harvest next year, although he will be keeping the yields lower than the final production because it will be their first vintage. He currently gets his grapes from Delfosse Vineyards south of Charlottesville, VA. The wine displayed the citrus characteristics you would expect although was still quite acidic. As mention earlier, he does in the fume style by fermenting them on the leaves which makes it very different the New Zealand style Sav Blancs that have gained much popularity in recent years in the U.S.

From there we moved on to a new wine that will be released by 8 Chains, it will be single varietal Chardonnay. An interesting story upon how he came upon getting chardonnay to make this varietal out of, but I’ll save that for when he does his release. For me, there were hints of fruit and vanilla on the nose, displaying a little heavier pallet with fruit and oak ever prevalent. It was just about as much oak as I like for an oaked Chardonnay and commented as much. Ben said he was a little concerned about that also as it will continue to age until May. While finishing our taste of chardonnay Ben answered questions on crop damage due to stink bugs and other nasty bug critters that rob what would otherwise be a great glass of wine for you. The key take away from that discussion was that through trial and error Ben learned that stink bugs are not alcohol soluble so as long as you are diligent of taking them out of your vats and barrels they don’t harm the taste of the wine as other insects can.

After Chardonnay, it was time to move back over into the barrel room and start in the two reds Ben was prepared to let us sample. The first red was the '10 Merlot which has been almost a year in barrel already and only has a couple more months before being ready to bottle. My first wiff of this wine came with a smell of toasted marshmallow with cherry fruit hints. Salted caramel was another popular smell from the group along with other toasted marshmallows. Ben took a sample and after giving it a swirl, agreed that was in the nose. It is strange that caramelized sugars would appear on the nose like that, but I guess that could be a byproduct of the warm fermentation process. This was a delicious wine in almost perfect balance of fruit, weight, and tannin. It was ready for bottling right now in my opinion. To go with this sample, our group asked questions on corks, natural vs synthetic, screw tops and how they will change the wine making processes, and a little on the use of glass corks. It was very insightful on how what type corks you will use needs to be thought about at the very beginning of the wine making process to ensure you get the consistent balance wine you are looking for in the bottle.

Next up was the 2010 Petite Verdot. PV is one of our personal favorite varietals, and a common wine tasted on the Route 9 Barrel tasting. Ben’s was very good, full bodied and left us excited for its release later this year. This initiated a conversation of Viognier being selected as the official wine of Virginia. Although Ben was not against the selection due to the great climate Virginia has for growing Viognier, but Ben commented on how he thought single varietal Petite Verdots would become more common across wineries throughout Virginia.

From there Ben was going to allow us to taste the 2011 Petite Verdot so we could compare what year of aging will do for a wine. Since our conversation had went toward emerging wines in Virginia he instead decided to share his Malbec with us as he believed Virginia was well suited to make some outstanding Malbec wines. In time Virginia might gain some notoriety for the Malbec wines produced here. His Malbec was silky smooth and delicious. It made us talk about becoming wine club members as Ben said this will only be released to his wine club members. Hopefully, if their feedback is positive it will one day be a staple in Ben’s tasting room.

That was the end of the barrel tasting, but as a gracious host Ben continued to talk to the group for about another 10 minutes. It was really enjoyable to talk to someone who is so passionate about not only wine production, but vineyard management, and the local wine industry as a whole. I predict more good things will come from 8 Chains over the course of the next few years.