We had a last minute whim to go out to Loudoun county today. We had a wine pick-up to make at 8 Chains North, and we heard Padawan Pumpkin was on tap at Corcoran Brewery (spoiler alert, it wasn't). But, after a glass of wine, and a glass of beer we headed out on Harpers Ferry Road to try a new-to-us winery Cardamon Family Winery. I know, big surprise that isn't the winery in the title, and I promise our visit to Cardamon Family Winery is a blog for another day, but while enjoying a tasting and salsa there, the wine maker and owner Chuck told us his neighbor was having his grand opening today, and that if we had time we should visit Maggie Malick Wine Caves.
So after our tasting we took the right and headed north until we saw the open flags waving, and the sign saying last tasting starts at 4:45 PM. We found out later they plan on being open later, but they had an event to attend that night so were closing at 5 P.M. sharp that night. No worries for us as we got there by 3:45...1 hour early!
The current tasting room (pictured above), I learned from the owners Mark and Maggie, was originally built to be a storage facility that is a kit made in the ground building that reminded me of an old school weapons bunker I have come across during my Air Force career. Once inside though, you're greeted by a well laid out, ecologically friendly facility for making, storing, and more importantly serving their wines.
Since it was their first day, they featured all their wines, five whites and six reds. The husband and wife duo first planted in 2001 with Viognier, and expanded in 2009 to 20 acres and 10 varietals, with plenty of room to grow, which they fully plan on doing. Since most of their vines went in in 2009, all of their wines are from 2011 which was their first usable harvest.
As many of you know, 2011 in Virginia was very challenging year for grape growers and wine makers alike. With this in mind, my wife and I had tempered expectations of the wine we were about to taste, as we do with all 2011 wines we come across from Virginia. To our surprise Maggie, the wine maker, demonstrated her talent in wine making by having a line up of solid 2011's that were all on the lighter side, with good structure, and solid acid. Maggie uses primarily French and Hungarian oak for her barrel aged wines.
With eleven wines on the menu today, as pictured below, I won't go wine by wine through our tasting, however I will hit the highlights. There was one blend the Melange Blanc (Chardonay and Petite Manseng). The others are all varietal wines, but Maggie informed us most included some blending of other varietals to account for the less than stellar growing year. The Melange Rouge is a varietal wine of Grenache Tinto, a lesser known Spanish grape, that tastes greatly different depending on whether it is served chilled or at cellar temperature but both very interesting. Our favorites included the Petite Manseng, Merlot and the Melange Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat which came home with us as bottles.
Next time you're out in western Loudoun county and looking to try something new, I'd recommend visiting Mark and Maggie at Maggie Malick Wine Caves. They are picnic and animal friendly. They have a great seating area with views of rolling hills, ponds, and even some mountain views. Mark and Maggie are very friendly, passionate about what they are doing, and will gladly take the time to discuss there future plans for their winery and don't forget to mention you heard about them from me.
So after our tasting we took the right and headed north until we saw the open flags waving, and the sign saying last tasting starts at 4:45 PM. We found out later they plan on being open later, but they had an event to attend that night so were closing at 5 P.M. sharp that night. No worries for us as we got there by 3:45...1 hour early!
The current tasting room (pictured above), I learned from the owners Mark and Maggie, was originally built to be a storage facility that is a kit made in the ground building that reminded me of an old school weapons bunker I have come across during my Air Force career. Once inside though, you're greeted by a well laid out, ecologically friendly facility for making, storing, and more importantly serving their wines.
Since it was their first day, they featured all their wines, five whites and six reds. The husband and wife duo first planted in 2001 with Viognier, and expanded in 2009 to 20 acres and 10 varietals, with plenty of room to grow, which they fully plan on doing. Since most of their vines went in in 2009, all of their wines are from 2011 which was their first usable harvest.
With eleven wines on the menu today, as pictured below, I won't go wine by wine through our tasting, however I will hit the highlights. There was one blend the Melange Blanc (Chardonay and Petite Manseng). The others are all varietal wines, but Maggie informed us most included some blending of other varietals to account for the less than stellar growing year. The Melange Rouge is a varietal wine of Grenache Tinto, a lesser known Spanish grape, that tastes greatly different depending on whether it is served chilled or at cellar temperature but both very interesting. Our favorites included the Petite Manseng, Merlot and the Melange Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat which came home with us as bottles.
Next time you're out in western Loudoun county and looking to try something new, I'd recommend visiting Mark and Maggie at Maggie Malick Wine Caves. They are picnic and animal friendly. They have a great seating area with views of rolling hills, ponds, and even some mountain views. Mark and Maggie are very friendly, passionate about what they are doing, and will gladly take the time to discuss there future plans for their winery and don't forget to mention you heard about them from me.
