Thirsty Thursday - Gadino Cellars Sunset
August 28, 2008Gadino Cellars in Washington, Virginia includes in their wines a white table wine they call Sunset. it is a Traminette based blend with 12.1% alcohol by volume and sells for $15 a bottle. Gadino uses grapes mostly from their estate in making the Sunset, but does use some from other parts of Virginia. It is a 100% Virginia wine.
The appearance of the wine is very clear. It has a dark lemon color with hints of gold. There is a tart citrus smell that is very clean, and maybe a bit vegetal. No one scent overpowers another and all are pleasant. The taste does not disappoint. At first there is a citrus-grapefruit flavor that transitions to peach and then to honeydew. It was hard to put a finger on the honeydew taste. I admit I had to pull out the tasting notes from the winery because I just couldn't place that flavor. There is a slight tartness that was almost green apple, but honeydew is really how the wine finishes. It has medium acid with medium body and long length.
The balance of flavors in this wine taste as though there is some sweetness to it, but it is actually a very fruit forward dry white wine. And the name Sunset is perfect. This wine is easy drinking and great for a summer picnic or for watching the sun set before dinner during a cheese or salad course. In fact, that is exactly what Gadino has planned for this Saturday. Join them on their deck for Sunset in the Vineyard this Saturday, August 30, as they highlight Sunset and all of their wines while saying farewell to Summer. Music will be provided by Robbie Limon and the tasting room will remain open until 9 pm for this event.
NEXT WEEK: Loews Vineyard's Harvest Gold. Please pick up a bottle, try it with me, and add your thoughts to the comment section after next week's post. Loew's Vineyards wine is sold in 30-40 stores in Maryland but unfortunately is not sold in Virginia at this time. You can purchase Harvest Gold at Frederick Wine House, Frederick Maryland, many Montgomery County, Maryland liquor stores, Total Discount Liquors in Carroll County, Maryland, and The Wine Source, in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Wine and Movie Event TOMORROW with Washington Wine Academy
August 25, 2008Join the Washington Wine Academy (and me) for a wine and cheese tasting and then a viewing of the hot new wine movie Bottle Shock, tomorrow, Tuesday August 26, 2008 at 8 pm.
Based on a true story, 'Bottle Shock' chronicles the events leading up to the famous 'Judgment of Paris' tastings, told through the lives of father and son, Jim and Bo Barrett. A former real estate attorney, Jim (Bill Pullman) sacrificed everything to realize his dream of creating the perfect hand-crafted chardonnay. His business, however, is struggling, and he's not only trying to overcome differences with his slacker son (Chris Pine), but is also fighting off the creditors.
Meanwhile in Paris, unwitting British wine shop owner Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) hopes to revive his own failing business by sponsoring a competition which will pit the traditional French powerhouse against the California upstarts. Little did Steven and Jim realize that they were both on course to change the history of wine forever.
Tickets must be purchased in advance and are limited. For event details and to purchase tickets please visit the Washington Wine Academy's website event page. See you there!
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The Wine Harvest, Gaithersburg, Maryland
August 22, 2008I have decided to drop in on wine shops I come across just to see who carries Maryland and Virginia wine. I visited The Wine Harvest in the Kentlands area of Gaithersburg last night for this very thing. I spoke with the owner who was very friendly and helpful. I noticed an assortment of wines from Linganore Winecellars, but no others. I asked the owner if he carries any other local wines and he said that he has from time to time, but that now he only keeps Linganore in stock. Why? He indicated that his customers are not interested in Maryland wines because.....they are too expensive. I was surprised. Usually the complaint is that Maryland wine isn't very good, at least as it compares to drinkable inexpensive bulk produced stuff from California and other wine producing regions of the world. But too expensive usually isn't the complaint I hear. It was good information to consider.
This is definitely not a criticism of The Wine Harvest. Their selection, aside from local stuff, is awesome and runs the full spectrum from inexpensive drink it all down in a sitting, to really nice wines to give as gifts or to enjoy with a decadent meal. There is a bar inside where wine can be enjoyed as well as a small patio out front with tables and chairs for when the weather is perfect like it was last night. Definately a great neighborhood spot for good wines.
The moral of the story? If you want to drink local wine you need to get out there and ask for it. Like any other business, wine shops operate based on supply and demand. If there is a local wine you want your shop to carry, you need to ask for it!
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Thirsty Thursday - Deep Creek Cellars Watershed Red
August 21, 2008I have decided to add a new feature to my blog. Each Thursday will be "Thirsty Thursday" where I will feature a local wine that I have tasted and my thoughts on the wine. I will also preview the wine that I will be tasting for the following Thirsty Thursday so that you can try it out yourself during the week and compare your thoughts to mine.
For this first Thirsty Thursday I have chosen Deep Creek Cellars Watershed Red, purchased at Frederick Wine House for $14.99. I read a blog about this wine on another website where the blogger tore it apart. I have long been a big fan of the wines from Deep Creek Cellars, especially the reds, so I was surprised to see one of their wines get such a bad review. I decided to take matters into my own hands and give it a try.
The 2006 Watershed Red Reserve is a blend comprised of 94% Cabernet Franc, 4% Norton, and 2% Petite Verdot, resulting in a red wine with 13.6% alcohol by volume. It is made from grapes from both Maryland and Virginia. If you have been following along with my previous blogs, you know that I LOVE Cabernet Franc, so I had high hopes for this blend.
When I first poured the wine into my glass it seemed a bit dull. There were visable, but undiscernible particles in the wine. It was not bits of cork as the bottle was sealed with a synthetic cork. I don't know if it was dust or sediment or what. The appearance had a deep intensity and was a dark garnet to almost purple color.
The nose smelled clean with medium to pronounced intensity, but immediately the alcohol was obvious. After letting the wine open up a bit there were other characteristics of spice, earth, and black cherry. Unfortunately the unwanted alcohol smell masked most of the desirable aromas.
The taste? Alcohol, alcohol, alcohol. It was very high acid with in your face alcohol and at the first sip my whole face contorted in reaction to the bitter taste. My mouth and eyes puckered almost immediately. The wine was dry with medium tannins and medium body. The bitterness was so strong that it overpowered the fruit and the wine tasted almost medicinal. I pushed the glass away, swirled it, let it sit, and then came back to it after giving it plenty of opportunity to open up in the glass. It was somewhat better at second taste, but I still was unable to identify any particular flavor characteristics other than alcohol. This is a wine that MUST be decanted and MIGHT improve when served with food, but with Deep Creek having so many other good reds, I would recommend skipping it entirely.
NEXT THIRSTY THURSDAY: Sunset from Gadino Cellars in Washington, Virginia. This is a white table wine that will be featured at their upcoming event Sunset in the Vineyard on Saturday, August 30th. Get a preview of the wine next Thursday and mark your calendar for this great event to mark the end of Summer!
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Keswick Vineyards - An Absolutely Delightful Experience
August 20, 2008Finally, on my recent wine trip, our group rounded out the day with a private tasting at Keswick Vineyards. If you make arrangements ahead of time, Keswick will set up a private tasting for your group in their barrel room for $15 a person. This tasting includes both the regular and select wines that they pour in the tasting room, but with privacy and a dedicated pourer to explain the wines and the estate. Otherwise, in the tasting room you can pay $5 to taste 5 wines, or $8 to taste the regular pours as well as 3 select wines.
Keswick has a new release Viognier that is excellent. The varietal’s fruit flavors are expressive with notes of pineapple and apricot in this excellent dry white wine. The Chardonnay has nice citrus fruit as well, but is a bit heavy on the oak. Both are gold medal winners from the 2008 Virginia State Fair. For the second time on this trip I was wowed by a Merlot. It was silky and smooth with medium body and smooth tannins. Probably the best surprise, however, was the Touriga which is blended with 12% Cabernet Sauvignon. A very drinkable and enjoyable red that had wonderful aromas of fruit and tasted like it belonged with a chocolate covered strawberry. So to test that theory, we bought a bottle and drank it with chocolate covered strawberries. It was delightful. And this is not a sweet wine, just has such great fruit flavors that they paired well. This wine won both Best of Class and a gold medal at the 2008 Atlantic Seaboard competition.
What is great about Keswick is that there isn’t a bad wine in the bunch. Some are better than others, but this is largely attributable to personal taste. Additionally, the staff is extremely friendly and accommodating. The grounds are beautiful and there are plenty of picnic table locations for dragging out the cooler or picnic baskets to enjoy a sunny day. Keswick is an all around great wine experience and I cannot say enough good things about it.
On a non-wine related note, our group stayed at the Charlottesville Omni for the weekend. This is the second time I have stayed at this hotel and I recommend it highly. The staff are pleasant and accommodating, the hotel clean, and the employees make great restaurant and bar suggestions for a night out on the town. When in town definitely check them out.
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Barboursville Vineyards - Great Wines, Disappointing Tasting Process
August 18, 2008After Jefferson we were off to Barboursville Vineyards, Barboursville, Virginia. This winery is located approximately 30 minutes from Charlottesville and, like Jefferson Vineyards, has a history involving Thomas Jefferson. Unfortunately, Barboursville seems to place more focus on its many other endeavors as opposed to a smooth tasting room experience. The Barboursville property includes the Estate and ruins, an Inn, and a restaurant as well as the tasting room. All of these attractions make the place crowded to say the least. For $4 you are able to taste 17 wines (the employee taking your tasting fee says it’s 18 but who’s counting) and take home a souvenir glass – IF you can beat your way up to the wine pourers.
The tasting process is set up in 3 stages along a bar that runs the width of the fairly substantial tasting room. Behind the bar is a pourer in each of the three sections. The first pourer is responsible for the first 6 wines which include their white wines and the one rosé, then on to most of the reds, then finally you will finish with their flagship reds and the dessert wines. Because of the crowds and the set up, it is nearly impossible to taste with the other people in your group unless your group is very small. The pourers encourage you to come up, have your taste poured, and then step back so others may do the same. This almost completely eliminates the opportunity to discuss the winery, the characteristics of the wine, or gain any other helpful information from the employees. This is because there is a constant grouping of people between you and the pourers unless it is your turn to grab a taste and then melt back into the crowd. The employees are seemingly unable to keep track of which wine they just poured for you, so you must follow along on your tasting sheet so you can remind them what you need next. Good luck if you aren’t extremely familiar with what you are tasting because there will not be an educated person to take you through this process – you are pretty much on your own. This may be different during the week when things are less busy, but this seems to be the standard weekend process. It is too bad that the experience is what it is because the wines are very good.
A great taste at a good value is the 2007 Sauvignon Blanc. It has the crisp green fruit and acidity that one would expect in a Sauvignon Blanc and is easy drinking. For $12.99 it is worth the purchase price and makes for a great accompaniment to a summer seafood dinner. The Pinot Grigio did not have much to it, but Barboursville claims that it outsells their other wines by several thousand cases. It had light fruit and not much flavor. In fact, lack of flavor tended to be a problem for the Chardonnays as well. The Riesling was pleasantly surprising, drier than most, with a smooth floral taste.
The red wines are really where Barboursville shines. They poured a great Sangiovese Reserve that calls out for pasta or chicken dinner. It had great red fruit and was smooth. The 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon smelled instantly like chocolate and was good but tasted young. It will likely develop well with some age. But the Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve of the same vintage was jaw dropping. Aromas of smoky tobacco and black fruit led to a big, velvety, delicious taste. It begged for a thick juicy steak dinner. Unfortunately, it’s price was a bit jaw dropping as well for a Virginia wine at $34.99 a bottle. I decided to make the investment and see how it does after some bottle age. The Nebbiolo Reserve was like biting into a juicy blackberry, but without any sugary sweetness that would be associated with an off-dry wine. It was a dry red, but with fun fruit flavor.
Disappointing was the Cabernet Franc Reserve and the 2005 Octagon. The Franc’s tannins completely overpowered the fruit. It was pucker city with no fruit taste. The Octagon is considered Barboursville’s premier wine. It is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot aged 15 months in new French barriques. (A barrique is a vessel in which wine is aged, but it is often smaller than a typical oak barrel and so the wine gets more direct contact with the oak.) This wine continues to be thinner in body than I expect, but has definitely improved with age. The last time that I was at Barboursville was approximately a year and a half ago and they were tasting this same vintage of the Octagon – they only produce it in the best years. Then it was a bitter disappointment. Improvement from aging is obvious in this wine and in a couple of years it will likely be excellent. But for the Octagon to live up to its reputation, for the average wine drinker anyway, the winery might consider not pouring it for tastings until it is closer to ready.
Overall, the Barboursville wines are very enjoyable, but the tasting room ordeal frustrating. Those in our group who were not true wine junkies were frustrated after the whites and waited outside for the rest of us. This is doubtful the experience that the winery is hoping their consumers will have.
COMING SOON: Keswick Vineyards and a plug for Charlottesville’s Omni Hotel.
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Back to Charlottesville and Jefferson Vineyards
August 15, 2008If it seems like Charlottesville, VA is a draw for me, well, you are right. The wineries in that area continue to impress, so I thought I would try to make a few addicts out of other people I know by bringing them into my wine lair. They traveled from Rhode Island, North Carolina, Maryland, and even California for this wine tour! It being my sister’s bachelorette weekend had nothing to do with it – they certainly traveled all that way for me and my wine recommendations! Ok, back to reality.
My sister was looking for a laid back bachelorette outing, so we rented a limo bus to take us on a 3 winery tour, a 3 winery tour. Thankfully Mike, of Camryn Limos, was a better navigator that either Gilligan or The Skipper and so we made it through the day relatively unscathed (minor motion sickness on some of the back roads made things rocky for a bit) and enjoyed wines from some of the best Charlottesville has to offer.
First stop: Jefferson Vineyards located between Monticello and Ash-Lawn in Charlottesville. The property is gorgeous and is part of the farm on which Thomas Jefferson himself once tried to grow grapes for winemaking. About half of their grapes are estate grown, but all are from Virginia. For $5 you are able to taste 11 wines and take home a souvenir glass. The wines consist of 3 dry whites, 1 rosé, 5 dry reds, a semi-dry white, and a dessert wine. All of the wines were pleasant, but some stood out more than others.
The 2007 Viognier was excellent – great citrus and peach nose with a touch of honey. The taste was powerful with great fruit flavor. The 2007 Chardonnay Reserve was also enjoyable. The oak didn’t dominate the fruit thanks to aging in a combination of both French and neutral oak for balance. Noteworthy reds included the Cabernet Franc and surprisingly, for me, the Merlot. I love Cabernet Franc and rarely meet one I don’t like, so it’s no surprise that I found theirs to have a perfect balance of smoke, meat aromas and earth at first smell and great flavor without much tannins when tasted. But what really surprised me was the Merlot. The tannins were well rounded – not overpowering at all, and excellent red fruit flavor.
The 2006 Petit Verdot was probably the best red at Jefferson for its big flavor, body, and complexity. However, I personally, don’t care for Petit Verdot as a stand alone grape varietal. I like it blended, as in typical Bordeaux blends, but Jefferson pulls it off with style. The sweeter wines were standard fare, but the Late Harvest Vidal Blanc dessert wine tasted exactly like McDonald’s sweet and sour sauce. Odd, but usually when I think dessert wine I don’t want to think chicken nuggets.
Overall our experience at Jefferson was a good one. Eric was the employee that poured for us and he was personable, knowledgeable, and patient with our group. My main criticism of Jefferson was that they serve their white wine samples entirely too cold. The true flavor is masked by the chill and I found myself cradling the glass in my hands to warm each taste up a bit. The flavors before and after the warming were completely different and, in each case, improved by the slight warming of the pour.
Preview of things to come: Barboursville Vineyards and the highlight of the trip, Keswick Vineyards.
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August Washingtonian Highlights Two Maryland Wineries
August 12, 2008Good Maryland Wine? That is the question that is answered and the title of an article in this month's Washintonian Magazine. The article highlights two Maryland wineries - Black Ankle in Mt. Airy and Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, the only Montgomery County winery. Black Ankle is brand spankin' new and hopes to open by the end of August 2008. According to the article, the owners of Black Ankle planted their first vines in 2003. Sugarloaf has been around a bit longer with vines planted in 2002, and has been selling their bottled product for a few years already. Both are touted as changing the face of Maryland wine production and setting a higher standard for other local wineries. Hopefully with press like this for new high quality Maryland wineries Maryland can start competing with and complimenting it's sister state to the south. Check out the article for more details and get your wine trail plans in order for a fall Frederick area wine tour.
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The Purple Tooth Wine Bar
August 7, 2008Last weekend I was in Annapolis, Maryland for a bachelorette party that started the evening at The Purple Tooth Wine Bar. What a fantastic name for a wine bar - have you ever looked in the mirror after a night of drinking red wine and gasped in horror at the purple stains on your teeth? No? Nevermind...
The Purple Tooth is on West Street, toward the top of historic downtown Annapolis. It is about a 10 minute walk to the harbor, but not close enough that you have views of the water. The decor of the place was very inviting. Bright but cozy walls, light tan weaved chairs, and dark wood tables. A very cool spiral staircase to nowhere dead ends in the ceiling and is simply decoration as you walk in the front door. Racks of bottles along the walls make it clear that wine is their main focus in case you still have doubts when you arrive. But the bar also serves cheese, charcuterie, and wine to go.
We had a fairly large group - 13 - but the wine bar does accept reservations in advance and was ready for us when we arrived. We were assigned two of their waitstaff and one of the ladies in our party ordered bottles for the table. Also mysteriously ordered were cheese trays for either end of the table. So far so good. But the rest of the experience was a blur, and not because of over indulging.
I was asked if I wanted red or white, I chose red. I was given a red wine glass, but that was the end of the communication between myself and the server. I was poured a glass of red. A glimpse at the label told me it was Shiraz, but then the bottle was whisked away. Apparently Pinot Noir was being poured at the other end of the table, but I was never given an option to choose between the two. A few minutes later the cheese board came out. Brie was obvious to everyone as was the date, almonds, slices of baguette and small container of honey. But the other cheese were anyone's guess. I think one was manchego, one a varation of blue, and one possibly smoked gouda, but we were left to speculate over the next 20 minutes or so. There was never any attempt to tell us what the various cheeses were. Not only that, we had drained the bottles of wine initially ordered since there were so many of us and no one ever came back to see if we would like to order any additional wine. There were a few interesting looking ones on the menu that I would have ordered a taste of - specifically the Spanish Verdejo - but I couldn't find a server once the initial items were dropped off at the table.
Finally we decided to simply move on to the restaurant where we were having dinner that evening. It took some effort, but we eventually managed to track someone down to give us the check. The prices were reasonable, but the service disappointing. For now I am chalking it up to the fact that we were a large group and the waitstaff had no idea that anyone in the group might have a real interest in wine other than to get the party started with a bang. But I am very disappointed that they may have made that assumption. If ever in Annapolis again I would give it another try, but I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to stop in given the numerous wine bars in the DC area that are out there waiting for me.
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Wine Weekend in Charlottesville - Part 3
August 4, 2008Finally, on our recent Charlottesville wine trip we finished at Kluge Estate Winery, Charlottesville, VA. Kluge boasts hundreds of acres of vineyards and has multiple locations for events of all types including large weddings. The grounds are beautiful and invite staying and sipping for the afternoon. The tasting room is extremely large, but oddly arranged. The bulk of the main tasting room is coolers for the prepared foods and extensive cheese selection from which you can purchase. Behind that are some tables with chairs. The walls are lined with their wine inventory. But the only place for actual tastings is at a bar in a small alcove off to the right that can accommodate up to 10 people. They have one pourer at a time and do the tastings by shift. You pay $10 up front, wait for the group before you to finish, and then go into that room with the next grouping of approximately 10. If there are many people in front of you waiting there is no telling how long you will have to loiter before getting a shot at the wines. After all of that you only get to try 6 wines, one of which is sparkling and one of which is a dessert wine.
The wines included Sparkline Blanc de Noir, Albemarle Viognier, Albemarle Rose, Albemarle Simply Red, Kluge Estate New World Red, and Cru Aperitif. The Sparkling was good if you are in the mood for something sparkling, but at $44 a bottle you might want to just shake up a bottle of seltzer and pour it in your still wine. There are plenty of affordable Champagnes out there that blow this Sparkling out of the water. The Viognier was light with good flavor. The Rosé was probably the most impressive by being dry but with great fruit flavors. And the best part about the Rosé was that it was on sale – 2 bottles for $14.99. You can’t beat that price for a Virginia wine that you actually enjoy.
The Albemarle Simply Red smelled like cat to me. It tasted better, however, and would make a decent pizza/burger wine. I don’t know that it lives up to Kluge's tasting notes describing it with "smooth velvety tannins." It just was not that complex. The New World Red was a nice full bodied, spicy red, but not worth the $32 price tag. There are plenty of great Californian and even Virginian reds that are better for less. Finally, the Cru Aperitif wins the award for being the most bizarre wine of the trip. It is a Chardonnay fortified and then aged in Jack Daniels barrels. It was tasty, but the flavors were so strange together that I couldn't quite figure it out. Might be an acquired taste.
After the winery tours, we settled in for the night in downtown Charlottesville. We battled the storm of the century to have a few drinks at Siips Champagne and Wine Bar. It is located right on the Downtown Mall amidst quite a selection of bars and restaurants. Siips has great cozy and comfortable décor with choices of lounge seating, bar seating, and standard tables and chairs. Their menu is all small plates even for dinner. But the food is delicious. The wine menu is daunting in size, but well laid out and has great descriptions and suggestions. I started with the Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc. A big fan of their Chardonnay, I had been wanting to try their other wines for some time. The Sauvignon Blanc did not disappoint – exactly what a crisp, fruity, high acid SB should be. However it comes with the price tag you associate with well known vineyards like Cakebread where you pay for notoriety. The other wines we had at Siips were all enjoyable and the experience was enhanced by our extremely friendly and knowledgeable server. I would highly recommend Siips to others. Apparently there are 2 other wine bars on the Mall, so maybe they will be added to the list of future outings.
One final note not at all related to wine – a trip to Charlottesville without mentioning the restaurant Maya for brunch would not be complete. Good southern fare. A Bloody Mary that will leave you ready for a Sunday afternoon nap.
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Wine Weekend in Charlottesville - Part 2
August 3, 2008To continue the Charlottesville wine trip from a few weekends ago, after DelFosse we meandered over to Sugarleaf Winery in North Garden, Virginia. I had never heard of it before and didn't know anyone that had been there, but it's probably the closest winery to DelFosse in driving distance. It's a fairly small property and we were informed that the vineyard has only been there since 2005, the tasting room open since August 2007, and they are currently pouring the first vintage bottled.
They served 3 whites and 3 reds: Vidal Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Vidal Blanc is almost off dry with great apricot nose and flavor. All were noteworthy and enjoyable. The reds will pair really well with food – especially steak. The woman that was pouring in the tasting room was extremely friendly and informative and made sure that we had an opportunity to ask questions and try things again before purchasing. Unfortunately, the prices are boutique winery prices. Nothing is less than $20 and, in fact, most are closer to $30. The wine was extremely impressive for Virginia, but there is a lot of good wine out there in that price range.
Next we visited First Colony Winery, Charlottesville, Virginia. I had purchased a few bottles of their wine previously at the VA Wine Expo back in February, but I had never visited the winery. The first thing I noticed was that there were huge weeds growing all over and in between the vines. The property just did not present itself well. The tasting room is large and spacious and has plenty of seating both indoors as well as outdoors on a great deck overlooking the woods. The ladies pouring were pleasant but did not offer much information about the wines other than which one it was that they were pouring. They poured 11 wines over all.
The First Colony whites included Chardonnay Estate Reserve, Viognier, and Sweet Shanando. The Chardonnay was all oak – it was like licking an oak barrel. No fruit flavors were part of the taste. The Viognier was extremely bitter. The reds included Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Meritage, Cabernet Franc Reserve, Petit Verdot, and Tannat. The Cab was underripe with obvious green pepper notes. The Merlot was a pleasant surprise with a fuller body and some spice. The Meritage had great flavor with big tannins – perfect for a steak. The Cabernet Franc was impressive – smell of red pepper and a nice smooth finish to the taste. Neither the Petit Verdot nor the Tannat were particularly impressive.
The First Colony rose was dry with nice strawberry flavors. But probably the most impressive of the trip was their Red Dessert Ediciao Limitada. This is a ruby dessert wine made in the traditional Port method. This means that it was been fortified with brandy. It is very typical of a ruby port which is not often found at local vineyards. If you aren't a fan of port then you likely will not care for this wine. But if you are familiar with port, this is a fun and unique find in Virginia. It is simple and fruity – enjoyable, but probably not up to snuff with the good stuff from Portugal. It does well in Virginia, however, earning the Bronze medal in the First Annual Virginia Wine Lover magazine Wine Competition and the Silver in the Monticello Cup 2008.
Coming soon: Our visit to Kluge Estate Winery and Siips Wine Bar on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall.
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Wine Weekend in Charlottesville - Part 1
August 1, 2008Recently, Marc and I decided we desperately needed a weekend away from reality. We decided to drive down to Charlottesville, VA for a winery weekend. Some of the places that we visited were recommended to us and others we just stumbled upon. Overall, we were impressed with the quality that we came across.
First stop: DelFosse Vineyards and Winery, Faber, Virginia. This winery is about 25 minutes south of Charlottesville right off of Route 29. After driving down a windy road that I thought was never going to end we arrived at the tasting room. The property is beautiful – they have a large open and bright tasting room with a large amount of both indoor and outdoor seating. Of course my favorite decorations were the frog statues on the lawn!! They also have a 5 mile hiking/biking trail that can be accessed from the property. But down to the wine and the tasting experience:
The tasting room has a small bar area that can seat 6 people. To accommodate additional people there are numerous tables and the staff will come to your table to pour. You can choose between a complimentary tasting or for $4 you can taste all of their wines including the reserve wines. By tasting all of them you will taste 18 wines! They also serve light fare and we had a delicious cheese tray with a wide assortment of fun cheeses, crackers, and bread.
The wines included Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Chardonnay Reserve, Deer Rock (white table wine), Reserve d'Oriane (tangy, high acid white), Viognier, Viognier Reserve, Petit Manseng, Rosé, Deer Rock Red (red table wine), Cuvee Laurent (Chamborcin), Merlot, Grand Cru Oliver, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Meritage, and Ambrosia (sweet dessert wine).
We were impressed with the quality of the wines across the board and, of course, had some we liked better than others. The Chardonnay Reserve smelled fantastic and had a great fruit taste but a fairly light body for Chardonnay. The Deer Rock was off dry and perfect for sipping in the hot summer months. The best white, by far, was the Viognier Reserve. It had great peach flavors and was light and dry. For Marc and I to agree on a white it must be worth it.
The reds did not disappoint either. The Cabernet Franc had great black cherry flavors and high acid. The Malbec had a lot fruit and a sweet hint at the finish. Unfortunately, while good, it was not better than many bulk Malbecs from Argentina that are on the market for much cheaper. The Meritage had a great blend of flavors and complexity – you could almost taste the different flavors pop out one after another as if it was staged that way.
The downside to DelFosse, for us, was the service. The wife of the husband/wife owner duo started out pouring for us. Then after a few of the wines she wandered off, went outside, and was never seen again. The winery had two other employees pouring wine and neither realized that our service had stopped. We waited about 15 minutes before finally pulling one aside and asking if she could continue our tasting. She apologized profusely and did finish pouring for us. But it was strange because the place was not very crowded and there didn't seem to be any process in place for making sure that everyone got served. Had we been sitting at the bar I think it would have been less likely to happen, but since the bar was full when we arrived that wasn't an option. Also, they do not have a copy of tasting notes that you can write on or take with you. So thankfully I had a receipt from the dry cleaner handy. Note to self: start bringing paper.
Overall I would recommend the winery and definitely will give it a second try, but if the service experience is repeated, I would have no problem writing it off – there are wineries that are just as good throughout Virgina.
Coming soon: Our visit to Sugarleaf Winery, First Colony Winery, Kluge Estate Winery, and Siips Wine Bar on the Downtown Mall.
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