Virginia Wines (2) (6/10/2014)

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog about some of the wineries I visited in the Tidewater of Virginia.  Wineries like Dog and Oyster claim they have a similar climate as the Bordeaux region in France and that they should therefore be able to rival them.  We'll see it that happens in my life time.

Today I want to deal with the wineries I visited in northern Virginia, and rank them as well. Rappahannock Cellars was the first of the wineries I visited in Virginia (2003).  While I already was a wine enthusiast and had tasted in Missouri, this was a fun first experience, and my very first impression with Virginia red wine, which I found very below par at that time.  Things have changed in the past few years, and I can tell you the reds made by Chester Gap Cellars just a few miles up the road are among some of the best Virginia reds I’ve tasted lately (2013 and 2014).

Here is my review of the wineries I visited in the northern area (the date in parentheses is the year I visited the wineries):

Old House Vineyards  (2013) - 4 stars - Interesting place with some interesting grape varieties (barberra).  Inexpensive to taste.  Great place for weddings.

Rappahannock Cellers - (2003) - 3 stars (this rating is probably out-dated) - My first tasting in Virginia.  It was fun, but I remember a very touristy tasting room.  I still own their tasting glass and drink wine from it every day.

Chester Gap Cellars - (2013 and 2014) - 5 stars - A great secluded winery with the produces some outstanding reds.  Try their Merlot.

Fox Meadow Winery- (2013) - 5 star - Location, location, location.  Love the place, good wine, I was impressed by their Riesling.

Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn (2013) 3 stars  A very charming place, wine was so, so.  Live music was too loud to really understand the host.  This winery was the first that served wine paired with food.

Glen Manor Vineyards (2013) 2 stars  Great location and very scenic looking towards the National Park.  Wine was mediocre

Breaux Vineyards (2014) 1 star  Rude staff, crowded and expensive.  See my review of last month.

The picture below was taking at Chester Gap late April of tis year.

Front Royal (4/27/2014)

I am running a little behind in my postings, which is partially due to work related issues and computer problems.  We bought a new laptop with Windows 8.1.  Having used a smart phone for quite some time now, it is not as alien as some predicted; moreover, it does has a regular window’s screen if you want to use that instead.  My problem was that my Norton 360 started having a conflict with some of the programs and there went my email, my store and my internet explorer access.  Somehow it did not affect my Chrome and my other programs, but it was difficult to figure out what the culprit was.  Now hopefully there will be a solution soon, so I can reinstall my Norton, which I've used for more than 10 years.

Back to our trip to Shenandoah State Park; we stayed there from Friday evening through Monday morning.  On Sunday we did another two great hikes and we visited our very quickly becoming favorite winery.  I am posting three photographs of my favorite spring blooms here.  The bluebell trail made good on its name.  Virginia bluebells were in bloom everywhere.  We also saw a lot of pawpaws in bloom on that trail (no photo from those blooms).  Along another trail the redbuds and dogwoods were in full glory as well.

Now about the winery; we visited Chester Gap Cellars, just outside Front Royal.  This is a nice winery tucked out of the way on a steep slope.  I am sure the slope helps with the quality of the wine.  Some of the other wineries are on flat country, and honestly they probably get too much moisture here in Virginia.  Grapes from flat areas most likely produce a lot of sugars; and wines from those grapes loose character by just producing loads of alcohol and very little tannin and other flavorful compounds.  We liked almost every wine at Chester Gap, and may be because of the ambiance of the place, but I am sure, also the way the grapes are grown.  Last year we bought a 2006 merlot, which was absolutely wonderful.  The 2007 merlot we bought this year is a bit thinner, but still very good.