Virginia Wines (3) (11/10/2014)

This past weekend we spent a day tasting some Virginia wines.  We traveled to a Blue/Green resort in the Gordonsville area (near Charlottesville) and on the way we visited some wineries and bought some wines to drink that evening.  We drank wines from wines from the Rockbridge winery, Ox-eye winery (and no we did not visit either of these two wineries), Grayhaven winery and Cooper Vineyards.  It is a pity that we visited the Weston Farm Vineyards website too late, otherwise we would have noticed their announcement that Google maps cannot find them (we searched for 15 minutes and gave up).

This does not even make a dent in all the wineries in Virginia.  My understanding is that Virginia is the third or so wine producing state in the U.S, and the latest winery map touts that there are 250+ wineries in the state.  As I mentioned before, 10 years ago I was skeptical about Virginia's ability to make red wine, but they have come a long way.  I actually like a lot of the reds they produce at this time (granted I am a red kind of guy).

As with anything, I believe that education is essential in life, and that is also important when drinking wine.  I read the wine spectator and a nice assortment of books on  wines and wine making although in no way am I a wine expert of a wine snob.  The only wine I can pick out of a line up of blind taste testing is the Merlot by Boogle, but that is also because my father-in-law brings it over very frequently when he comes over for dinner.  But yes education is important even in this period of anti-intellectualism.  Why drink the same bud-dry or a cheap box wine, when with a little education and adventure you can drink something better or more interesting for about the same price?

Today's post is not a winery review, I will do one again in the near future.  In the past I reviewed the wineries and wines I have visited and tasted from the Tidewater (click here) and the wines from northern Virginia (click here).  But below are some of the Virginia wines that we still have in our collection.  It is a pity that Virginia wines are so expensive, compared with their counterparts for California or even from France, Spain or Italy; otherwise I would definitively want to drink more Virginia wines and visit more wineries.  Now I have to limit it to two or three wineries every year, and limited consumption; Virginia wines are not for the people that live on a budget, that is for sure.

The Virginia wines we still have in our collection (some date from 2006 and one from 2004)

Yorktown (2011)

Another trip to the archives, courtesy of  Cee Neuner.  I often participate in a challenge that she post on line and here is my entry for the week.  This week's challenge was bark and leaves.

Trees are amazing things.  As you can see here this tree actually appears to have grown into/over the wall.  This is not uncommon, a search on Google gives you this.  However, we have one right here in Yorktown at Grace Episcopal Church.  The church itself claims to be the oldest existing church in the US, and as you can see this eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) has done the job.  I have no idea how old it is but it is getting up there in age.  It really is a magnificent tree.  I am sure this is a combination of growing over the wall and good craftsmanship by the mason.

A lot of people don't realize that trees grow from the outside.  The bark is what is alive in a tree and the inside wood is more or less dead.  Not that the inside wood does not do anything.  This is where water and nutrients are transported up the trunk to the leaves, but all the thickening of the trunk comes from the bark and that is how it grows over and into things as we see here.  Nature is magnificent and powerful.  We humans used to be just a small part of it, although we are more and more taking over.  It was said that nature used to be in control, but we humans have gotten so far that we can control nature.  This seems scary to me, as a biologist I have found that nature is parsimonious (it does not waste anything), humans are the opposite.  Nature is efficient and very adaptable, and history will bear out how we as humans do.  A scary thought say the least, maybe not for me, but for my daughter and grand children.

Highland County (11/3/2014)

Monday was the last morning of a long weekend in Highland County.  It was fun to see our daughter, who drove over from Morgantown and to visit with friends who had decided to move away from the Tidewater of Virginia and settle in the mountains.

The morning started out nice.  We had rented a cabin in the B&B and the sun was just coming above the horizon when I walked over to the main house for a cup of coffee.  Low sun angles make amazing pictures. so I quickly walked over to a cabin that is known as the "Bird house" and shot the picture below.  The orange glow of the sun on the foreground and the distant mountains created a great picture.

Before leaving we decided to go for a walk.  The road we took was past the B&B towards what I assume is Sounding Knob, since we were walking on Sounding Knob Road.  The knob is in the Highland County Wildlife Management area and according to the map, the knob is close to 4300 ft high.  We only walked for an hour, but it was nice to be out and about.  I could not help taking the picture of the lone tree in the pasture along the road.

We ended the morning with a drive to Bridgewater Virginia and a visit to the Bluestone vineyard.  This is another winery that I have to add to an up coming Virginia wine review that I write so now and then on this blog.  But suffice it to say the wines were decent; the place is pet friendly, and it was a great place for a pick-nick lunch with a glass of cold rose wine.  Regretfully, after arriving home at 6 pm, I was back into the car to drive to Fredericksburg for two days of teaching.  I need to retire!

Bath County (11/02/2014)

It was an interesting weekend to spend in the high country of Virginia.  We stayed in Highland County but also visited Bath County for dinner, visit with friends and for a hike in Hidden Valley.

Hidden valley is a great place for a hike.  The trail we took straddles the Jackson River, which is one of the headwaters of the James River.  We hiked it in late afternoon; the weather was cold (it snowed in Monterrey), most of the trees had lost their leaves, with the exception of the red oaks.  The trail is great; it is an easy walk with the exception of crossing the suspension bridge over the river with dogs.  one of our dogs freaked out when the bridge moved.

Bath County is famous for the small towns of Warm Springs and Hot Springs, which are aptly named after the springs (and associated bath houses) found in the area.  Unlike Highland County, which seems depressed, Bath County is opulent, with resorts and a wonderful restaurant in Warm Springs that is part of the Grist Mill.  Hidden Valley also has a wonderful looking B&B associated with it.

Attached are a few photos from our trip to Warm Springs and Hidden Valley.

The Inn at Grist Mill

Highland County (11/1/2014)

We visited Highland County in far western Virginia this past weekend.  The county seat for Highland County is Monterey, but unlike the famous Monterey, this one is a small sleepy town, with absolutely very little going on.  Some statistics, it is supposed to be the highest (in average elevation) county in the eastern U.S.  It is cool in summer and in winter outright cold.

Highland County is known locally for it's Maple Festival and the Mountain Mama (a 100 mile bike ride through the mountains.  One year we did a shortened ride of 25 miles and that kicked our old low country butts.  The Bluegrass Valley (the valley west of Monterey, is the location where both the Potomac River and one of the tributaries of the James River (Jackson River) originate (less than 30 feet apart).

The photo below was taken at our favorite Bed and Breakfast, the Laurel Point Inn and Retreat.  Inn keepers Lorraine and Jim are amazing people and make you feel welcome.  They are pioneers, having a great Inn and a farm.  The photo below was taken of their Highland Cows (what else would you raise in Highland).  Absolutely a great place to visit.