Ah, the chance to go back and tell you about places that I really enjoyed visiting. Where to start…

Traveling home from Winchester, VA one afternoon I came across Three Fox Vineyard and decided I needed to stop and visit.  This was a few months back when I was traveling across Virginia by myself.  I visited a few wineries on my own, some were awkward and some turned out well.  I decided to turn up the drive to Three Fox and see how it would be.  Going up the drive it was beautiful.  Located in Delaplane, VA, this is not high up in the mountains, but in beautiful rolling hills.  When I saw the statues of the three foxes, I could not help but get excited about the place!  When I walked into the small, but delightful tasting room, there were already several people at the tasting bar, but they all turned when I walked in, made room for me right in the middle and along with our server, treated me as if I was just one of the gang.  After the tasting I walked around the property and watched a few dogs run through the fields.  Beautiful break in the drive home.

On another trip I had the opportunity to stop in at the Winery at La Grange.  It was a gray afternoon and I was the only guest, but the person on duty was interesting and made my visit fun.  I have looked for an opportunity to take C back to visit, because they have so many delightful little tables and comfy looking chairs along the property, inside and out to just sit and relax.  

 

One place that did not work out when I was out on my own was Cross Keys Vineyard.  It is a pretty location and very nice tasting/event facility, but the person on duty just did not know what to do with a single taster and my attempts at small talk fell flat.  It was awkward and uncomfortable.  Maybe I will take C back just to see if there is a difference when I am not by myself, but there are just so many out there that sound better, that I just don't know...

More week after Christmas 2011

While we were out with our less experienced Virginia winery buddies, we decided to do a repeat.  You do these things sometimes for your friends and hey, if it is a really nice place, you do it for yourself too!  In honor of our guests we stopped by Blenheim Vineyards on the way home.  How can you help but love a cozy A frame, ski lodge type tasting room with views that hit you as soon as you walk in the door and look out those great windows.   Does it hurt that Dave Matthews, yes, that Dave Matthews, owns the Vineyard and designed the tasting room, no, I say it does not hurt at all.  And the fact that he designs some of the labels each year does not hurt a thing either.  One of the reasons I purchased the bottle of wine that I did was because it had a Dave designed label.  I like the fact that a native son has such interest and is not just a name in ownership only. Besides the Dave factor and actually that is cool, one thing I really like about Blenheim is how the tasting room is set up.  I really like when you walk in the door you do see straight out of those beautiful windows, I like the way you can see through the floor and down into where the wine is stored and the work is done, but most of all, while you are tasting, the bars are set up so that while you taste, you get the beautiful view.  So many are set up so that while you taste your back is to the outside.  Not the case here and I like that. 

Twas the Week After Christmas

One thing that we decided when we started visiting Virginia wineries was that if a visit was not all that great, but the venue had redeeming qualities, we would give it a second try.  We did just that with Pollak.  Our first visit to Pollak Vineyards was such a disappointment, but the grounds were so nice, that while we were in the area, we decided to give it a second chance.  Glad we did!  Pollak has so much going for it - a beautiful tasting room with a big fire place and lots of nice tables inside and out.  The tasting room has large windows, and is a great place to sit on such a cold and gray day and look out on the beautiful pond and lovely grounds.  It would have been really nice if there would have been a fire going on such a grey wintery day, but oh well!  Our server was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Virginia wine, and how far we have come, that he made us really appreciate our tasting and our Virginia wine.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Don't you love the week between Christmas and New Years?  We always try to get in a winery visit or two during the week.  Love it!

This year we grabbed some of our best buddies and headed out to a location not visited before - King Family Vineyards in Crozet, VA.  I will tell you up front that I was hesitant to go to King Family because I was concerned about it being large and large can so often mean impersonal.  Not the case here - The King Family has done it well.  The large tasting room was crowded when we arrived, but we enjoyed standing around the warm fire in the fireplace while the crowd thinned out and we took our turn at the tasting bar.  Our server was knowledgeable and I appreciated how you could see the beautiful grounds while enjoying the tasting.  Along with comfortable chairs around the fireplace, there are tables inside and out on the covered patio for enjoying a glass during slightly warmer or maybe just less windy weather.  King Family Vineyards has polo matches on the grounds throughout the year.  On their list of events there is even a Pink Ribbon Polo Classes scheduled for June 2012 which benefits the Virginia Breast Cancer Foundation.  Now doesn't that sound like a fun way to support a great cause!  The cool factor - well done King Family.  I look forward to taking family members to this one.  It is just too nice not to visit again in the spring and maybe summer and maybe the fall.  Oh and it is not just about the wine, but for my dessert wine loving friends, you must try the Loreley!

Wine Cat chose to remain anonymous.

Favorite visits with Family members

I must tell you about a few places we have gone with family members.  We always have fun when they travel with us.  These really showcase the diversity that makes up Virginia wineries.  They do all bring something different and special. 

First, Castle Gruen Vineyards and Winery in Locust Dale, VA with SAN.  As we drove up the gravel drive, we passed a man and his dog taking walk.  The man waved us on up the drive and soon joined us – he was the owner, server, wine maker, everything.  We spent a delightful time tasting and talking to Dean and his dachshund, Duchess, she was a cutie.  Even though Dean did not have any white wines available and none of us really drink red, we enjoyed our time spent at the Castle.  Dean was so knowledgeable and the reds were pretty good, especially for people who do not drink red.    The Castle tasting room looked to have once been the garage, but that did not make it any less special to us.  Thanks Dean and Duchess for a delightful and informative afternoon.

This is SAN in front of the Castle with Duchess.

Who can forget our trip to Ox Eye Vineyards whose tasting room is in downtown Staunton.  The vineyards are located outside of Staunton, but they created a wonderful tasting room in an old building in downtown.  We were there that day with SAN, JP and LP.  The owner was one of the server that day and when she found out that SAN lives in Newport, RI, and we had all visited, we just had the best time.  Turns out the owners had honeymooned in Newport and went back to visit often.   The building had beautiful floors and great architecture.  

My picture is not that great, but the tasting was!

 

That same day we visited Barren Ridge Vineyards.  Quite a contrast to Ox Eye with a tasting room located in town, Barren Ridge is just that, at the top of a very barren mountain.  The tasting room at Barren Ridge is cozy and lodge like with a fireplace, some love seats around and plenty of seating on the deck outside.  The first time C and I visited Barren Ridge, the sun was just setting and we stood out on that deck and watched the sun set behind the ridge.  It was breathtaking.  Barren Ridge also has the cutest wine dog, Rascal.   

Bluestone Vineyards and Stone Mountain Vineyards

Travels a few weeks ago took us up to beautiful Bridgewater, VA and Bluestone Vineyards.  Bluestone did not have amazing views or even a wine dog, but the people were so friendly and the wine very tasty.  It was a pretty location and the outdoor patio would be a good place on a fall day to relax and enjoy the leaves changing. 

After lunch at a great little barbeque place in Bridgewater, we headed up toward Charlottesville and a visit to Stone Mountain Vineyards.  The views were breathtaking, however so was the drive up - and not in a good way.  The tasting room is located at the top of a mountain, elevation about 1700 feet, and not really on top of the mountain, more built into the mountain.  That is the good part, now for the warning to those faint of heart - to get up to that beautiful location, you travel about 2 miles up a one lane, gravel/dirt, curvy, did I mention one lane, road, straight up, the mountain, did I mention one lane and we did meet cars on the way up.  There are no guardrails, and at a few points there is nothing on one side but a cliff and the side of a mountain on the other.  They do have a good thing going though, cause all I wanted to do when I got to the top of that mountain, was have a drink!  Oh, and I had decided that I would just walk back down, thank you very much.  C, on the other hand, had the foresight to skip the tasting, better to be safe than sorry on the way down.  The trip down, by the way, was not as bad as the trip up.  I guess you are just better prepared for what is coming and you could see better around those hairpin turns.  After the views, the cool factor was getting back down off the mountain safely!

Weekend of Wine tasting in Roanoke, VA

It’s not about the wine – well not totally for me anyway.

We enjoy visiting the wineries around the Commonwealth of Virginia and I always look for something called the “Cool Factor”.  The Cool Factor is a cute wine dog that greets us on the property, a view that takes your breath away, really nice people or service that goes above and beyond.  Sometimes the Cool Factor is something you just feel by being there.  These things are why we enjoy visiting Virginia wineries.

I do not pretend to be a wine expert, when C and I started out on our wine tasting journey, I liked the really, really sweet stuff.  When the late harvest bottle was brought out, my eyes would light up.  Yummy.  Now, I find that some of those are sweet for my taste, I have even had some that were almost syrupy.  And recently, this is pretty exciting, I purchased a red, yes a red, that I rather liked.  Typically if I would purchase a red, it would be just to take to a family event.  This one I will take for Thanksgiving dinner, but I look forward to drinking it also.  Tastes do change and the biggest thing I have learned in my Virginia wine tasting time is this – drink what you like (but it does not hurt to taste it all to find what you like!!)!!

Janet, this is for you.

Recent visits included AmRhein’s Wine Cellars in Bent Mountain, VA, Valhalla Vineyards in Roanoke, VA and Sugarleaf Vineyards in North Garden, VA.

AmRhein was first on a Saturday afternoon.  When we drove up, the view was nice, but not spectacular, but there was a precious wine dog sitting patiently outside.  We never did get his name, but he and C bonded immediately.  What a cute pup!  Then there was the 17 year old inside wine dog named Lady.  We talked to Lady even though she was quite deaf and were informed by other visitors that Lady particularly liked the cheese that was served there, and even though she was quite blind, her nose worked well when a tray of that cheese came out!  Very cute.

There was only one person working that day, pouring the wine and making cheese trays, but he managed to take care of everyone.  And the wines, well I thought they were just delicious! 

The Cool Factor for AmRhein were the cute wine dogs and that really good wine!

After lunch we headed over to Valhalla Vineyards.  The view of the Roanoke Valley was breathtaking!  After our wine tasting we went outside and just sat and enjoyed the view.  It was a beautiful day, particularly for early November and what a great way to spend it. 

I will say that the wines were just not us.  I might have gone away from the most desserty of wines, but there seemed to be no sweetness in any of these wines and they just did not work for me.  The view, however did work for me and that rates Valhalla a Cool Factor.

On Sunday we drove over to Sugarleaf Vineyards.  To get to Sugarleaf you travel about a mile up a gravel road, that although it is not curving up a mountain, it is curvy, has very close sides and you wondered what would you do if you met a car coming in the opposite direction!  When you do get to the wine tasting room, you are rewarded with beautiful scenery and even though it was November some leaves did remain on the trees and the image that the name Sugarleaf invokes was evident as you looked around.

The tasting room at Sugarleaf took full advantage of that beautiful view, providing the view to the tasters as well as the pourer.   That is a job well done.  Too often the testing rooms are designed so that the view is lost as soon as you walk in.  But not Sugarleaf – Big Cool Factor there!

The wines were nice – oh and did I mention the wine dogs – Cab and Franc!  C made buddies with those guys as soon as he got out of the car!   Very Cool.