Heading South

Today we headed south to wineries in Halifax and Campbell Counties.

 

First stop Hunting Creek Vineyards in Clover, Virginia.  When walked in there was a group of women drinking wine and they appeared to be having a good time.  My thought was we walked into a private party.  Well it kind of was, but that was okay.  It was friends of the owners who can come in to help with harvesting and were taking a lunch break.  The men soon came out of the field and joined them and it really was just a good time.  The owner, Sandy, provided us with a great tasting and the entire group made us feel right at home.  The tasting room was in a cozy log cabin that I bet would be really nice on a cold day seated near the fire place.   

After lunch at the Drug Store Cafe in downtown Brookneal, it was off to Sans Soucy in Brookneal, VA.  This was the perfect bucolic setting.  Horses gazing at us from the barn, and people coming out of the field from harvesting.  Sans Soucy offers 2 options for tastings – sweet or dry or all.  We chose all.  The owner, Jackie, was fresh in from harvesting all morning and did our tasting.   She was wonderful taking us not just through the wines, but through their history of owing the winery.  It was a lovely afternoon.  

Heading West

We started out with only plans to head toward Warrenton, hit a winery to the west, have lunch in downtown Warrenton, then hit another close to Warrenton and head home.  Well, it did not work out quite that way, but the day worked out really well.  We headed west, to Gadino Cellars in Washington, VA.  A lovely place with good customer service and good wine.  The Gadino’s have a “sister” winery in Sicily and they had a wine from there as well.  Delicious. 

While we were there we asked for a lunch recommendation close by.  Our server recommended Tula’s Off Main in Washington.  Lovely local restaurant in a lovely small town.  Cannot wait to go back and try the other restaurant we saw just down the street!

While there we were talking to our waiter he recommended we visit Little Washington Winery.  It was on the list of wineries we have not visited, so we headed out.  Good call.  When we arrived they were crowded, but we were greeted and when we explained we had no problem with waiting, we were shown a super comfy couch with an incredible view of Old Rag Mountain.  To make things even better, the greeter, also the owner, brought us a glass of wine to enjoy while we waited.  Nice! 

When it was our turn, we were up with a group of 5 and it was just fun.  Little Washington only makes 1 type of wine, Chardonnay, but they make it 2 ways – steel and oak.  The server, also the greeter and owner, gave us a blind taste test to see if we could tell the difference.  I always thought that the oak created that buttery taste I expected, but that butter did not come and it is not from the oak.  It is from the malolactic fermentation.  Who knew!  Little Washington also has a Wine Boot camp twice a day on Saturday’s and Sunday’s.  I would like to go back for that.  

Little Washington has a line of colorful Adirondack chairs on the hill, beside the building.  We sat there in the shade with a soft breeze, again with that view of Old Rag Mountain.  It was just lovely.  So sad I did not get a picture of those chairs.  That would be a good picture to look at during a long day of work!

 

Day trip

Another day trip and another new winery to add to our list! 

We picked up JP and headed west towards Crozet, VA.  First stop White Hall Vineyards in Crozet.  We visited White Hall a few years ago the week between Christmas and New Years and it was a great visit – server who was knowledgeable and interesting and good wine.  We were not disappointed in this trip.  The server was a retired college VP from New York who now volunteers on Saturdays at the winery.  We were the only ones there when we walked in and it was a great visit.  While talking he asked if we had been to Mountfair Vineyards in Crozet.  We had not, so off we went.  

We watched the rain come across the mountains and just as we go inside the tasting room, the heavens opened and it poured.  I am glad we can add another new winery to our tour list (99 different wineries visited as of 6/1/13) but it was not really our place.  The server and al the staff there were very nice but the they only make red wines – really red, they also sell 2 ciders for some friends and they poured 1 white that a friend bottles and they distribute.  They had live music that had to come inside because of the rain so it got really loud inside really fast and when we went outside to sit in one of the few spots not in the rain, there were some heavy smokers out there that just made it miserable.  C pulled the car close to the door and we left.  If they had a bigger variety of wines, I would not rule it out for a repeat visit, but reds only, well, it was meant for someone else.

We got to Sinson Vineyards in Crozet as the rain stopped.  We have visited before and they have some wonderful Adirondack chairs that I could not wait to get a chance to get back and hang out on those chairs and enjoy that view.  Not to happen today.  Everything was wet and it was late in the day.  Oh well, maybe next time.  Did have a great tasting and it seemed that it was dog day at the winery.  Their dog Dallas (pictured below) was there as was a dog from a neighboring winery and a few others just along for the visit! Even though we did not get to sit in those Adirondacks and enjoy a glass of wine, it was a nice ending to a nice day.