Sometimes the repeat can be better than the original

Yesterday we headed west on Rt 360, destination Concord, VA and DeVault Family Vineyards.  It looks like it could be an interesting place, but when we got there no one was there.  A sign hung on the wall to beep because they were in the vineyard, but after beeping and waiting around, no one showed.  Rather a shame, but maybe next time.

After lunch in Bedford, we headed down the road to LeoGrande Vineyard &Winery in Goode, VA.  We had been to LeoGrande a few years ago and had enjoyed our visit.  The owner's daughter had conducted the tasting and had done such a good job, and then we sat in beautiful Adirondack chairs and gazed at the mountains.  This visit was even better.  Mr. LeoGrande took us through the wines as only an owner who is up close and personal with his creation can do and we took time to sit again in those Adirondack chairs and gazed at the beautiful mountains.  It was a cloudy day, but the clouds hanging on the mountains in the distance just added something to the day.  Thank you Mr. LeoGrande for a lovely visit.  We will be back when your ice wine is ready!

 

It's my birthday, I can wine if I want to!

For a final family birthday celebration we headed to Charlottesville.  Pippin Hill was our first stop.  What a beautiful place.  It was raining in Richmond when we headed out, but just overcast by the time we got to Pippin Hill.  The clouds hung just above the mountains and the gray skies made the red buds and budding green leaves of the trees stand out beautifully.  Having all that as your first impression, nothing else could really matter, oh but it gets better.  The tasting room beckons you in and the owners knew just what they were doing when they built it  - even the rest rooms (ok, I can only speak to the ladies room) were cute!  When you walk into the tasting area, the view overtakes you and the bars for tastings, I love it when someone gets in right – the customers doing the tastings get the view.  So often the tasting bars have the patrons with the backs to the view and the employees are the ones who get the view.  Not that I have any problem with employees having a nice view, but happy customers buy wine – that’s all I’m saying.  Did I mention that they serve lunch?  Oh they do.  Because we had a large party (7) we had called ahead to see if we needed reservations.  They assured us that if we came early enough in the day, we should be okay and should be able to get a table together.  We arrived a few minutes before 12 and they were able to seat us all together, but I would think that as the weather gets better, it will become more of a challenge to get a table inside.  They do have lots of outdoor seating and we were tempted to head outside to eat, but to do so we would have had to sit around small tables and we decided we wanted a real dining table for our group.  The tastings are a flight of white or a flight of red or both and if you are dining with them, you just go up to the bar on your time and the wine consultants will take you through the flight as you are ready.  This made the experience so relaxing.  The tastings are generous, you could sip on the first while waiting for your meal, have 2 more during the meal, then enjoy the last dessert wine while enjoying the chocolate cupcakes and Meyer lemon and olive oil pound cake – so good and so good was all the food!  I cannot think of a better way to spend the day – well, that was until the bus full of, what we deduced was a sorority group, pulled up, then the ambiance changed, but oh well, we were almost ready to leave by that time anyway.    We went on to visit Delfosse and Sugarleaf.  I have written on both of these before so here I will only say that they took very good care of our large group and they are both as beautiful in the spring as they were in the fall and winter during our previous visits.    

Northern Virginia Wineries - North Mountain Vineyard and Winery

On the way home the next day we stopped by the North Mountain Vineyard and Winery in Mauretown, VA.  I just do not get tired of spectacular mountain views on beautiful spring days and I was not disappointed at North Mountain.  North Mountain did have something that the 3 we visited on Thursday did not have - a wine dog!  This cute hound's name is Bree and took her job as greeter very seriously.  Lovely place to sit and sip and we had a perfect day for just that. 

Northern Virginia Wineries - Sunset Hills Vineyard

Then on to Sunset Hills Vineyard.  What a lovely way to end the day.  The tasting room is an old barn that was completely renovated by Amish brothers.  Elizabeth, our wine consultant, was knowledgeable and made the tasting partially fun and interesting, but the highlight was sitting out on the patio on this beautiful spring day looking at the mountains.  I bet the sunset from that patio would be incredible.  Have to make sure that is part of the next trip!   Cool factor was the beautiful barn and that lovely view. Breathtaking.

Northern Virginia Wineries - Above Ground Winery

Next stop, Purcellville, VA and Above Ground Winery.  Now this was a neat place! The owners decided to have a tasting room where people could stop by and taste, not only their wine, but other Virginia wines as well.  What fun!  The tasting room reminded me of a really cool coffee shop.  Art work on the walls that the owners change from time to time to keep it interesting, fun and funky couches, books – a wine lounge!  If you find yourself in Purcellville, this is a must stop.  The owner, Mary Beth, was so much fun.  We talked and sipped wine and had a good visit.  There were pictures of the owner’s dogs on the wall.  We thought Chance, the beagle, was particularly cute!  The cool factor was just this place – it was cool.  

Unusual for me, but I did not take any pictures.  There was no "scenery", no mountains or streams just a really cool place that you have to see for yourself. 

Northern Virginia Wineries - Loudoun Valley Vineyards

With so many wineries in Northern Virginia, around the Leesburg area, to pick from it was hard to narrow down the selection, but somehow we did and good choices they were.

First for the day was Loudoun Valley Vineyards.  Nice location, but the building looked like it had been there for a while.  The views surrounding the Vineyard were pretty, particularly on this spring day.  The Vineyards serves small plates on the weekend and most any time you they can put a picnic together for you to eat on the outside patio.  That would be a nice afternoon, a picnic, glass of wine and that beautiful scenery.   The cool factor was definitely the beautiful scenery!

Stinson Vineyards

What makes touring Virginia wineries interesting is that you never know what gem you might find.   C and I drove to Stinson Vineyards in Crozet, VA this week and what a wonderful find.  The location is beautiful.  Good for all seasons, in the spring and fall particularly, the outside patio will be a great place to sit watch the mountains and sip on a glass of wine.  I really liked the tasting room. The counters and tasting bars appeared to be made out of repurposed wood and the tasting bars appeared to be built so that they can be moved around to best suit the group on hand – maybe even rolled out to the patio to conduct tastings out by that beautiful view.  Our server was great also, his knowledge and interest made our visit very enjoyable.   The tasting room for Stinson just opened in June 2011 and I think they have something really nice going on there.