Celebrate June

Just to celebrate June we headed out on a cloudy Friday morning toward the Culpepper area.  First stop Prince Michel Vineyard.  This is a large facility and we were surprised that we were the only ones there when we first arrived. Several other people did arrive before we left.  Our pourer was young and energetic in explaining the levels of tastings, there are several, and encouraged us to take the self-guided tour through the wine making facility.  After our tasting we did do the tour and just to put things into perspective, Lovingston Winery that we visited last week, they had 2 large tanks for wine making, someone was at the winery from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. to push the grape skins down into the tanks every 2 hours to get the color and flavor they wanted for the red wine and they use gravity to move the wine between the areas of the facility.  At Prince Michel, they had many, large tanks for wine making and they used a series of pumps and hoses to push the skins and juice around.  That is the difference between hand crafting and mass production.

If you have a group of people you want to take to a Virginia winery, Prince Michel would do.  It has several areas inside and out to sit, a large gift shop and you can wander around the self-guided tour, but I have a feeling on weekends it can get really crowded. 
 

And then there are places that when you walk in, all you can think is, I cannot wait to come back here and bring others.  That is how I felt as soon as I walked into DuCard Vineyards in Etlan, VA.  Between wineries it had gotten really cloudy, there had been some rain and we were thinking is the weather just too bad to enjoy another winery today?  The rain had just stopped as we got to DuCard and we walked in, it was just perfect.  The clouds were hanging on the mountains that you could see through the large windows of the tasting room, there was a fire going in the fireplace which was flanked by leather chairs, just a nice place to hang out.  The beautiful bar and floors are made out of wood from buildings that were originally on the property and the owner likes to keep things local, so there was bread, cheese, meats and even chocolate made locally.  Yes, I bought some of the chocolate and it was oh so good!   Our pourer was so nice, the wines were tasty and I am looking forward to another visit and the opportunity to it out on the patio.

Lovingston, VA

We started the day at Lovingston Winery in Lovingston, VA.  I loved it.  It is a small property in the rolling hills with a pond.  The tasting room is part upstairs from the wine making facility. Being able to see the tanks and barrels was beneficial when our pourer was explaining how the wine made at Lovingston was made, example using gravity to move the wine instead of hoses that can add unwanted tastes to the wine.  The cool factor was the knowledge of our pourer, the relaxed atmosphere of the tasting and yes, this is called not just about the wine, but this wine was good.  Really good!  That does not mean you will like it, our tastes are all different, but let me know if you want to come over and have some with me.  I like to share my wine.

 

On we went just down the road to Mountain Cove Vineyards also in Lovingston, VA.  This is the oldest winery in Virginia.  The pourer at Lovingston Winery told us about the owners, how he is retired military and that he and his wife were neat people and that the tasting room was rustic.  The owners were not there when we visited but the substitute they brought in was a lovely lady with a standard poodle named Polly Anna and yes, the tasting room was rustic.  We enjoyed talking dogs with her, how much she likes her standard poodle, how much we all appreciate a regular cut on them, not the French cut, how much we all like beagles and how hard it is to find a good dog sitter.   She was definitely the cool factor.  As we were leaving a very cute dog walked up from down the dirt lane.  We do not know her name or who she belonged to, but our pourer was letting her in the tasting room as we were leaving so she must be a local.  She was so cute I had to snap a pic, and that is her in the picture below. 

Oh, and a side note, Mountain Cove was down a small road that was red from the surrounding soil and then down a dirt road, so the back of our white car was red and as C closed the trunk after putting our purchase away, red dust flew everywhere!  Quite funny.

 

Next stop Lazy Days Winery.  Doesn’t that name just sound fun, doesn’t’ that sound like a place where you would just want to sit back and watch the world go by?  Was not.   I consider myself rather generous when it comes to wineries and tasting rooms, but this one just had nothing.  The only cool thing we could come up with is that it is a good use of an old building.  The tasting room is an old stock yard and it is cool that they reused it.  Our pourer was nice.  It was her first day and we enjoyed talking with her.  The mountain view was behind the building and there was just nothing cool or interesting about it. Maybe I am getting jaded! 

Finds Close to Home

Mother's Day found us looking for a place close to home so we headed up 64 to WindSong Winery in Columbia, VA.  This is a small, friendly winery and our tasting, hosted by one of the owners, was quite enjoyable.  The location was far back off the main road surrounded by woods.  The quiet was lovely. There was a cute hound dog named Suzie roaming around the property.  According to our host, Suzie was a hunting dog that came by and just stayed.  We when mentioned we had hounds, beagles to be exact, he did not hesitate to invite us to bring the dogs and a picnic next time we came by.  The Winery is located on Funny Tree Trail and I could not resist adding a picture of the funny tree.  Go by and enjoy this friendly quiet winery. 

While we were out that way, we stopped by Weston Farm Vineyard and Winery.  We have visited here before, but last time the French Bull Dog proudly displayed on their wine labels were not there.  Today, Suzie was there and what a sweet heart she was.  After I attempted to snap a few pictures I found out that she does not care for cameras pointed at her.  Sorry Suzie!  I guess I just cannot resist these small, family run vineyards - I just think they are so special.  These people have a vested interest in making sure you enjoy your time there and help you understand their wine and their point of view.  I love it.

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.