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.  

New wineries just a day trip away!

It is getting harder and harder to find new wineries within a day trip of home.  We were recently fortunate enough to find 3 not only new to us, but new to the Virginia wine scene. 

Grace Estate Winery opened its tasting room in April 2013.  Having supplied grapes to other wineries for several years, the owners decided to try their hand at wine making.  Nestled in the hills of Crozet, VA this is a beautiful location and I see great things for this winery.  The tasting room on our visit was in a small building where they will be making the wine during fall harvest.  They know that they will not be able to use this area at harvest time, but for temporary housing it was a comfortable location and the customer service was top notch.  We really enjoyed talking to the woman who was our server.  They know they are going to have to change their tasting room and it seems like the plans are to use part of a beautiful home sitting just up the hill from the current tasting room.  I have to go back this fall and see THAT tasting room!  

As we were driving to our next destination, Kilaurwen Winery in Standardsville, VA, we passed Moss Vineyards.  This is BIG because Moss does not post their hours of operation on the Virginia Wine map!  More on that later, on to Kilaurwen.  Kilaurwen is the type of place that makes Virginia winery visits so interesting and so much fun.  The owner was our server that day.  When you spend time with the owner and in this case also the wine maker, you learn so much more than if it is just an employee.  The owners are great at sharing their passion and their creation and that comes through in the discussions.  The tasting and the discussion were very enlightening and greatly enjoyed.  The view was nothing spectacular, but there was a great place to sit outside and enjoy a glass and on a nice, sunny day it would be a lovely, peaceful place to do just that and relax.  On this particular day, even though it was mid-April, it was cold! 

It was then time to back track and hit Moss Vineyards in Nortonsville, VA.  Once again it was the owners who were doing the serving.  They had a great story on how they came to start this winery.  I could tell you here, but go visit.  The tasting room was very nice and the view beautiful at 1000 feet above sea level.  If it had not been so late in the day, this is the place I would like to sit, have a glass and relax.  The wine prices seemed to be a bit more NOVA that Charlottesville region, but they had a lot going for them.  According to the Virginia Wine web site their hours are Friday, Saturday and Sunday 12-5.  Check it out.  

Springtime in NOVA

What do you like in your Virginia winery?  Do you like a quaint barn for a tasting room with food pairings for each wine?  Do you like a modern tasting room with breathtaking views?  Maybe you want a large destination venue with good wines and customer service or an intimate tasting with the owner in an old house converted to a tasting room or you could have a tasting inside the room with the stainless barrels, some of the best views ever and an enlightening discussion with the owner.  We had all of these in our recent wine visits.  People are constantly asking me my favorite winery – with such diversity, how do you pick just one?  

Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn in Delaplane, VA.  The tasting room is a cool, old barn.  On the day we visited it was an old cold barn!  The temperature never got out of the 30’s that day and the barn has no insulation, but that was okay, they had some heaters going and a great fireplace with a comfy sofa snuggled up next to it.  They have a wonderful outdoor area that will be great in warmer weather.  They are having their first wedding there in April and I know it will be beautiful!  The owner did our tasting and with a food pairing for each wine, it was delightful.  After the owner went through each wine and its food pairing (yes, I ate Pheasant sausage) she brought out a flourless chocolate cake from a local baker and we ate that with a glass of wine by that lovely fireplace.  That was birthday cake #1.  It was delightful!

Our next stop was Delaplane Cellars in Delaplane, VA.  Talk about differences - the tasting room for Delaplane was new and built to take advantage of the breathtaking mountain views.  The lady doing our tasting was retired and was a complete foodie and wine enthusiast!  She was great fun and with no one else visiting, we had a great time.  It was too cold to spend time on their patio, but on a nice day, what a great place it would be to spend time.  

Friday brought us to another day of completely different tasting rooms.  First Breaux Vineyards in Purcellville, VA, which is in Loudoun County.  Did you know that there are 30 wineries in Loudoun County alone, with 14 additional coming before the end of 2013?  As we drove down the road to Breaux we saw at least 10 wineries.   It was quite hard to decide which ones to visit, but I think we made the right choices for us for that day.

So, Breaux Vineyards.  This is a destination winery.  Large venue rooms, ample parking and tables and chairs spread throughout the property.  Very nice for this time of year, but on nice days in the spring and summer it is going to be crowded.  And in the fall – forget about it!  On the day we were there it was cold and windy outside, but our server was knowledgeable and good about customer service, but as things get busy, I would see that customer service going down fast.  It would just be too busy to give a good tasting.  That is one of the reasons we go off season!

After a lovey lunch at Magnolia at the Mill in Purcellville and birthday cake #2, it was off to Hiddencroft Vineyards in Lovettsville, VA (Loudoun County)

Hiddencroft is the northern most wintery in the area.  The tasting room of Hiddencroft is in an old house looking over beautiful grounds and a creek and you walk through an old barn to get there.  While walking around the grounds we saw a wild turkey running around and on the way to the winery we saw a herd of buffalo – they were in a fence, but they were definitely a herd of buffalo!  Northern Virginia – you just never know what you are going to find!  The owner and server for our visit is a former Marine, formerly with the DOD, who retired and decided to try his hand at making wine  These are the things that make Virginia wine touring so fun!  

Vintage Ridge – when we arrived there was a small bus sitting in the parking lot, a group of people tasting, but no one around to wait on us.  I had a bad feeling about this one.  After we waited around a few minutes and I was thinking about heading out the door, the server came down from where he was waiting on the bus full of people to help us.  Sad that they only had one person waiting on that bus full and anyone else that came in, but it all worked out.  The way they do their tastings here is to bring you 2 wines at time so that you can compare.  This way we had 2 to taste while the server took care of the bus folks.  While we were enjoying our tasting, the owner came over and we had a great discussion.  He brought us some cheddar/pecan cookies and re-poured several of the wines so that we could taste with and without the cookies.  It was nice.  The tasting room was very nice, tables and serving bars around the wine tanks.  It smelled really good.  And the grounds – they were beautiful.  If it would have been slightly warmer and we would have had a bit more time, their outdoor area would be a wonderful place to sit and enjoy a glass.