Un-Wine Friday – Fall 2015

I decided to play “hooky” from work on a recent Friday so Minnie and I could enjoy the fall foliage at a few Charlottesville area wineries without having to deal with the large weekend crowds. Our original plan was to visit First Colony and Trump, but we were pleasantly surprised to have a third vineyard added to our itinerary. We started our visit by making a quick stop at the Trader Joe’s in Charlottesville in order to “re-stock” our wine supply. Our second stop was a quick “in and out” at Wineworks in order to fill our “growler” and to purchase a box of Chardonnay. The “growler” and box of Chardonnay offered at Wineworks are both excellent values. We purchased both for $65. A great deal when you consider this equates to approximately 7 bottles of great quality wine. Now on to a more detailed review of the wineries we visited:

First Colony has a real thatched roof, which I really enjoyed seeing on our visit.

First Colony

The tasting room is constructed with rough cut lumber, but is bright and airy. We were the only customers in the tasting room during our visit and were served by a very knowledgeable and friendly pourer. I did not catch his name, but he was very knowledgeable about the wines and was a great  conversationalist. All in all, a very interesting guy. In my opinion, the pourer can make or break a winery visit and First Colony had an excellent pourer at the bar during our visit.

At the conclusion of our tasting, he told us about the Gabriele Rausse Winery which is located just down the road from Trump and Blenheim. We never would have noticed Gabriele Rausse Winery without his directions and recommendations.

The quality of the wines at First Colony certainly matched the competence of the pourer. In general, all of the wines were excellent. I found it to be one of the best vineyards in Virginia as far as wine quality.

• Rose’ 2014 – A very odd looking Rose’, almost yellow in appearance. It is very crisp, clean, and noticeably acidic. A very good wine. We purchased a bottle and are looking forward to drinking it soon!
• Chardonnay 2014 – As regular readers of our blog know, Minnie typically enjoys Chardonnays aged in oak barrels as opposed to stainless steel. With that being said, she loved this Chardonnay even though it is 100% aged in stainless steel. Very fruity and made with 100% grapes grown using the oldest Chardonnay vines in Virginia (planted in 1974 – a great year as it is also the year in which I was born!).
• Chardonnay Estate Reserve 2013 – I believe this to be Minnie’s all-time favorite Virginia Wine. You know what the means…buttery! This wine is full-bodied and 100% aged in American Oak.

We also tasted one other white wine, two reds, and three desert wines. All were good, but not quite as good as the Rose’ and both Chardonnays. First Colony is a great winery and I highly recommend it as a place to enjoy both great wine and a laid back atmosphere. It is just far enough from Charlottesville that you don’t have to wade through a crowd of drunken UVa students (are there any other kind of UVa students?), but close enough to be an easy drive.

This is what marks the entrance to Gabriele Rausse tasting room. That small wood side on the lift reads ‘tastings’

Gabriele Rausse Winery

As I mentioned previously, we had never heard of this winery and would never have noticed it from the road if we had not been given directions by the pourer at First Colony.  As all connoisseurs of Virginia wine, we have heard of Gabriele Rausse and enjoyed his wine at Barboursville and other vineyards around the Commonwealth. However, we did not realize he now had his own winery. This winery is similar to Wineworks in that it is “all about the wine.”

In fact, they are not open on Saturdays and all of the pourers also help make the wine and in vineyard operations.

The tasting room at Gabrielle Rausse.  It was nice and cozy and one of the more unique (and hidden) wineries we have ever visited.help to make the wine. The tasting room is beautiful, but very small and simply furnished. There are very few places to sit down. This place is definitely designed for a customer to partake of a tasting, purchase bottles of wine, and then go home to enjoy the wine.

 

 

 

A full tasting is $12/person and consists of 3 whites, one Rose’, and five reds. All of the wines were good to great, but the Dry Rose’ 2014 (Merlot and Cab Franc) and the Grenache 2011 were spectacular. We purchased a bottle of each and had the Rose’ with dinner after we returned home from our visit. This winery is a very neat and worth a visit. However, do not plan on spending an afternoon. Pop in, enjoy your tasting, purchase some wine, and move on to your next stop.

Trump Winery

We have visited this winery at least twice in the past when it was owned by Patricia Kluge’. However, we have not visited since the name has been changed to Trump and were interested in the changes put into place by “The Donald.” The architecture of the tasting room is less modern than before and has more of a “classic Virginia” look. Oak paneling, large wood trim, etc. They have also added seating to the exterior and cleared approximately a ½ acre of forest in order to open a spectacular view. Both changes were positive. Good job, Donald!

The ending to an especially good Un-Wine Friday in wine country

The wines have changed very little since our last visit. In short, they are all good, but not great.  The two standouts are definitely the sparkling wines. My favorite is the Blanc de Blanc.  We each purchased a glass of Blanc de Blanc after our tasting and enjoyed the view on a pretty fall afternoon. A great time.  The only downside to this winery was the crowds. It is pretty close to both Jefferson and Blenheim. This makes a visit very convenient, but also leads to a packed tasting room.  Trump is definitely much more commercial than First Colony and most other Virginia wineries south of the Leesburg area. The pourers were all very nice and seemed knowledgeable of the wine, but had not time for conversation or detailed descriptions.

I would encourage a visit to Trump as the view is beautiful and the wines are solid. However, be aware that it is likely to be crowded, especially on a weekend.

Off the beaten path

We made an impromtu wine trip last weekend which was quite fun.    Billy and JJ were at a scouting event all day, it was a beautiful fall day…..and our ‘good time’ friends were free.  So, what better to do than go ‘wining’.

But, as it had been a really busy few weeks, the last thing we wanted to encounter was huge crowds.  We were looking for a more relaxed pace ….just enjoying the company of friends, some good wine and our beautiful surroundings.

In a recent post, I spoke of the high crowds we have been encountering out on the wine trail.  The crowds are greatest up in the Loundon County area, but the Charlottesville area has also seen a huge rise in crowds.  Many of the big vineyards have figured ways to manage crowds, which is good.  But, they also take away from what we really enjoy….that one on one time with a knowledgeable wine pourer.

I would estimate that we visit the Charlottesville area about 50% of the time…..Loundon County about 25% and stay in the Shenandoah Valley for about 25 % of our visits.  But no mater where we go lately, we notice a huge increase in crowds.  This is great news for the Virginia Wine Industry.  But, not if you want a quiet and relaxing day in wine country.

So, on this trip, we chose two ‘off the beaten’ path vineyards to avoid the crowds and simplify our experience!

The green house at Glass House. There are a lot of hidden gems in there. Take a few minutes and look around.

First up, Glass House Vineyard.  We had been to this vineyard a few years back (back before the inception of this blog).  It is very unique, with an amazing greenhouse adjacent to the tasting room.   I would describe this vineyard as ‘whimisical’!  It reminds me of one of my favorite Artists, Brian Andreas who has a series of prints and statues called Story People.  He has a very apropos piece of work to share with regards to a days spent wine tasting:

http://shop.storypeople.com/products/permanent-todo-list-prints?variant=781337153

And for a visual of Glasshouse, and why I thought of Brian Andreas:

This beauty greets you at the door….and there are a lot of fun sculptures and other pieces of artwork inside the tasting room. In addition to Brian Andreas and his Story People, “Vina” also reminds me of my good friend ‘T’ who happened to be along on the trip with us! I wish I would have snapped a picture of them together 🙂

We found the wine at Glass House to be really solid here, enjoying each one we tried on the tasting list.    The owner of the vineyard also is a chocolatier so there is a fun option of tasting wine and chocolate together (it is delicious)…..and the option (of course!) to buy some of the delicious chocolate straight from the source.

On the opposite side of the tasting from from the greenhouse, there is a nice deck overlooking  a pond….with a vista in the distance where patrons can relax and soak up the atmosphere.    Our group opted for a bottle of Chardonnay and the greenhouse where we enjoyed our picnic lunch among the tropical plants.    I am sure the deck would also be a lovely place to spend an afternoon too.    We talked about just spending the entire day enjoying all Glass House had to offer….but ultimately decided to check out one more locale:  Moss

From Glass House to Moss, it is a short…..but windy drive..  Moss **may** be our choice for the vineyard with the best view in all of Virginia.  It has still competition, but this is hard to beat:

The leaves were just starting to turn on our visit. Imagine that view at peak fall foliage!

 

The Moss tasting rooms. Those red chairs are a great place to take in one of the best views in Virginia.

Moss Vineyard is very straightforward.  It has a tasting list on the short (but high quality)  side; with a clean and crisp tasting room and grounds.  Since our last visit, they have added a new pavilion with an outdoor fireplace that appears cozy.  There are a few picnic tables around and some wonderful Adirondack chairs to sit back, enjoy your wine and company.  We wrote a full blog on it, including how this amazing location came to be here:  http://virginiavinesandtrails.com/category/moss-vineyards/

I would call both of these vineyards somewhat ‘hidden gems’ of Virginia Vineyards.  There are a number of other vineyards popping up in the Free Union area that are also worth a visit if you are in the vicinity.  The concentration of would be good to enjoy anytime….but especially in the next few weeks for all the fall foliage.

Wine Tasting Musings…..

Mickey and I had the opportunity to meet up with an old group of friends up in the Loudon County area for some wine tastings at three vineyards.  They are all ones we have visited….and blogged on before.  So the intent of this post is to not recap the events of the day or provide insight into any of the vineyards we visited.    Mostly because we were too busy fellow shipping  to make notes on our visit.  But, please do note, if you are looking for a day out vineyard ‘hoping’, you would be hard pressed to find an itinerary better than the one we had that day:  Sunset Hills, Doukeine and Breaux.  All wonderful  settings, superb customer service and delish wine!

On the ground of the beautiful Doukenie Vineyards

Rather, this post is just a short comment how much the wine industry has changed in Virginia…… in just a short time.  It really has become an industry.

Not too long ago, an afternoon wine tasting, in and of itself, was actually a pretty cheap affair.  I remember the days when tastings were $3 a person, you got to keep the wine glass, and the fee was waived if you bought a bottle of wine to drink onsite….or take home.   Now, in some places near DC, tastings can run $20 per person.  And glasses are a separate price….usually between $5-8.   Too bad for us, we have a collection of wine glasses from every vineyard we have visited.  We used to get 2, now we get 1!

The fancy reserve tasting at Sunset Hills. Worth the cost!

Tasting lists too have changed.  Two – three years ago, rarely did we ever encounter anything other than a straight down the list sampling:  1) whites (starting sweet, moving to dry) 2)rinse the glass-3) reds (lighter into heavier)  4) rinse the glass 5) dessert wines.    The number of wines varied on this list, but at any given vineyard the standard was to taste all their wines.    Now there are white lists and red lists and premium lists and dessert only lists and vertical tastings….and probably more that I have never tried.  My favorite kind of tastings are ones that incorporate small bites of food.  And those are becoming more prevalent (at least those can justify the added cost of a tasting).

As with anything involving change, some is good and some is bad.  The higher cost and the larger crowds are in the later group.  But, in the former is a major positive.  And that is knowledge of pourers.  Just about anywhere we visit now, we get a very informed person pouring us wine.  It used to be you (usually) got a nice, engaging person who read off of the tasting notes and could (maybe) tell you a little bit about the establishment you were at.   Now, many times the people doing tastings are intimately involved with the workings of that vineyard/winery.  And you can really learn more about wine at each place you stop.  Of course, the crowds can affect how much you can individually engage the pourers.   But, when you can, they really can be a wealth of information.

Our group doing the Reserve Tasting at Sunset Hills

One particular tasting I would like to mention here is the Reserve option at Sunset Hills Vineyard.  Our group for some reason (maybe pixie dust) got upgraded to a Reserve Tasting in the basement of the tasting room.  I learned so much about the process of making wine and tasting wine during this tasting.  It was like a full on wine seminar.  I wish I could report here the gentleman’s name that led the session.  (Again, in the moment, we were socializing more than thinking about this blog).    Anonymous props to him anyway!  If you ever have the chance to do a Reserve Tasting at Sunset Hills (even if you pay the full amount), do it!

Yes, the wine industry in Virginia is alive and well and growing and changing every day.  Its has become an expensive hobby to have……but one that is so enjoyable.  Especially meeting up on the trail with old friends and enjoying such a memorable day with wine as the backdrop.