Everything in Excess

whoever coined the phrase "less is more" must have died an uptight, penniless virgin because there are some things in life where, well, more is more. chocolate, shoes, fried food, sex ... of course fine wine is no exception. This past weekend in northern Virginia where wineries are found with the same frequency as public restrooms we quickly realized that, like pringles, we bet you can't eat (or go to) just one.
a few weeks ago we noticed a comment on one of our blogs about something called the loudon county wine passport. here's the deal: visit any 9 of loudon county's 21 wineries and you are entered to win fun, wine-themed prizes. what's not to love about receiving prizes for boozing your way through northern virginia? as a sweet surprise brett had mapped out a route for the weekend, little did we know we would hit many more than the 3 wineries we had originally planned.
we started the day out at dry mill winery in leesburg va. nestled in the quiant hunt country, dry mill is actually one of the newest wineries in va. the tasting room is located in a tastfully renovated horse stable and while the wine was decent and the hospitality fantastic, the views unfortunately were not. ironically we had our first taste of minor stardom when the group from reston limousine wine tours arrived and recognized us from our blog! chatting with other winos and getting great recommendations for food, wine, shopping and everything in between really was the highlight of the afternoon.
they say that there are two types of winemakers: those in a hurry, and those with the patience of angels. unfortunately , as a new winery i think dry mill is in the former category. we completed a tasting of 6 wines and did find a few we liked:

2007 Rose
This is the first rose that brett actually has enjoyed. it was light, flavorful and easy to drink.
2008 Traminette
I really enjoyed this floral white. slightly spicy but still clean and enjoyable

we also enjoyed a nice lunch here of proscuitto, brie, and baguettes and the owners gave us free glasses of wine to celebrate brett's service in the marine corps. after we got our passports "stamped" we decided to head down to brett's second planned stop for the day, chrysalis.
we'd both recently been hearing a lot about chrysalis, their wines have been the subject of national and internation acclaim as of late so we were eager to check it out.
the weather wasn't really cooperating but the drive over was still absolutely gorgeous. back roads through rolling hills lush with greenery, it really could not have been more beautiful. chrysalis was absolutely packed when we arrived and we headed to the main building for a tasting. chrysalis offers two types of tastings, a traditional and a reserve. the tastings on saturday were actually taking place down on the crush pad. chrysalis is extremely organized and offer tastings not first come-first serve but on a timed basis, necessitated, i'm sure, by their increasing popularity. as we waited we chatted with the lady administering the tasting and she told us about a fun weekend of wine and blues music chyrsalis is sponsering in september which sounds like something brett and myself may definitely check out. even though it was packed and our tasting included about 25 people, it was still extremely informative and i loved hearing the history of each of the wines. chrysalis is very focused on restoring the notoriety of the Norton grape, one of the only varietals america can truly call its own. we really enjoyed most of the wines but especially liked a few:

Sarah's Patio Red
all i can say is WOW! this 100% norton red is meant to be served chilled. suggested as a base for sangria but too delicious not too drink alone as well!

Petit Manseng
This is a delicious fruity, light, semi- sweet dessert wine.

Norton
Chrysalis offers an 03, 04 and 05 of this smooth, full bodied and full flavored red.

http://www.chrysaliswine.com/begin.htm

while the atmosphere certainly could not be considered quaint, the views are beautiful, the tasting informative, and wines delicious. chrysalis hopes to establish a creamery and restaurant in the coming year. brett and i managed to experience (albeit sometimes wobbily) 9 different wineries so stay tuned for reports on the other exploits and adventures of the weekend.

Virginia is for (wine, food & fun) Lovers

prior to two weeks ago, the "virginia is for lovers" slogan befuddled me. what about all the millions of single girls and guys out there? is virginia not for them? after one weekend at the williamsburg winery i quickly realized it is , in fact, a clever marketing ploy and would be more aptly stated as "virginia is for wine, amazing food, and small luxurious hotels of the world lovers."
brett's always been quite the history buff and as his time in virginia is rapidly dwindling, we finally made it a point to visit williamsburg. while brett was spending 5 miserable, rainy, hot, muggy days playing rambo in the quantico highlands - the neurotic, over-planning girlfriend that i am researched every possible williamsburg activity since i couldn't talk to him. williamsburg really is chalked full of activities - its rich in history, culture, restaurants, and just happens to be home to virginia's largest winery.
finally friday afternoon rolled around and i got to hear brett's voice for the first time in days!!! i hurried to the base so we could plan our weekend's activities. between colonial williamsburg, busch gardens, jamestown, and the winery we really had too many options for one weekend but when we really prioritized williamsburg winery came out on top. we opted to tour the historic area on saturday morning and head over to the winery in the afternoon. we learned our lesson the previous weekend with our double duty saturday when we stumbled off the grounds of winery at la grange after multiple tastings. we decided to make a preemptive strike and stay at the inn located on the winery so we could truly enjoy the fruits of our tasting labor. brett sweetly reserved a room for us at wedmore place but that merits another post entirely.
with a room reservation we received two free tasting passes and decided to use those immediately. it was certainly evident that this was virginia's largest winery when we arrived. there isn't simply a tasting room there is a restaurant with a beautiful ivy-covered terrace, a multi-room retail shop, museum, and 100 x 50 ft great hall that seats over 300. a wine tasting isn't simply a sampling of great wines at williamsburg winery, its a production tour, fermentation tour, museum tour that ends in wessex hall to finish with a 7 wine tasting. the williamsburg winery has made literally hundreds of wines, so our tasting barely made a dent in their repertoire. We absolutely fell in love with a few of them:

Governor's White
Light, smooth with a hint of sweetness in the finish. I greedily lapped up two of these during dinner.

Two Shilling Red
An easy to drink table red that is a blend of fruity flavors.

Vintage Chardonnay Reserve
I think Brett would trade me in for a case of this wine. Aged in french oak barrels, this chardonnay is so buttery it coats the tongue for seconds after swallowing.

Plantation Blush
Wow, talk about a step up from my usual Sutter Home White Zinfandel - this was a fruity light blush that was perfect on a hot day.

Vin Lecoreux de Framboise
Wow. In one word = heavenly. A rich merlot blended with fresh, concentrated rasberry juice. move over ambrosia, this truly is the nectar of the gods.

Late Harvest Vidal
This wasn't included in the tasting but we were able to garner a taste in the gift shop after the official tasting. Of course we fell in love with this sweet dessert wine.

We purchased a few bottles and headed back to our the luxurious bed and breakfast that awaited us! We also opted to try the restaurant on the grounds and certainly were not left disappointed. We started with the baked brie, truly magnificent, and moved on to the most succulent chicken and tortellini i have ever tasted. the chicken was covered in a reduction of the raspberry merlot dessert wine. we decadently finished the evening with a 7 layer strawberry cake all the while sampling new wines from the impressive list.
we ended the night, on the terrace sipping glass upon glass of vintage chardonnay. we sat on that patio oblivious to that fact that every other patron had left during our two hours of laughing, talking and staring at the night sky. in a word, perfect.

http://www.williamsburgwinery.com/index-hs.htm

Ditch the cammies and grab the Vino!

Ditch the cammies, ditch the rifle, and fill in the fighting holes, a casual Friday for a United States Marine, right?….but, you wonder, what’s next? Weapons cleaning, shoe polishing, iron nail chewing, or D, all of the above? Of course, normally, all of the above would be the correct answer, seeing as I am one of the leanest, meanest, hardest, fewest and proudest devil-dogs, leathernecks, jarheads, Marines in our nation’s Corps…but, even the fiercest of warriors needs a break sometimes…

On one such Friday afternoon, after spending a week in the field and after, of course, completing my obligatory weapons cleaning, gear cleaning, and, luckily for my girlfriend, a quick shower to rinse…douse…and peel a weeks worth of grime off of my body, Julie met me outside of the barracks, and in conceiting to her fate, succumbed to my still foul smell and we hopped in the car for a weekend of history, wine, and relaxation! As Julie aforementioned, we headed to Manassas, VA, home of The Battle of Bull Run Battlefield. Although it may appear that we get straight to the drinking every weekend, we do at least attempt to infuse our time with not only significant wine drinking but historical significance as well. I have been to a large portion of hallowed Civil War battlefields in Virginia, and I must admit that the battlefields in Manassas are some of the best kept and informational of any I have seen. The modern sites of yesterday’s battlefields can’t seem to resist the tainted irony that unwillingly encompasses them. Amidst the peaceful tall grass, the rolling hills, and a child’s laughter, it is still hard not to smell the gunpowder and hear the chaotic sounds of a battle fought long ago. Upon completing our mile-loop tour of the grounds and gorging on donuts from the local grocery store, it was finally time for the good stuff!

We first went to Pearmund Winery which Julie has already spoken. Upon completing our tasting there, we quickly realized that if we stay for a glass of wine we would not be able to drive to our next destination! Wisely, we packed up and headed to our next objective, The Winery at La Grange. When you first pull up, as so often in Virginia, you are brought back in history to a still shot in time. The winery makes its home in a 200 year old manor that makes simply the tour and the view worth the trip. This winery provides many places for their visitors to simply sit in lawn chairs in the front yard of a home built in 1790 and relax and soak in the amazing view of the vineyards and the surrounding hills. Beyond the amazing setting, the staff was very friendly and informative. They went out of their way to make us feel comfortable and taken care of, including offering us free glasses of wine to get a better taste, after the initial tasting! Our favorite wine here was the Fletcher’s Chardonnay 2007. This wine is aged in French Oak, giving it a very smooth finish. To reinforce Julie and I’s novice opinion, this Chardonnay is by far their most award-winning and successful wine. If you can picture yourself relaxing on a 200 year old front lawn, soaking in not only the alcohol, but also the view, then this is definitely a winery we would highly recommend!

http://www.nps.gov/mana/

http://www.wineryatlagrange.com/

pearmund cellars

since our first winery experience was such a smashing success i couldn't wait to ditch my two buck chuck for a taste of real wine in virginia. brett still lives in the barracks so many of our activities are centered around areas of virginia where some travel site has in fact led us to "a four star hotel at a two star price" . expedia recently led us to manassas va where we stayed at the four points by sheraton - a great hotel at a great value i might add. after a sunny saturday afternoon where we happily tromped through civil war battlefields and stonewall jackson monuments we found ourselves sweaty, thirsty and in need of a good drink. this time i had done my homework.

pearmund cellars is located about 30 minutes north of manassas in broad run virginia. we knew we were in for a good time when we saw a "beware - wino crossing" sign as we drove through some gorgeous farmland and vineyards. we arrived at a large, beautiful barn surrounded by two outdoor patios teeming with people playing board games, nibbling on cheese and crackers, and of course drinking wine. once we entered we saw a huge 3 sided tasting bar that was so crowded there was a line to taste! not surprising considering that pearmund cellars was voted virginia's favorite winery in 2007. since it was so crowded a sommelier approached us and asked us if we'd like to do a tasting outside. traditional tastings are 5 dollars but they also offer a reserve tasting for 7 dollars. we opted for the traditional which included 7 wines. the glasses are yours to keep for either. tasting portions were rather generous and brett and i definitely exchanged looks at one point thinking "who's going to drive us out of this joint?!" neither brett nor myself were a fan of the ameritage or lisa's merlot that we tried but we definitely had more luck with the whites (no surprise there!)

Reisling
I really liked this one! It wasn't nearly as sweet as most reislings but was very crisp, light, and nice considering how hot & sweaty we were.

Late Harvest Viognier
Brett and I both really enjoyed this one. The fruit flavors were really prevalent - you could taste the peaches, mangos and apricots and it had a lovely vanilla finish.

We headed inside and grabbed a bottle of the late harvest viognier and contemplated popping the cork and joining the others on the patio for jenga and uno but decided to walk the grounds instead in hopes that we could hit another winery later that day! in the meantime i fell in love with a golden retriever who wanders the grounds.

while this experience was much more commercialized than rogers ford we still walked out with a great bottle of wine, furthered our wine knowledge & enjoyed some gorgeous views!



http://www.pearmundcellars.com/wines.shtml

a river runs through it

vineyard hopping hasn't always been a hobby of mine or brett's for that matter. but due to his recent stint in quantico, va in the united states marine corps basic school we've had to become more inventive with our weekend activities. we stumbled upon our first vineyard because of our trusty friend tom. tom of tomtom gps gizmos and gadgets. strangely enough there's an entire link in brett's gps dedicated to wineries. after we had exhausted all museums, battlefields, and historical attractions in the fredericksburg area we turned to lady luck and decided that gallivanting around the grapes of the nearest winery would make for a perfect sunday. boy were we right.

our perfect sunday began when we traveled 20 miles north of fredericksburg to sumerduck va. tom assured us there was a winery here but we exchanged perplexed looks when we arrived at what appeared to be someone's house. gingerly we walked onto the porch and into the home to find a quaint tasting bar and small wine shop. we proceeded to taste the 6 white wines that rogers ford offers. note - brett and i have quite the sweet tooth (or teeth?) so for our first few wine ventures we really gravitated towards the sweet whites and/or desserts. here's a review of our favorites:

2006 Vidal Blanc
This crisp white is made from 100% vidal grapes and is teeming with green apple aroma and flavor. If you are a fan of sauvignon blancs or pinot grigios give this sweeter sister a try.

https://www.vinoshipper.com/wine/45

Late Harvest Vidal
this wine is no longer available on the website but be sure to ask for their current late harvest vidal or viognier. we found it spicily sweet and beyond delicious!

while the wine was amazing the real treat came afterward. the owners did not hesitate to pack our freshly purchased whites into an ice bucket with two glasses and sent us down to the river. down a few dirt roads and trail or two are two picnic tables with stunning views of the rappahannock. not only are there beautiful trails winding in and around the river - the owners had already stocked our secret spot with inner tubes so we could spend some quality time on it! the next 3 hours were full of good conversation (as we met a few other couples down there) great times floating the river and even better wine. all in all a little piece of heaven.

so now we've officially been bitten by the wino bug and haven't looked back since. we're drinking our way through Virginia and North Carolina one winery at a time and invite you to follow along on our libational and occasionally debaucherous journey.