Granite Heights Orchard & Winery

In early February we joined Kurt & Carol of Wine About Virginia for a couple of tasting tours. Kurt let us know that Granite Heights Orchard and Winery had just opened so we made that our first stop. The tasting room was in a quaint old farmhouse on the property. For $6 we tried the 4 wines that were available and got to keep our glasses.  First up was the 2008 Evening Serenade, a blend of 52% Cab Franc, 40% Merlot and 8% Cab Sav, followed by the 2008 Merlot, the 2008 Lomax Reserve, a blend of 80% Cab Sav, 10% Merlot and 10% Cab Franc, and we finished off with the GH Ashby a Port-like dessert wine. My favorites were the Evening Serenade and the Lomax Reserve. While tasting we did get to meet Toni, the half of the ownership who manages the vineyard and planting. She told us about their rigorous planting efforts that involved soaking the new vines in seaweed water before pruning, re-soaking them and then planing them. While we visited they were working on plating Barbera, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc for a total of about 13,000 plants! 

The GH mascot, Ashby

Granite Heights not only produces wines, as their name suggests they are also an active orchard. Since we had a full day of vineyards instead of walking away with bottles, we picked up some of their unique jam blends and local honey. Both the blackberry sage and blueberry cinnamon jams were winners! 

One of the several rooms available for enjoying a glass