A Rousing Vine: Aspen Dale Winery

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Still Sipping?

April 2014, Fitz 8 weeks, Winery at Lagrange

It has been a year since my last post! A whole year! No wonder some of you were wondering if I
decided to kick the blog to the curb. I did not intend to, but it appears that way. I've been a social media slacker on the twitter too.

When I started this adventure I was frustrated with my job and ready to explore beyond the DC city limits. I decided that the vineyards of Virginia was a great way to explore, visit different counties and do so with a cost effective purpose (tastings are $2-$15).

Having made it to more than 70 of Virginia's 240+ vineyards in the past couple of years I feel like I made some serious progress. My blogging definitely started to scale back when my career picked up and writing on the weekends wasn't that appealing. Have no fear though I am still sipping at the vineyards.

October 2014, Fitz 8 mo with Aspen Dale's goats

I'd like to continue documenting my visits to "new" to me vineyards, but lately I've been at those that are tried and true. A few months ago I got an adorably energetic puppy whose first outing was to the Winery at Lagrange! He's also been to Rappahannock and Aspen Dale (two vineyards I've made a couple stops at in the past year). In addition to taking the pup out to those vineyards, I've been back to Corcoran, Fox Meadow and of course Chester Gap Cellars. Of course there are always new vineyards and at the top of my list right now are Stone Tower & Maggie Malick's wine caves...oh and Catoctin Creek distillery too!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Aspen Dale Winery: October 9, 2011

After Naked Mountain I was ready for anything and the next stop "Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn" looked like it would be an adventure. Considering its name, its website featuring lots of horses and graphics that are a bit of an eyesore I was assuming this would be a very rustic experience much like our trip to Autumn Hill. It was anything but! When you pull up it looks like an unassuming barn and the entryway is a little crowded with a wrought iron staircase directly in front of you, instead of passing it was walked to the left and found the kitchen-oops! A quick corrective turn and we were promptly greeted by a host who ushered us to a server with a smile. How refreshing, and even more so because there were no stink bugs to be found!

I didn't catch our server's name, but she was very friendly and while she explained to us that at Aspen Dale they include pairings I was enthralled with the bar. It was made of weathered wood and stones, but so nicely laid, it was modern, yet rugged. Loved it! The four of us stepped up to the bar and each had a perfect pairing tray complete with 3 pieces of pheasant sausage (1 plain, 1 jalapeno, 1 cheddar), chevre, derby sage, brie, dark chocolate and white chocolate. Just as our tasting began a local musician started to play & sing his acoustic tunes for some great ambiance. We sampled six wines for $7 and the hands down favorite was the 2007 Rockawalkin Cab Sav, maybe it was the name, maybe it was the fact that there were limited bottles left or maybe it was just good wine! The next favorite was the 2010 Hildersham Sauvignon Blanc and another white so new its not on their website and sadly I cannot track down my tasting sheet with notes. They also served a merlot called the Parris County Blend which was decent, just not as good as the Rockawalkin along with 2 semisweet wines. While tasting we all fell in love with the derby sage cheese from England, our server told us since they started serving it there have been so many requests for Harris Teeter in Northern Virginia now carries it. I can personally verify that the HT in Pentagon City does have it with some other varieties because I bought some last week. Yum!

Our tasting here was great, such an improvement to be at a spacious, lovely bar with an engaging hostess. She told us all about their "Stable Club Membership" that includes access to box seats to the polo matches they host along with all the wine discounts. A polo club at a winery?! I guess that's why its at the barn. After we decided on a bottle we headed outside to the gorgeous day and found a perfect veranda seat. We had a great view of the property including a fountain and barns with a horse and pony wandering around. Dan and I could not resist petting the miniature pony, he was just so cute and tiny! We relaxed on the veranda for several hours and (3-4 bottles) as Jill & Brad joined our party. The wines were good and the ambiance was great, Aspen Dale has definitely snatched a top spot on my list of favorite and must see vineyards!