Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard

June was a bit of a blur so I don't remember exactly when we made a stop a Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, but I think it was near the middle of the month. I do remember that we made the stop en route to a G. Love & Special Sauce concert up in Fredrick, Maryland. I'm also fairly certain that it was a Sunday and Sugarloaf was hosting an event that involved bikers (the self propelled kind) and dogs so it was a busy day. The tasting bars were set up under tents outside so we, Lori and I stepped up to the bar, while Summer opted to cut the chase and go straight for a glass of Sangria. We tasted about 8 wines for $10, the majority grown on site with the exception of the Virginia Viognier. We favored the 2011 Viognier, 2011 Pinot Grigio and the 2009 EVOE!, a 70% Merlot blend aged 19 months in French oak and close to $40 per bottle. It also sounded like it was one of Maryland's older wineries.

After the tasting we picked up some of the Pinot Grigio for about $20, but opted to sip on some Sangria that afternoon which was refreshing and served with fresh peaches and blueberries. There aren't many other wineries anywhere near Sugarloaf so it seemed to be a nice destination as we enjoyed live music in the shade or an intriguing stop while en route to Fredrick or the surrounding area.

Molon Lave: Kosher Wine?

Hailing from the west coast I never knew many practicing Jewish folks growing up, having met a lot more of them on the east coast I still didn't realize that more than meat could be Kosher. Apparently there is a Kosher version of almost everything. From my basic understanding from something to be Kosher, wine included, it is made exclusively by Rabbis and made with machinery and equipment that is only used from the production of the Kosher product.  While visiting the Greek owned and operated Molon Lave Vineyards we found that they make "regular" wine as well as Kosher wine and are the only vineyard in the Commonwealth to produce the Kosher version in addition to 5 or 6 on the entire east coast. They currently produce 3 Kosher wines; 2010 Riesling which was a tart rather than sweet Riesling, 2010 Noiret a dry hybrid grape that has hints of pepper similar to a Cab Franc, and the best of the bunch, the newly released 2011 Chardonnay which was a nice oaky version. 

Greek handicrafts were also available for purchase. 

In addition to the Kosher versions, Molon Lave produces 8 additional wines. The most unique being the 2007 Kokineli, a traditional Greek wine that is made with pine resin which was once used to coat the ceramic urns that were used to make wine in Greece. The pine resin gave the wine a rosemary taste too, per Megan and her nose for wines she said "if I could wear a wine as a perfume this would be it." Other highlights were the 2010 Autumn Nectar with 3% rs was a refreshing blend of late harvest Riesling, Pinot Gris and Viognier, a buttery 2007 Chambourcin with a touch of fig and the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Megan enjoying the Kokineli

After our wine tasting we found that they also sell Greek olive oil and we couldn't turn that tasting down! I'm a sucker for Spanish olive oil, but let me tell you this was some of the best olive oil I've ever had. I think we all walked away with a bottle of one variety or another. There was the original version as well as infused options with lemon, orange, garlic, rosemary and basil. I picked up the rosemary which is so great to spice up some veggies. Molon Lave was a unique and enjoyable visit, especially for those who observe Jewish traditions. 

Spacious tasting room, with several bars to accommodate guests. 

Old House Vineyards

Outdoor fireplace on the patio space.

I'd heard good reviews of Old House Vineyards and all the pictures featured a giant chess set, so when we arrived to find good wines as well as a gorgeous pond view, I was pleasantly surprised. I like each wine on the Old House tasting list has its own unique font expressing the differences in the wines.  All grapes used are grown onsite and the tasting room is in the original "old house" for which the winery is named, however the spacious property seems anything but old especially during our spring visit.

I think we tried 10 wines for $8 or $10 and enjoyed several of them. Starting with the Petillante, a bubbly brut from Chardonnay grapes was just tart enough, moving to the Clover Hill a steel aged Vidal Blanc was just a touch sweet and we were off to a great start.

Pond and island for weddings and other events.

Our next pick was Rosie's Rose a Cabernet Franc that sits 3 days on the skins for its great color, after that the Wicked Bottom Chambourcin was a big hit and very dark red, finally the Bacchnalia blend of Cab Franc, Tannat, Petit Verdot and Chambourcin aged 2 years in oak was a nice smooth red. We picked up a bottle of the Clover Hill and wandered down to an almost finished patio with an outdoor fireplace next to the pond. It was a perfect spring day to sit outside with our lunch and enjoy the fresh, sunny day.

Locks of Love from weddings held at the winery.

Morais Vineyards: A European Escape

A big thanks to Kurt from Wine About Virginia and Maddie, the events coordinator at Morais Vineyards and Winery! Kurt connected me to Maddie who then organized a great visit for us along with Nancy from Virginia Wine In My Pocket.

Morais (pronounced "more-ice") was not only gorgeous, the wines were good, there was a great food to nosh while tasting and owner and staff couldn't be more hospitable! I often feel that wineries fall into the "don't judge a book by its cover" category since a lot of the small operations have quality wines and wineries housed in gorgeous tastings rooms don't always have wines that match the quality of their facilities. Well, Morais surprised and impressed us all!

Crab-balls, Croquettes & Cheeses! 

For $8 we leisurely tasted all 9 wines and enjoyed a plate of appetizers. The Morais family is of Portuguese decent and their winemakers (1 French, 1 Portuguese) incorporate old world practices in their wine making-meaning they actually stomp the grapes. Yes, that's right, they STOMP the grapes by foot in granite vats. We thought it was a joke, but no, we saw the vats, true story. There was a such a variety of wines to try that I think all those in my group-Megan, Debbie & Lori-found a favorite wine or 3. My favorites were the Select White Wine a Rkatsitelli that had a tart apple finish, Rose Wine a dry rose made from Cab Franc tasted like a crisp white, the 2010 Red Select a 50%-50% blend of Merlot and Cab Franc, and the 2011 Merlot a soft Merlot that was just released. Megan, in true "Nose" fashion, found the Battlefield White Wine to be the best smell of the bunch, it was a green wine and Morais is the only known producer of this wine in the states, its a blend of Vidal Blanc and Albarino. Lori loved the Moscatel and the Battlefield White as well while Debbie was drawn to the 2011 Touriga Nacional, the traditional Portuguese wine. All the grapes used here are grown on site too.

Mr. Morais discussing the winery history with Nancy
in the Cellar

After our tasting Mr. Morais took us for a tour of the event space, cellar and the winery's original tasting room. They still use the original tasting room while weddings or other events are going on at the facility. While we were in the cellar I couldn't help but notice how the smell took me right back to the wine cellars of Moldova. After the cellar tour we scoped out the property, which includes some farm animals and a wooden train for small children to play on.




As previously mentioned, we had a great visit and I think its impossible to take a bad picture of the stunning exterior of Morais. If Virginia wine tasting is on your agenda, try to squeeze this one in and you'll be happy you did! 

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

Port City Brewery

In the past year and change two microbreweries have popped up in DC area, DC Brau and Port City Brewery. A few (ok several) weeks ago we made it to Port City in Alexandria, VA. For $7 you get to sample all 5 beers on draft, a tour and keep your tasting glass. The tasting room is fairly spacious and includes a mini-museum of beer history artifacts. The day were there there we tried the Essential Pale Ale, Monumental IPA, Optimal Wit, Tartan and Porter. The Porter and Optimal Wit are my favorites.

While touring the process we heard about the Revival and Oyster Stout that I need to track down and try. We also did the equivalent of barrel tasting and tested some unfinished beer, not sure its quite as good as barrel tasting wine.  Unlike wineries with in 4-6 beginning to brew a brewery can produce their first beer; in the case of Port City they opened in early January 2011 and had their first brew ready for the Super Bowl in early February 2011. In my humble opinion, microbreweries make the best beer and one should always drink locally so if you're out and find Port City on draft I suggest trying it out, you won't be disappointed.

Malt is key for brewing.

You can't have beer without hops either.

The finished product ready to be served a fine local establishments! 

Colonial Winery: Williamsburg Winery

Historically housed winery

As my journey continued south to North Carolina I was hoping to make it to The Williamsburg Winery before closing as it was well after 4pm after my New Kent stop. I checked my 2011 VA Wine map it gave one closing time, my new 2012 map gave another set of hours as did their website and the VA Wine in My Pocket app. Seriously? So I called old-fashioned style and found they were open until 6pm, excellent! I arrived and found that a tasting had just started so they let me join the group. What I didn't realize is that everyone else had a tour before hand.

A Winery Resident

I learned in the tasting that Williamsburg has more guests annually than any other Virginia winery, I suppose that makes sense given the town is a tourist destination. What I also found is because of that they are definitely prepared for folks new to wine tasting. This was evident when our server swirled each taster's glass after pouring the wine. There were probably about 12 people in on this tasting so by the time he got to me I was just ready for him to pour and let me swirl my own glass. The tasting included 7 wines for $6 and I think they gave everyone a corkscrew when they took the tour.  My favorite wine on the tasting was the 2006 Gabriel Archer Reserve which is close to a Meritage since it blends Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Merlot & Petit Verdot.

It all worked out when we finished up the tasting I was chatting with another staff member and he graciously gave me an impromptu tour and some additional tastings including the amazing 2008 Adagio ($65 a bottle or I would have picked it up), and the 2010 Susan Constant Red a Syrah. He also told me about the Reserve Tasting for $36 per person which sounded like something I'd enjoy on my next trip down. Since I was traveling solo this wine stop was rather impromtu, next time I'll stick to my regular recon before the trek.

New Kent Winery

It was so sunny! 

A little farther down the road from James River was New Kent Winery.  After winding through the beginning of new developments I found the tasting room. It was very quiet and rustic, made with reclaimed wood. For $8 I enjoyed a tasting of 7 wines, tour-from a very gracious and patient hostess-and got to keep my stemless glass. New Kent has been growing their grapes since 2001 and built their stunning tasting room in 2008 with many reclaimed and reused local materials. Like James River, they only buy two varietals, the Cabernet Sauvignon and Niagara which is a cousin to the Concord grape.  My favorites were their Meritage and Merlot. They also serve a White Merlot which was quite interesting, it was sweeter than a red Merlot with 3% rs and hard to believe it was the same grape.  They had a great porch that looked out over the vines where guests are welcome to bring their own food and enjoy the views with their wines. This was a very peaceful stop that seemed to be a little bit off the beaten path.  Also overheard on my stop was a discussion that the owner or manager's office has floor tiles that come from the Ming Dynasty...rumor or not?

The marble inlaid tasting bar

Railroad trusses in the tank room

Spring Wine Tasting: James River Cellars

En route to the beaches in North Carolina for a little spring R&R I decided to make a few wine stops on the way, how could I not when they are right off the highway? It was a random Tuesday and the first stop was James River Cellars. They have 20 acres of vines in Montpelier, those onsite in front of the tasting room are just for decoration, they are able to grow the majority of their varietals there, with the exception of Moscat and Chambourcin. Our server was Alison and she did a great job talking about the wines and offered several recipes throughout the tasting. 

The tasting included 14 wines for $5 in a bright and airy tasting room, unfortunately I think the wine distracted me from taking photos on this stop.  I really enjoyed the 2010 Vidal Blanc that had a peach nose, but the grapefruit really came through when drinking the wine. The 2010 Rad Red which is a blend of the Merlot and Cab Franc was a deep, dry red and a portion of the proceeds go to the Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, I couldn't help but pick up a bottle for both the taste and the donation. I also enjoyed the 2008 Merlot and the 2008 Montelier Blush which has 3.2% rs, but would be quite enjoyable on a hot summer day; judging by the current DC weather, I'm guessing we are on our way to a long hot one, so I stocked up to be prepared! The other tasters had asked some questions about wine festivals and the staff advised that should you attend a two day festival go on the second day as that is usually Sunday, Saturdays tend to draw the rowdier crowds, I'll definitely be heeding this advice.

This stop was quick-for 14 wines!-quaint and easy to get to from the highway. There really wasn't much I didn't enjoy and the prices were pretty good too! 

Beyond Philadelphia; Wineries on the Delaware River

Adding to what seems to be this year's theme of new (to me) states of wine, while in Philadelphia visiting Jenny & Michael we visited some Pennsylvania wineries. While we all enjoy sipping, they were also out to scout potential wedding venues. It made for an adventurous day along the Delaware River. We were able to make 3 winery stops while meandering through small towns, some with houses built right into the riverside cliffs. The views on the drive were much more than I expected and it was great to see a rustic side of the state.

Waiting to bloom

Our first stop was Crossing Vineyards and was probably the most picturesque of the three. It had a nice garden and outdoor event space, perfect for a wedding. With 15 fruit producing acres they produce 7 of their varietals on site, which is probably more than half of their varietals.  Inside the tasting room was bustling, so much so that we were sent to the barrel room for our tasting. Tables set up in a large U were arranged for several groups, unfortunately the winery was very understaffed. There were only two servers to manage the barrel room that had at least 6 groups tasting simultaneously which meant our tasting took close to 2 hours! We ended up skipping some of the dessert wines since we wanted to see the other wineries so we tasted about 16 of 19 wines they had available. We did enjoy the wines for the most part, specifically the oak Chardonnay, Merlot, Cab Sav-Merlot blend, Heritage and Chambourcin Reserve. They had several blends some that the server could tell us about when he had the time, others were the "winemakers secret." It seemed to us that visiting Crossing should probably done during the week and with a $15 (no glass included) tasting the winery could benefit from more management involvement as far as staffing the tasting room and support their staff by providing more comprehensive and consistent information on their wines.

Stop #2 was New Hope Winery and much more our speed in terms of service and ambiance. We pulled up to the winery and noticed a concert listings that Micheal, the music buff that he is, thought was a joke, he and Jenny were both thrilled to find out that it wasn't at all. The winery features local and national acts regularly. The interior was a cozy, rustic barn and for $7 we were able to pick 5 (or 7) and keep the glass from the list of their 24 wines. They feature several fruit wines much like those found at Horton Winery in Charlottesville.

New Hope tasting room & shop

It turned out that our server also was the talent scheduler and asked for our --er Micheal's input on future bands he'd like to see there; who know how many she can line up, but being able to give suggestions was great. Our favorite wines were the Chancellor which was similar to a light Cab Franc and the Almondiera probably because it was the most unique as its made with almond extract, it was similar to Amaretto, but a wine.  

Sand Castle Winery

Our last stop of the day was Sand Castle Winery, established in 1974 and probably had the best overall wines of the day, Jenny definitely preferred their whites out of all the others. It was nearing closing time and I guess that Pennsylvania has really strict drinking laws since once they close, they aren't supposed to serve alcohol so we hurried through our tasting. Very different than slipping into a Virginia winery at 5:45 and staying until after closing. We were able to try all 13 wines and their Sangria for $5 (keep the glass) and had pairings with a few of the wines. Our Italian host guided us through the wines with meal pairing tips for each wine and gave us the following pairings with the wines:

• Chardonnay Classic 2006 with chocolate brought out the fruit
• Cashews with the Dry Rose softened it
• A rosemary sprig and white chocolate with the 2008 Pinot Noir were both interesting-in a good way
• Dark chocolate with the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon was probably the most standard pairing 
• Wasabi peas with the Cuvee Blush went surprisingly well together
• White and dark chocolate with the 2008 Johannisberg Riesling Late Harvest was a rich finish

Sand Castle's marble tasting bar

While there wasn't much we didn't like a Sand Castle, its no doubt that for their reds the best was their 2001 Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon. It was too bad it was dark and rainy out as it would be nice to spend some time wandering the grounds and facility since it really is a large sand castle sitting on a hill above the river. 

This was just a third of what lies on Bucks County Wine trail, but winding through these wineries, especially the last two was good way to spend a rainy day with great friends.