Virginia Wine Crew Hits Hamilton Station

It seems as though at least 10 new wineries have opened up in Northern Virginia this year. Kurt & Carol of Wine About Virginia (or maybe it was mostly Kurt) coordinated a visit to The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards on their opening weekend for a sizable group.  There was a solid showing of Virginia Wine bloggers & enthusiasts including Anthony of Virginia Pour House, Dr. Schiller of Schiller Wine, Paul & Warren of Virginia Wine Time, Kristi of Cellar Blog, Fred of This is Wine, "Loco Wino" of Wines in a Can, Stacy of Virginia Wine Know and a few friends some have been calling the "Virginia Wine Mafia." We had a great time mingling, tasting and touring the 102 year old barn and property.

Formerly a dairy farm, the milking barn is now home to the tasting room in which you can see the original stone foundation while tasting in the basement. Most of the materials used, like the license plates covering floor board holes and medicine bottle vases, were repurposed materials found in the barns. From an environmental standpoint they did a great job maintaining the original property and making use of as much of the materials found on site that they could. (Including the tables from salvaged wood.)

We tried 7 wines for $5 and all were 2011 vintages. While we were there they were pouring a Chardonnay, Viognier, Rose, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and a Meritage. With such a large group there was something for everyone. My favorites were the Viognier which is currently sourced from Charlottesville as they are still developing some of the land; the Rose from Cab Franc which was 8 months young had a strawberry nose but a peppery bite; and the Cabernet France which has 10% Chambourcin blended in to soften it a bit. 

We wandered around the entire property and enjoyed the wines as well as the views. The guys were also happy to hear that a cigar room was being installed in the former milk storage shed, it will double as the grooms quarters for onsite weddings. I think we all had a very good visit and near Leesburg it's not far from several other wineries which led of few of us to continue our journey over at Casanel Vineyards.