Early Mountain Vineyards

About a year after our first visit to what used to be Sweely Mountain Winery, Debbie, Scott and I made it back to what is now Early Mountain Vineyards. The tasting room had been renovated and tastings are now done at tables inside or out weather permitting. Wine is also brought to your table in the most unique, locally hand-made wine carriers made just for the vineyard.

Since Early Mountain is still building up their portfolio of wines, they are serving their wine in flights as well as other selected Virginia wines. We all opted for the "Early Mountain Ascent" featuring their four wines. We started with the 2011 Pinot Gris that we had barrel tasted in 2011, it had smoothed out and softened to a nice light white. Next was the 2011 Viognier with a hint of fruit, this was Scott's favorite. The 2011 Chardonnay was a nice buttery oak barrel aged white that Debbie and I both favored. Finally the 2008 Merlot was also a smooth and enjoyable red.

A delicious braut with peppers and oinions

After our tasting we ordered some amazing food and while Scott and Debbie opted for wine with their meals, I tested out the seasonal Cider Flight.  First up was the Farmhouse Dry from Potter's Craft Cider, the name doesn't lie, it was a dry and tart cider. Second was the Jupiter's Legacy from Albermarle CiderWorks which was a sweeter cider. The Celestial from Castle Hill Cider was a sparkling cider and my favorite of the bunch. I finished with First Fruit from Foggy Ridge Cider the sweetest of the flight. We finished noshing and made our way to the gift shop where I was happy to find the 2010 Chardonnay by Chatham Vineyards, one of my current favorites and I'm not a typical Chardonnay fan. Perhaps this summer I'll make a beach trip out to Chatham since its on the edge of the eastern shore.

Early Mountain has certainly upped the elegance and the seated tasting adds to a more relaxed experience to the tasting room, the staff was friendly and the food was great. It will be interesting to taste the additional wines they produce in the next couple of years as they expand their wine list.

DC Wine Week at the Washington Wine Academy

This past week several DC wine bars and venues celebrated Virginia wines through DC's Wine Week 2012. I was able to join the fun at the Washington Wine Academy for an evening of Virginia's award winning wines. We were greeted with a glass of Kluge (Trump) Blanc de Blanc and welcomed into the tasting room where 3 separate tasting stations were set up and at least 20 Virginia wineries were represented. There was a limited amount of the Governor's Cup Winners so that is the table that I started at, unfortunately I didn't get to try them all but I did enjoy the wines below, (they weren't on the tasting list so forgive any misspellings or missing vintages):

• Whitehall 2010 Gewurztraminer, slightly fruit forward, and not too sweet
• Tarara 2010 Hohan Lee, a white blend  
• Glen Manor 2009 Hodder Hill, dry and earthy
• Veritas Vintners Reserve
• King Family 2008 Meritage-my absolute favorite of the bunch
• Bluestone  Cabernet Sauvignion-my second favorite of the bunch

After tasting the award winners I started the more traditional tasting, comparing similar varietals from different vineyards moving from whites to reds. There were only 2 Chardonnays an oak aged and a steel, the steel aged was from 2010 at Chatham Vineyards with the Church Creek label and amazing! There were 3 Viogniers all from 2011, one was too fruit forward for my palate (Pearmund), one was average (King Family) and the third  from Barboursville Vineyards was the best of the bunch, but I still think the oaked version from Chester Gap is my current favorite. I was excited to taste the Early Mountain Vineyards 2011 Pinot Gris, since I had barrel tasted it last fall, time has softened the tropical fruit undertones, its much lighter than I remembered, but still a good easy to drink white! 

On the red side of things there were several Meritage/Bordeaux style blends. I really enjoyed the RdV Vineyards 2009 Rendevous, it was earthy and the Merlot came through strongly, but it was a very smooth wine. It was great to taste the RdV since visiting is nearly impossible, $40 guided, appointment tours only and for $75 a bottle its a bit out of my price point. Other notable blends were the 2010 King Family Meritage and the 2008 Barboursville Octagon.  

Overall it was a great mix of wines and people, there were quality conversations with wine lovers from all walks of life. I walked away with some new vineyards to add to my list of ones to visit, particularly King Family, Bluestone and Chatham. It was also a great way to compare wines, rather than at a huge festival. I'm glad I was able to close out DC's wine week with a bang!