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. 

Bottle Jack Wines: Sipping & Skyping

As you may know Moldova influenced a lot of my wine tasting and I can often be seen on the wine trails with some of my friends from Moldova, well Americans I met there like Dan, Debbie, Megan & Scott. See we were all bound together in a crazy family commonly known as "the Peace Corps."  Family can be hard to avoid, leave or permanently ignore in general. Add that to living in a place where bathing is weekly and indoor plumbing is rare that familial bond fuses.  We look out for each other and stick together as much as we might  frustrate each other from time to time.

One of my friends from those Peace Corps days, John, took his introductory knowledge of house wine making from Moldova back to California, expanded his education more formally and began making Bottle Jack Wines. His first batch of wine from 2008 was bottled in 2011 and includes 3 varietals: Firenze, Zinfandel & Syrah. Since us regular Virginia wine tasters are in DC and John and his wife Katharine (yet another Moldova alum) are out in Santa Cruz we ordered his wines and requested a Skype date to have him walk us through his varietals.

Bottle Jack, photo by Debbie

We started with the Firenze, an 86% Sangiovese blend with 10% Petite Sirah & 4% Zinfandel. This was a very smooth wine aged in French Oak, as we learned Sangiovese tends to be acidic which cleanses the palate  and why it is so good with pasta. Dan, who spent a year in Italy, gave it two thumbs up.  Next we were on to the Zinfandel, I was a bit of  a skeptic when it came to the Zin, but I was pleasantly surprised by its peppery taste. This was Megan's favorite as she enjoyed the tart kick it had, also French Oak aged. Last, but not least was the Syrah, which may have been the over all favorite. It was aged in new American Oak which really brought out a wonderful vanilla nose and taste. We concluded that it would be great with a steak, but you could also enjoy it on its own.

What is "Bottle Jack?"

All of these wines are bold, distinct reds, which is what I really like.  Much bolder than a lot of the reds we try at young Virginia wineries, but since John is a relatively new winemaker I was really curious as to how he achieved such distinct flavors. Was it the age of the vines? Is it the California climate? Is it the type of barrels used? After asking John some follow-up questions and browsing through my Virginia notes I came to the conclusion that it is all of the above. Virginia (typically) gets a true winter and is humid in the summer. California and more specifically Santa Cruz where the Zin & Syrah are from have rocky, sandier soils that drain well from their slopes. The Firenze which comes from Gilroy which isn't too far from Santa Cruz has a similar mild, climate. The vines producing Bottle Jack grapes are probably a couple years older than those at younger Virginia wineries. In addition to enjoying a glass, learning something new by asking these types of questions is just another reason why I enjoy the wine tasting journey.

Not only are Bottle Jack wines quality wines, they are also sustainable; the wine is bottled in reused bottles from Wine Bottle Renew, the labels are tree-free made from a blend of bamboo, cotton & bagasse, plus they don't use foil capsules which all adds up to a lot of natural resource savings. The Zin & Syrah are fairly close to being organic as well, the only exception is an occasional sulfur spraying they do to keep mold at bay.

We all enjoyed the wines so much and catching up with John & Katharine, we're getting ready to place another order. If you like reds and decide to give Bottle Jack a try, you won't be disappointed!

A Nice Eastern Shore Stop

Our second stop in Maryland was about 40 minutes east of St. Michaels, Layton's Chance Vineyard in Vienna, MD.  It popped up not far from the water and surrounded by farmland. It was very peaceful with rocking chairs on the front porch. We were the only guests, but had apparently just missed a big crowd. The tasting room was well decorated with local pottery, other crafts and wine knick-knacks.

Our two hostesses were very friendly and told us quite a bit about the property. We learned that they made their first wine in 2009 and since they are still building their vineyards they have bought some of their grapes from other MD and NY vineyards. For $3 we tried 8 wines and the wine frappe. Layton's Chance is on Lazy Day Farm which is an 1800 acre working farm, owned by the Layton family.


They have their signature concord grape wines which are sweeter and they call the "beer drinkers wine," Joe's Cool White and Joe's Cool Red both with 8% rs and 12% alcohol. As a (dark) beer fan myself, perhaps these should be called the light beer drinkers wine. I did like their red version of Joe's slightly better than St. Michael's Gollywobbler. As for the rest of the wines we all liked the 2010 Traminette the best,  the Chambourcin was made with NY grapes but it was a bit more tart than I like my Chambourcin to be. They had the sweet wines well represented with a Lazy Day White (4% rs) and Lazy Day Rose in addition to Joe's wines. In the summer they serve a sweet Watermelon Wine which is a local favorite, unfortunately they were sold out so we were not able to try any. This vineyard seemed to fit the Eastern Shore with their light sweet wines for summer time sipping. While enjoying a glass we had some local cheeses from Chesapeake Bay Farms and we fell in love with their smoked cheddar!

Since we were so far from home we asked our hostesses for dinner recommendations and they pointed us in the direction of the Hot Spot Cafe in Cambridge. We also adored this spot! We had the best surf & turf...all the surf was amazing your choice of shrimp, scallops or crabcakes and since there were 3 of us we got to try all three. Delish!

Maryland Has Wine; And It's Good!

Virginia has wine so why wouldn't its northern neighbor, Maryland, have wine? That was my question while in Annapolis last weekend while supporting a friend as she participated in the Polar Bear Plunge. Thank goodness for smart phones because a quick Google search told me that Maryland does have wine on the eastern shore! Unfortunately the Maryland Wine website is not nearly as easy to navigate as the Virginia Wine website, but I was able to find one about 40 minutes east of Annapolis, St. Michaels Winery in the historic town of St. Michaels "the town that fooled the British."

I had Megan and Debbie in tow and we made our way to the tasting room, which was behind a brewery and around an old flour mill. The tasting room was packed! It seems it was the last day to redeem a Living Social deal there so it was full to the brim and the staff was working hard. We were originally told it would be a 20-30 min wait for a tasting, but some friendly tasters who were finishing up made room for us at the main bar.  There we were greeted by a friendly server who told us that St. Michaels has been making wine since 2005 and a lot of the Maryland wineries were taking notes from Virginia's growing industry. She also told us about the Maryland wine passport that has codes for each of the 50 wineries in the state; once you register yours you are eligible for discounts to tasting events, festivals and bottles. Virginia, you've got to get in on this!

The tastings were a la carte and a $1 for each, if you tried more than 3 you got to keep your glass. We tried about 9 of the 16 available, they were sold out of an additional 4 wines. We all tried the same first 3, Long Splice dry white, steel barreled Chardonnay, and a steel barreled Viognier. The Long Splice, a seyval blend, had a very fruity fragrance and we all enjoyed the Chardonnay & Viognier.  I went straight in for the reds starting with the Maryland Merlot, a smoky merlot that is grown on a former tobacco farm, followed by the Island Beauty which a wonderful smooth and dry red. The Syrah had a nice nose, but it was a bit too dry for my palate, that was followed by the Martha Chamborcin which was light and named for the Martha Skip Jack that brings the grapes down the channels. I finished up with the Gollywobbler Red, made from the Concord grapes that grow well in Maryland. While I was busy with these Debbie and Megan had skipped down to the off dry whites, the Pinot Blanc and St. Michaels White (vidal). Megan was head over heels for the Pinot Blanc which had notes of mint in it, a very refreshing cool white, also the wine makers favorite. Debbie tried it next and also loved it so I gave in and tried it as well, it was amazing! I mean you all know I'm learning to like more whites, but this was amazing! Lucky for us they were having a sale on whites, 3 for $10 so we walked out with a couple boxes of the Pinot Blanc, Viognier and Chardonnay. There was also a "bargain bucket" of wines marked down because of their imperfect labels and Megan jumped on the bottle of Pinot in there.

While the tasting room was a bit cramped, the service was great and the wines were wonderful! Next time you are heading out to Maryland's eastern shore make this stop for sure!

The Winery at La Grange: Historic Hot Spot

Next stop: The Winery at La Grange! We had plenty of time once we arrived at La Grange-the sister winery to Pearmund Cellars-to taste all of their 14 wines and get a bit of history. They have a detailed tasting sheet, very similar to the one we picked up from Potomac Point which is a great reference. Both sheets list the area, vineyard, aging (barrel type), alcohol %, residual sugar %, prices and winemakers notes of each wine.

I really don't think we found a bad wine in the bunch, but some we certainly liked more than others. As our friendly server walked us down the line we favored the light and refreshing 2010 Pinot Gris, lightly sweet 2010 Cuvee Blanc with 1.2% rs, the smooth 2009 Meritage, 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Bunoni's Dead but Still Red (Cab Franc) and the 2009 Snort a port style wine with 8% rs. The bar was cozy, and the servers were inviting, we also found there were several cheeses, meats and breads for purchase which made us even happier to have wandered in. 

Benoni's Lounge 

The Winery at La Grange was established as a farm in 1787 and is apparently haunted by former owner from the 1700s Benoni, who has his own wine as mentioned above. Tradition is to leave a full glass for him on the mantle each night. There is also a basement lounge that is said to be where the ghosts hang out. We took a peek at this cool cavernous room with low ceilings that did give an eerie vibe. There is also an upstairs sitting room with comfy chairs and fires where we settled down with our drinks and snacks.  We were so happy to have made this stop as we finished off the day with good company and great wines in a warm and inviting atmosphere. You'd be hard pressed to not find a wine (or 3) you wouldn't want to take home at this stop!

Winter lights to the barrel room

Paradise Springs Winery: The New Tasting Room

My first visit to Paradise Springs Winery was a year and half before. I've heard a lot of praise for their new tasting room and wanted to see for myself what the hype was about. We made it our second and what we thought would be our final stop for the day.

The tasting room was huge, beautiful and luxurious. As the closest winery to DC it was packed, very packed. All of the tables, stools & outdoor couches were occupied. We stepped up to the bar, but there was a wait. Unlike some other wineries there was no host, no server also greeting folks. We stood there unacknowledged for 15 to 20 minutes, to worried that if we left our spot we would miss our turn for the tasting. First of this irritated us, second I hated the feeling of hovering over the other guests who were trying to enjoy their tasting. This tasting was not off to a great start, but we hadn't had the wine yet.

We got up to the bar and our server was very nice, but mentioned nothing of our wait or their busy day. or $7 we tried 7 wines. Most of us did enjoy the 2009 Reserve Cab Sav and the 2009 Meritage. The price points for their wines are higher by the glass and bottle than other vineyards. It seems as though Paradise Springs has geared themselves toward the city crowds who want to visit the vineyards, but not get too far from the Beltway. Unfortunately this experience was less than mediocre, instead of sitting and enjoying their wines like we originally intended we quickly left and searched for the next closest option.

Original TJ from the 1870s

Potomac Point Winery: Sitting Solo

During one of the several long weekends January seemed to have we, Megan, Debbie, Scott and I, decided to visit the vineyards that sat by themselves, the first was Potomac Point Vineyard & Winery. One of my coworkers was married there and raves about it, so it was time for a visit. With the holiday weekend it was an easy drive down 95 to the vineyard which does sit alone near Quantico.

Behind the Bar

It was a quiet day there and Potomac Point was much more Italian influenced that I expected. It was decorated with lots of dark wood, murals over the bar and there was an olive oil tasting bar too. We opted for the premier tasting rather than the basic so we were able to taste all 11 wines that were available, since its time to bottle soon they were sold out of a few. They had a very good 2009 Chardonnay Reserve aged in oak as well as the 2009 Petit Verdot-Megan said she could sit and smell this one for hours! To me it tasted similar to the Cab Franc, but was smoother. We also enjoyed the Custom Label White which is 50% Chardonnay & 50% Viognier and their 2010 Abbinato (50% Sangiovese & 50% Touriga) which had a butterscotch nose but we tasted cherry. After the wine, we tasted the lemon, orange, basil and rosemary olive oils which were also enjoyable.

Potomac Point has an onsite bistro so we moved to the next room where tables were made from barrels and enjoyed lunch. We opted for a bottle of the 2010 Norton to have with lunch since they were so low on quantities we were unable to taste it. Was that a great idea or what! All 4 of us loved the Norton & I'm pretty sure we all took a bottle home!  We enjoyed our visit to this unique winery and recommend sitting down for the food, it was all very warm and delicious especially on a cold winter day.

Italian inspired art, photo by Debbie

Fujishin Family Cellars

Since our tasting had been moving along so quickly we decided to stop in at a 3rd tasting room, Fujishin Family Cellars, about 2 miles from Ste. Chapelle.  We almost passed by this one as the tasting room for the winery is hosted in an old farm store. We walked in and found that we could not only buy wine, but also local pears, peaches and apples. The bar was a portion of the sales counter with prices listed on a large chalkboard. You could taste any number of their 9 wines for free and the hostess was very engaging. I went almost all the way down the line and picked up a bottle of their Viognier. Mom & Jen liked their Lost West label red & white wines which were a bit sweeter. We also picked up some locally canned peaches which were great on Christmas! It was a very unique, Idaho experience and would suggest checking it out if only for the novelty of trying wines next to an old fashioned wagon filled with fresh fruit. 

The tasting bar

They had some good signage

Very good signage!