Month: August 2006

Winemaker Bill Swain Speaks

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On Saturday we returned to Ingleside Vineyards on the Northern Neck of Virginia, and Ingleside’s winemaker, Bill Swain, was gracious enough to take time from his harvest preparations to speak with us. Bill has wonderful experiences as a winemaker and was more then happy to share some of them with us. Click on the podcast link below to hear our talk with Bill. Sorry for the hum in the background. There was an AC unit cooling the tank room while we recorded our conversation.


Show #004
Show Length: 32:17
File Size: 27.4 MB


Bill Swain, Andrea, and Warren

Before speaking with Bill we had time to do a tasting. Jameson and Sarah guided us through the wines at Ingleside. Since our last visit, Ingleside has released a new Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Viognier. The newly-released 2005 Chardonnay exhibited lots of fruit characters and provided a crisp, elegant finish. We enjoyed the Chardonnay very much, and we decided to have a bottle with our lunch. The 2005 Chardonnay proved to be the perfect partner with ham sandwiches, sliced apples, almonds, and brie. During lunch, we were also able to chat with Andrea, Ingleside’s tasting associate who arranged for our interview with Bill Swain. (Thanks, Andrea!)

Sarah, Jameson, and Wararen

During our visit we found out that Ingleside will be having a barrel tasting in November. We plan to return to the Ingleside for this event, and we are eager to sample their upcoming releases right from the barrel.

James River Cellars

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While returning home from our trip to Woodland Vineyard we decided to stop at James River Cellars. We visited James River last fall, and we were anxious to check out new releases there.

James River is located in Hanover County just north of Richmond. They have one acre of grapes on the property and another 22 acres planted in Montpelier. James River Cellars hosts several events during the year and can accommodate group events up to 50 people. They have their next wine maker’s dinner planned for February 10, 2007.


On the day we visited James River, we had the pleasure of meeting the Dastardly Duo, Doug and Dennis. They treated us to many stories and lots of information about James River Cellars as we sampled nine wines. Noteworthy wines included the crisp 2004 Chardonnay, the refreshing 2005 Vidal Blanc, and the 2003 Merlot; all three are medal winners. We also enjoyed the 2005 Divino, a dessert wine made with the Chardonnel grape. Chardonnel is a Chardonnay-Seyval Blanc hybrid, and this ice-style wine earned the coveted Governor’s Cup.


After our humorous tasting with the Dastardly Duo, we decided to enjoy a glass of the 2004 Reserve Chardonnay while enjoying the view on the veranda. This Chardonnay imparts apple aromas and flavors, and a vibrant acidity gives it a nice structure. Warren always has food on the mind, and he thought that the 2004 Reserve Chardonnay would pair nicely with crab cakes; chicken with a light sauce and toasted almonds would be another possibility.

James River is just one of five wineries on the Heart of Virginia Wine Trail. If you find yourself in the Richmond area, take time to visit James River Wine Cellars. You just might get the chance to enjoy a wine tasting with the Dastardly Duo.

And of course if you visit James River, tell the Dastardly Duo that you read about them on The Virginia Wine Time blog.

Wine Bloggers At Pearmund

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There are a less than a handful of Virginia Wine bloggers. Dezel of Virginia Wine Spot blog is one of them. We enjoy reading his blog, and we always exchange wine information with him via e-mail. It was our pleasure to finally meet up with Dezel at Pearmund Cellars for wine tasting and lunch!


Niki, Dezel, Paul, and Warren at the tasting bar.

We met Dezel and Niki at noon and exchanged hello greetings; of course, we were eager to begin our tasting. Warren and Paul brought along white-wine friendly foods for lunch and were on the lookout for the appropriate white wine for a pairing. The gold-star went to the stainless-steel fermented 2005 Viognier; its tropical flavors were a perfect match for the honeyed-ham basted with apricot spread, herbed chicken strips, and sliced peaches. Dezel and Niki’s mission was to select a red wine that would accompany the pork tenderloin and spiced rice that they brought for our picnic lunch. The ultimate winner was the medium-bodied 2004 Lisa’s Merlot with its deep cherry flavors. While at the tasting counter, we all ended up doing as much chatting as sipping, and we were getting hungrier by the minute. With our decisions made, we opted for lunch on the patio. Throughout our lunch we continued to talk about wine and we got to know our new friends.

Enjoying our lunch.

As we finished our lunch Chris Pearmund began loading palates of wine into a truck for his new winery, La Grange. La Grange’s grand opening is scheduled for Labor Day weekend. We informed Chris that we were bloggers and planned on visiting La Grange soon. La Grange is the first winery to open in William County. It’s also the closest winery to the DC area. We look forward to our visit to La Grange; of course, we’ll report about it here!

Chris Pearmund

To finish our lunch experience, Dezel and Niki treated us to a bottle of the 2003 Late Harvest Vidal to enjoy with desserts that they brought along.

As with most enjoyable experiences, our time with Dezel and Niki had to end. We cleaned up our lunch, exchanged ideas for future visits, and said our goodbyes. We really enjoyed spending time with Dezel and Niki, and we look forward to our next “meeting of the bloggers” soon!

If you visit Pearmund please tell Chris we said hello and that you read about Pearmund on the Virginia Wine Time blog!

Wine and Words at Woodland

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Those of us who blog about their appreciation of Virginia wine are actually part of a small but growing blogging community. John Witherspoon represents an even smaller community—a wine blogger who also operates a Virginia winery! We recently caught up with John at Woodland Vineyard located in Midlothian, Virginia. Woodland Vineyard is a family operation owned by Melissa Jeltema and Eric Gretenhart; daughter Megan Witherspoon is graphic designer, events planner and marketing assistant. Megan’s husband, John, is the financial, business and marketing manager. John also authors Anything Wine, one of the newest wine blogs in the area. Did John share any winemaking secrets? Well, listen to our podcast to find out!

Click on the “Podcast” link below to hear the podcast.


Show #003
Show Length: 18:05
File Size: 16.8 MB

Did we sample Woodland’s wine? Absolutely! Current offerings include a dry Vidal Blanc, the 2004 Chardonnay, the 2005 Chardonnay, the 2005 Merlot, and the 2004 Woodland White. We enjoyed all of the wines, and personal favorites included the apple-flavored 2005 Chardonnay with its buttery finish and the velvety 2005 Merlot. Woodland’s Merlot delights the mouth with lush cherries and hints of mocha. Looking for a sipping red? This lighter-bodied Merlot fits the bill quite nicely; yet, it would feel right at home on the dinner table. In fact, the 2005 Merlot was our wine of choice for lunch that afternoon. We brought along deli-style sandwiches stuffed with black forest ham, salami, Emmental Swiss cheese, fresh basil and black olive tapenade; other accompaniments included Merlot-friendly Camembert cheese, nuts, and chocolates. John chatted with us as we enjoyed our lunch and wine on the patio nestled beneath shady trees.


John joined us for some wine conversation during our lunch.

We resolved to meet up with John and his wife again very soon. Before we left, we purchased several bottles of the 2005 Chardonnay and the 2005 Merlot. Warren also purchased a bottle of the Woodland White, a nice appertif or patio quaffer. We also got to chat with Eric Gretenhart in the barrel room, and John and Eric treated us to sneak previews of the gold-medal winning Reserve Chardonnay, an elegant wine that was not yet ready for sale, and the upcoming Cabernet Sauvingnon. The Cabernet was still in the barrel, but John and Eric revealed that this one will be released in October.

John gave us a barrel tasting of the upcoming Cabernet Sauvingnon.

Thanks, John, for taking time out of your day to meet with us! We look forward to more well-crafted wines from Woodland Vineyards.