Virginia Wine Time

Tonight for dinner we had "chicken ala Lava". He created a chicken dish with chicken cutlets, almonds, lemon, parmasean cheese, and basil. Again this evening we decided to have a non-Virginia wine. Lava selected the 2005 Antonin Rodet Chardonnay. The color is clear and golden. It's dry with hints of apple, melon, and almond. It's got a honey texture with a full mouth feel. It lingers and has nice legs when swirled. This chardonnay complemented Lava's chicken meal nicely.

This evening we decided to stray from our usual Virginia wines and try a 2001 Clos Pegase Cabernet Sauvignon. Lava just returned from his holiday vacation and we decided to enjoy some chocolates with the wine. We selected some dark chololate truffles and some sharp cheddar cheese. The wine is 14.5% alcohol. It's got a jammy taste with a heavy fruit forward; cherry, chocolate, tabacco and pepper/oak. It's very full bodied. It's an unfiltered blend and the petit verdot comes through. It's a great wine but needs big foods to enjoy it completely. A nice big piece of meat would be nice with this wine. It's a classic Napa Valley Cabernet. We thought it went well with the chocolates and sharp cheddar cheese.

This evening I opened a bottle of Piedmont Vineyards and Winery Little River White. I'm not having it with a meal, I'm just sipping it while watching TV. This is a blend of Seyval Blanc and Chardonnay. It's a sweet, fruity taste with pineapple aromas. However, for some reason it has a slight bitter taste to it. I had about half the bottle and have since decided I won't be buying another bottle of the Little River White. Piedmont has other very nice wines so I'd avoid this one if you are given a choice. I'm sure Lava would be able to describe it's taste in more detail then I could. Lava is on vacation visiting his family so he's not here to give his impressions of this wine.

In our search for wine blogs we came upon Cellar Blog. He covers some Virginia wines. Check out his blog sometime. We have put a link in the sidebar to future reference to his blog.

Today we went to Windham Winery for lunch. We hadn't visited Windham since last summer and wanted to see if they had released any of their reds. We did a tasting and enjoyed all of their selections. The 2004 Merlot won't be released officially until March 2006 but the woman working the tasting bar offered us a taste. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it was obvious it needs to lay down for a few more months. We went ahead and bought a bottle and will enjoy it next spring.

We took some leftovers from Friday's holiday dinner party and selected Windham's 2003 Cabernet Franc to enjoy with our meal. We were pleasantly surprised at how well it went with our meal. We sat out on their deck, which the had enclosed for the winter months, and enjoyed our meal and the wine.

After our lunch and purchases, we walked around the property and took photos of the landscape. Below you can see Lava resting on a picnic table bench.



After our visit to Windham Winery we decided to stop by Village Winery. This is a very new winery. They have only been open a few months. We visited them on their opening weekend and things were really rough. This visit things were a bit more polished. Luckily we ended up being the only people visiting the winery. This made it possible for us to have a special private barrel tasting with the owner/winemaker. He was very nice and let us go on and on about wines and winemaking. We were able to taste a 3 month old cabernet franc. It smelled awful and the taste was just as bad. But you could tell that in about a year this will be a very nice wine. We really enjoyed our visit and felt lucky to be able to taste the cabernet franc so soon in the barrel.

Earlier this evening we had a holiday dinner party with a few friends. Lava created a wonderful dinner and selected some delicious wines with each course.

With appetizers: Gray Ghost Chardonnay---very lightly oaked with lots of apple and pear flavors. Very good sipper that complements light cheeses and fruit.

1st course: Corn Chowder with goat cheese toast paired with the Gray Ghost Reserve Chardonnay. Creamy texture with this Chardonnay; more oak with buttery taste. Lots of fruit despite the heavier oak; longer finish than the first Chardonnay.

2nd course: Wilted Red Cabbage with Shrimp and Spicy Tangerine Dressing paired with Rene Mure Gerwurztraminer (2003). Off Dry wine with tropical fruit characteristics---ginger, pineapple, and spices. Very aromatic wine that hints at sweetness but actually rather dry finish.

Main course: Pork Roulade; Green beans topped with carmelized onions and prunes; Mashed sweet potatoes paired with the Barboursville Reserve Cabernet Franc (2002)---lots of raspberries and plums with hints of pepper and vanilla. Pepper/oak aromas as well. Well rounded wine with a longer finish.

Dessert: Pecan Pie with vanilla ice cream paired with Gray Ghost Adieu (2004)---proclaimed best wine east of California. Smooth dessert wine with apricot and peach flavors. Honey-like texture; always a crowd pleaser and a nice way to end a meal with friends.

On Saturday evening, Lava and I went to Cafe Deluxe in N.W. Washington, DC for dinner. I had a herb(ed) roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, and Lava had crab cakes. Lava selected a bottle of Allan Scott 2004 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. We were both a little surprised when the waiter brought the bottle and it was a twist off top. We know that many wineries in New Zealand and Australia are using twist off tops but our experience with twist off tops on wines in America hasn't been very good. We were both pleasantly surprised to find that this wine was very good and paired well with our dinner choices. The wine has strong lemon notes and Lava noted grass as well. I did not notice grass hints myself. The winery describes this wine as follows:

A very full bodied wine that contains an abundance of fruit flavours and a spanking acidity. Pineapple, passionfruit and melon like flavours are all present, in addition to a hint of Marlborough herbaceousness. A very lively and approachable wine.

I would say that Lava and I would agree with this description. Try it. You may enjoy it as much as we did.

This evening for dinner Winer made pasta with alfredo sauce with diced chicken. For the wine, Lava picked out a 2001 Piedmont Vineyards chardonnay. It's fermented in stainless steel tanks so it does not have the oaky character of many chardonnays. This one was more fruity. It had a nice color and went well with the meal.






Before dinner we had were decorating the Christmas tree and having some simple nibbles. With the nibbles we selected the Chesapeake Wine Company Blue Crab Blanc. It went well with cheeses, smoked ham, crackers, and almonds.

Nice choice of wines for this evening's events.

Yesterday Lava and I went to Gadino Cellars with our friend David. The wines were actually well crafted; this is a first-year winery in Rappahanock County, and they've created some very good wines. The whites were particularly good. The Chardonnay was done in a California style, but less oaky and certainly very crisp. The Viognier was a surprise---less oaked with more prominent fruit flavors. Lava bought a bottle of this one, and Viognier is not usually his "glass of wine". Gadino only had two reds to taste. The first was a Merlot, and it was quite good though perhaps a bit young. Red currants and cherries came to mind with a nice finish; Winer, Lava and their friend David, all enjoyed this one and bought a glass to sip on the deck. The Cabernet Franc was the weakest of the offerings; it was not a bad wine, but nothing seemed to be outstanding about it. Cab Franc is one of Virginia's strongest wines, and Lava expects that Gadino will be producing very good Cab Francs in the future. All in all, this is a very good winery, and we will be back to Gaudino with a nice picnic lunch!

After attending the Gay Men's Chorus' Holiday Concert, we went to Kincead's for appetizers. We enjoyed a Chardonnay from Firestone Vineyard in Santa Barbara, California. This Chardonnay is for the wine drinker who does not like an oaky Chardonnay; most California wines, the Chardonnays in particular, are heavily oaked. This one was very crisp and fresh with lots of tropical fruit characters. Lava enjoyed the hints of citrus as it paired well with his fried clams. The clams came with fried lemon slices and hush puppies. Winer had cod, and he found the Chardonnay pairing to be quite appropriate. For dessert, the bartender treated us to a splash of Blandy's Medeira; this was nice and toasty. This Medeira was like sipping on toffee---smooth honey texture with bits of chocolate. Nice long finish here. It was a perfect way to end a lovely meal on a night that was very cold and windy. If you haven't been to Kincead's, you should get dressed up and enjoy some wonderful food with delicious wines.