October Is Virginia Wine Month

Monday, October 11, 2021 / Paul / 1 Comment

We started Virginia wine month with a harvesting experience at Gray Ghost Vineyards. Besides COVID 2020, we have harvested grapes at Gray Ghost for 15 (Paul) and 20 (Warren) years. It’s always great fun! We usually harvest the chardonnay grapes but this year we decided to harvest the Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. Here are some pictures from the day.

Al Kellert, the winemaker and owner, starts off the day with a lesson on how to harvest grapes.

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes were gorgeous this year!

Here Warren is showing us how to snip the vine and capture those beautiful grapes.

We had a great time filling up the yellow bins with grapes.

What a great way to start off Virginia Wine Month. Please catch up with our social media to see what we are pouring and enjoying throughout the month. Are you planning on visiting any Virginia wineries this month? If so, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

Granite Heights Winery

Friday, June 11, 2021 / Paul / Leave a comment

We were visiting wineries with friends on Memorial Day weekend and stopped at Granite Heights Winery along the way. It was great to see owners Luke and Toni and catch up with them.

The day we were there they had 8 wines on the tasting menu. Our tasting was conducted by Matt, Luke’s brother. The wines were all poured in little plastic cups and placed on a tasting sheet with descriptions of each wine. Even though the wines were poured in small plastic cups, they did give us glasses to taste the wines. We tasted four whites and four reds. The favorite of the whites was the 2018 Chardonnay. It’s a dry chardonnay fermented mostly in stainless steel but also spends time in French and American oak. The favorite red was the 2012 Evening Serenade. It’s a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot. We noted red fruit, raspberries, gripping tannins and a smooth ending. It’s holding up really well. We have one bottle of this left on our rack. However before leaving we picked up another bottle to add to the collection.

After our tasting we were treated to a barrel tasting with Luke, the winemaker. He treated us to barrel samples of the 2020 Barbara (from stainless steel!), the 2020 cabernet franc, the 2020 petit verdot and the 2019 cabernet franc that will be part of the blend for their Humility red blend. All of the barrel samples were amazing! My favorite was the 2019 Cabernet Franc for the red blend.

After our barrel tasting, we enjoyed a bottle of the 2018 Chardonnay with our friends on the front porch. We had a chance to catch up with Toni while enjoying the chardonnay. Before leaving we picked up half a case of our favorite wines. We always enjoy our time with Luke and Toni at Granite Heights Winery. We’ll be visiting again soon! We recommend you visit them soon! And when you do, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

Gray Ghost Vineyards

Friday, May 7, 2021 / Paul / 2 Comments

Warren’s parents are visiting us from New Orleans for Mother’s Day. Today we took them to Gray Ghost Vineyards for a tasting and to enjoy some lunch.

We were lucky to have Amy Payette conduct our tasting. Since our last visit the 2020 Riesling was released. And this Mother’s Day weekend they are releasing the 2020 Gewürztraminer. We were able to taste both during our tasting. We noted tropical fruit and bright citrus flavors from the 2020 Riesling. It’s perfect for some spicy foods. The 2020 Gewürztraminer presented tropical notes and some spice with a touch of sweetness on the end. But it must be noted that this is fruit sweet and not sugar sweet. This one would also pair well with spicy foods or by itself!

Just when you thought there weren’t many decent reds coming from the 2018 vintage, Gray Ghost presents their 2018 Petit Verdot. This Petit Verdot has a beautiful color and notes of plum, blackberry and currants with accessible tannins. This one quickly became our favorite red of the day. After our lunch we enjoyed a glass of the Petit Verdot with some dark chocolate for dessert.

If you haven’t been to Gray Ghost lately, it’s time visit them again. Be sure to taste the wines mentioned here. And when you do visit them, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

Boxwood Winery

Monday, May 3, 2021 / Paul / Leave a comment

Recently we went to Boxwood Winery with some wine friends to participate in the Trellis Vertical Tasting that was being held that weekend. It had been a few years since we’d been there so we were looking forward to seeing how the wines had developed.

The Trellis tasting consisted of the 2014, the 2015, the 2016 and the 2018. The consensus of our group decided the 2015 was our favorite. We loved the color and the cherry, raspberry, plum and pepper notes. We noted the mild tannins and smooth finish. We were not fans of the 2014. There was just something that didn’t taste right. Maybe we got a bad sample.

After the Trellis tasting we enjoyed a flight of wines with a delicious cheese and cracker tray. We enjoyed all the wines on the flight but particularly enjoyed the 2019 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2019 Rosé. The weather was perfect for enjoying these wines.

We had a really nice time at Boxwood and want to thank all the tasting associates for their help and guidance during the tastings. Before leaving we stocked up on our favorite Boxwood wines. If you haven’t been to Boxwood lately, time to get back and taste their current line up. And if you do, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!