On Sunday we went to Gray Ghost for their annual Cabernet and Chocolates event. Warren’s sister, her husband, and their son were visiting from New Orleans. After a regular tasting we headed back to the tank room to enjoy some reds with lots of chocolate. It was a great way to spend Valentines Day. Here are a few pictures for the event.
This past Saturday, we attended a vertical tasting of Cabernet Sauvignon at Breaux Vineyards. Samples from previous and current vintages were paired with appropriate food courses. On hand to present the wines and their profiles was winemaker David Collins.
For those who may not know, a vertical tasting is a tasting of wine of the same variety but from different years. In this case, Breaux Vineyards presented a vertical tasting of Cabernet Sauvignon that included the 2001, 2002, 2005, and 2006 vintages with barrel samples from the 2007 and 2008 vintages. However, the event started with guests receiving a sample pour of the 2006 Meritage as they made their way to the tables. This younger, fruit-forward blend was the perfect way to begin as it prepared palates for the more full-bodied offerings to follow.
The first wines offered for sample were the barrel samples, the 2008 and 2007. Both were still very young with the 2008 very tight on the nose; of course, this is to be expected with such a young wine still in its developmental stages. The 2007 barrel sample has signs of potential greatness with its characteristics of dark fruit and cedar. A tannic presence still prevails, but this will smooth with time. Both wines paired nicely with the braised beef rib served over polenta; this course included a sinful chocolate truffle that I thought took the tannic edge off of both barrel samples while bringing forward the fruit characters.
The second course featured my favorite dish of the evening—pork wellington served over wild rise and a pomegranate crème fraiche. An interesting twist to the wellington was the inclusion of a layer of mushroom slices between the pork and pastry shell. This added a layer of earthiness to the flavor profile which perhaps was why this course was partnered with the earthier 2006 and 2005 vintages. Of these vintages, my preferred the 2006; however, both vintages offered aromas that I described as leather and tobacco with tannins still more pronounced in the mouth.
The third course featured my favorite wines of the evening—the 2002 and 2001 vintages. In fact, my gold star of the evening was given to the 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon. Here now was the melding of fruit character and tannins to present a more complex wine with a nice, long finish. I detected some smokiness on the nose with dark plum, black cherry, and mocha in the mouth. Nice, silky tannins, too! “Excellent” sums it up! Oh—the food pairing was just as excellent. Grilled salmon over saffron rice served aside a chive rosewater-infused oil pecorino-romano. The 2001 was a close second for me; the fruit profile here was more extracted than the 2002 which no doubt came with the extra year of aging.
The evening ended with lagniappe, which in New Orleans means “bonus”. Our bonus pour was the 2009 Cabernet Rose, a tank sample of an upcoming rose offering. Another “still young” sample, this rose should settle down quite nicely in time for summer.
So what was the final vote for the vertical tasting? Did Paul award any gold stars?My final verdict was as follows: *2002, 2001, 2007, 2006, 2005. Paul’s vote went like this: *2001, 2002, 2007, 2005, 2006. Neither of us included the 2008 in the mix since it was still too young to judge; we wanted to be fair to the 2008 vintage!
These events are always fund and informative. For winemakers, it’s an opportunity to showcase wines from several vintages with each vintage the result of varying circumstances not the least of which is the weather. It was to surprise, for example, that the 2007 barrel sample presented quite nicely; that year was one of the best in Virginia with weather conditions resembling those of Napa in California.
The evening flew by too quickly. We caught up with Jennifer Breaux Blosser who heads the hospitality and events team at Breaux Vineyards and Sylvia Miller, one of our favorite tasting associates at Breaux Vineyards. We also met SuzieLin (one of our Twitter buddies) and Joel Timmins for the Examiner. It was great meeting them and chatting about the vertical tasting.
Be sure to visit Breaux Vineyards, and do inquire about events such as this vertical tasting to learn more about Virginia wines through the years. Please mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.
Mark your calendar for the next Virginia Wine Showcase at Dulles Expo Center February 6-7. If you order your tickets online by midnight January 1st you’ll get $15 off the normal gate price. Each week after that the discount goes down. Get online and get your tickets now!
Last Sunday we went to Gray Ghost for their yearly Holiday Open House. We had a wonderful time tasting all the wines and enjoying all the nibbles. We also enjoyed all the decorations. We were lucky enough to visit on the day after the first major snow of the season. Looks like someone else was there on the same day!
Here are some pictures from the event.
October is a great time to visit Virginia wineries. The leaves are changing colors, the wineries are harvesting grapes, there are many festivals and activities happening in Virginia the whole month of October.
Check out Virginia.org for more information on the special happenings going on in Virginia during the whole month of October!
On Sunday Warren, his parents (flew in from New Orleans), and I went to Gray Ghost to help harvest the chardonnay grapes. We’ve harvested several years in a row now and always have a good time. I was so distracted by the harvesting that I forgot to take some video of the actual harvesting. However, I did shoot some video of the process after picking the grapes. Here’s a short video of what happens to the grapes after they are harvested.
2009 VINTAGE OF NORTH END WINE CLUB TO BE “UNCORKED” AT SURF CLUB OCEAN GRILLE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Sample and Enjoy 20 different Wines for Only $10 Per Person
WHAT:
The North End Wine Club at the Surf Club Ocean Grille is resuming. Twenty wines– reds and whites – will be available for sample from Surf Club’s exquisite collection. (Customers have the opportunity to
purchase bottles of wine — with special pricing — to take home for later enjoyment.)
WHEN:
Wednesday, September 23, 2009, begins: 7 PM
COSTS:
$10 per person (plus tax & gratuity)
WHO:
Open to the Public ~ NEWC membership not required
WHERE:
Surf Club Ocean Grille
Adjacent to the Wyndham Virginia Beach Oceanfront
5700 Atlantic Avenue
Virginia Beach, VA 23451
HOW:
Please call 757-425-5699 to R.S.V.P. or for more details.
*The North End Wine Club is limited to 100 people so call today to reserve your spot.
On Sunday Warren and I had the opportunity to attend the Great Grapes Wine, Arts, & Food Festival at Reston Town Center. There were 15 wineries in attendance and many vendors and food booths at the festival. The weather was perfect for the occasion.
General Motors sponsored the event and had several new Buick LaCrosses parked at the event for people to check out and learn about. There were many representatives there offering cool Buick wine bottle stoppers for answering a few questions about the new Buick LaCrosse. Warren and I both answered the questions correctly and walked away with our own wine bottle stopper!
We made our way around the event visiting many of the 15 wineries. Here are some of the wineries we visited and which wines got our gold stars.
Cooper Vineyards-We had the chance to taste Cooper Vineyards wines back in July when they appeared at Hartwood Winery. It was good to see some familiar faces. Our gold stars went to the 2008 Coopertage Blanc and the 2008 Petit Verdot. We walked away with bottles of both of these.
Chateau Morrisette-I once called this winery the Disneyland of Virginia wineries but my opinion has changed somewhat. We have tasted their wines for a long time and this time our gold stars went to the Viognier and the Cabernet Franc.
Fabbioli Cellars-We love all the wines that Doug produces. We always enjoy talking with Doug as well. While we do love all the wines, the gold stars went to the 2008 8 Chains LoCo Vino and the 2008 Cabernet Franc.
Vino Curioso-We have only ever tasted these wines at festivals. We know they are planning to eventually have a tasting room but until then we’ll continue to learn about their wines at festivals. Our gold star here goes to the Yesterday which is a sauvignon Blanc.
Chateau O’Brien-We haven’t visited Howard in a long time so we need to plan a trip there soon. It was nice to see some familiar faces at the booth though. Our gold stars here go to the 2007 Northpoint Rose and the 2008 Virginia Apple Wine.
First Colony-Our gold stars went to the 2008 Viognier and the 2006 Late Harvest. Both very nice wines.
After visiting all the winery booths we got some lunch and then wandered around enjoying all the vendor booths. I had to buy some kettle corn and some peanut brittle. It was really good. We also enjoyed the live music at the event. We even picked up some reusable shopping bags from the Giant booth.
It was great day and the weather was perfect. We enjoyed all the wine, food, and vendors. We even considered getting a Buick LaCrosse at one point! If you happen to visit any of the wineries mentioned please tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
On Saturday Warren and I attended The Commonwealth Polo and WIne Event at The Plains. As you can see from the photos on the last post, it was a beautiful setting at Great Meadow. Even though the skies were cloudy and it was a little chilly for early September there was no rain which made it perfect for enjoying wine tasting, browsing the exhibits, and watching the polo matches. We had a great time.
Our focus of course was on the wines. There were many wineries tasting at the event. Many of the wineries we’ve visited before but there were also a few new ones. Here’s a listing of most of the wineries we visited at the festival and which wines got our gold stars.
Gabriele Rausse Winery-Stars go to the 2007 Refosco and the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve.
Philip Carter Winery-Stars go to the recently released 2008 Chardonnay and the Meritage. We plan to visit Philip Carter soon because they have some new wines coming out this fall.
Gadino Cellars-Our gold stars were given to the 2007 Viognier and the 2007 Cabernet Franc…both really nice, strong wines. We have to make a visit to the winery soon.
Aspen Dale-We had a great time visiting with Shay McNeal when we visited Aspen Dale Winery so it was nice to see her again at the tasting booth. Our gold star here goes to the 2008 Parris Country Blend Merlot.
Fox Meadow Winery-We haven’t been here in a long time so it was nice to taste their current offerings. Our gold stars went to the 2008 Riesling and the 2006 Merlot.
Miracle Valley-We’ve visited this one a few times and always enjoy their wines. Our gold star here goes to the 2008 Cabernet Franc.
Holly Grove Vineyard-This is a new one to us. We are curious to make a trip to the eastern shore for a visit sometime. Our gold star here went to the 2008 Sunset Rose.
Bright Meadow-This is another new one to us. We’ll have to plan a trip down south for this one. Our gold star here went to the Burley Red.
After our tasting we made our way to the the food vendors and had ourselves some brick oven pizza with a bottle of Parris Country Blend Merlot from Aspen Dale. It went beautifully with our spicy pizza. While relaxing enjoying our lunch our friend Dezel from My Vine Spot came by. We spent some time catching up with him and enjoying more wine and nibbles.
After enjoying our lunch, we took some time to enjoy the polo matches that were taking place right in front of us. The arrangement of the food vendors, seating areas, and shopping vendors was perfect for enjoying the polo while enjoying other activities. Warren has decided he’d like to learn how to play polo!
At the end of the polo matches, we did a little shopping at different exhibits. We left with some peanut brittle and some biscotti. We loaded up our purchases and headed home. It was a long day but one we thoroughly enjoyed. If you visit any of the wineries mentioned, please tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Warren and I went to Great Meadow today for The Wine Festival at The Plains. There were lots of wineries tasting their wines, lots of venders selling their wares, and polo matches on the green! Here are a few photos from the day. A more detailed article will be coming soon.
