Category: Food

Dinner Wine

/ Paul / Leave a comment

Lately we’ve been returning to favorite wineries and tasting wines from our library and pairing them with delicious meals.

Warren spent this past rainy Saturday in the kitchen creating a mushroom demi-glace to serve atop a roasted veal chop partnered with roasted potatoes and roasted green beans tossed with blanched sweet peppers.

The next step was selecting a wine to appropriately pair with this delicious meal. Warren spent time perusing the wine rack for the perfect wine. He selected the 2016 Octagon from Barboursville Vineyards.

Once the wine was aerated into our glasses and a taste was had we noted blackberry, dark current, tobacco and a lengthy finish. There was also a bit of a “chew” on the palate. It paired beautifully with the veal chop and mushroom demi-glace.

We need to plan a trip to Barboursville soon. We only have one other Octagon on our wine rack. If you haven’t been to Barboursville recently, you need to plan a trip as well. And when you visit them, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

Winter Tasting at Linden

/ Paul / 2 Comments

On a recent Saturday we made reservations for a tasting at Linden Vineyards. We hadn’t visited Linden since December so it was time to return and see what was on the Winter Tasting menu.

It’s always fun to walk in the tasting room and see familiar faces. Emma was full of hellos and hugs. Our tasting associate however was new to us. I believe her name was Becky. She gave us the Winter Tasting menu and poured our first taste. It was the 2018 Village Chardonnay. After the Village (which was very good by the way) the tasting continued with comparative tastings of the following:

2019 Avenues Chardonnay
2019 Hardscrabble Chardonnay

2014 Petit Verdot
2019 Petit Verdot

2017 Hardscrabble Red
2019 Hardscrabble Red

If you’ve been to Linden before you know that all Jim’s wines are very well crafted and you won’t find one you won’t enjoy. We thought the choices for the comparative tastings were perfect. We enjoyed them all.

What did we select to pair with our lunch items? After looking over the full list of wines available, we decided to have the 2014 Boisseau Chardonnay. We brought sliced ham and turkey, hard cheeses, crackers and almonds for lunch. The 2014 Boisseau Chardonnay paired nicely with our lunch items. While finishing up the last glass, Jim came over and joined us for some wine conversation. It’s always fun to catch up with Jim while we are enjoying his wines.

Before leaving we bought some of our favorites and said our goodbyes. If you haven’t been to Linden lately it’s too late to enjoy the Winter Tasting. However, Jim informed us the Spring Tasting would begin the next weekend. We’ll have to return to enjoy the Spring Tasting. Plan a trip to Linden soon to enjoy the Spring Tasting and tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

Return to Paradise Springs

/ Paul / Leave a comment

Warren’s nephew was in town last weekend so we decided to take him to a local winery to taste some Virginia wine. We took him to Paradise Springs on Saturday. We hadn’t been there for a few years so it was time to return.

When we arrived the place was packed. Paradise Springs has become quite a popular attraction. We even had a tough time finding a parking space. Once inside though, it was a familiar space. We opted for the Winemaker’s Flight which was a mix of white wines and red wines and the Gold Medal Flight which consisted of gold medal winning red wines.

We settled in on the covered patio and enjoyed our tastings. The favorite from the Winemaker’s Flight was the 2021 Nana’s Rosé. We noted watermelon, strawberry and a hint of cranberry. The favorite of the Gold Medal flight was the 2021 Cabernet Franc. We enjoyed the cherry notes and the smooth tannins.

After our tasting we selected the 2021 Nana’s Rosé to enjoy with our lunch items. The weather was perfect for enjoying our lunch and wine on the covered patio. Plus, they had live music on the patio as well! Before leaving we purchased some of our favorite wines to bring home. We will be sure to return sooner next time. If you haven’t been to Paradise Springs lately, plan a trip soon. And tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

Happy New Year!

/ Paul / Leave a comment

We are back after a short holiday break. It’s a new year and time for some new wine adventures. On Saturday, we started the new year by returning to the last winery we posted about in 2022, Delaplane Cellars.

We elected to do a regular tasting which consisted of the 2021 Rosé, the 2021 Viognier, the 2020 Adjacency and the 2020 Piedmont Station. We enjoyed all the wines and think they are very well made. We particularly enjoyed the 2020 Adjacency. We noted cranberry and currents and the smooth ending…just like we had back in December.

After our tasting, Matt brought us a taste of the 2020 Quorum. We were not familiar with this wine. Matt explained this wine came from a special blending session for club members (and some members of the public) and is only available to those who attended the blending session. He also explained the wine is mostly cab franc and merlot but the winemaker is the only one who knows the final blend. We thought the blend was beautiful! We are club members at Delaplane but haven’t taken full advantage of the events available to members. We’ll need to keep an eye out for the next blending event. A big thank you to Matt for sharing the 2020 Quorum with us. We enjoyed it!

After our special taste, we ordered the Virginia Sampler and enjoyed it with a bottle of the 2020 Adjacency. We checked out the views while nibbling on the sampler and sipping the wine. It was a beautiful afternoon. We didn’t have any wines to pick up during this visit so we said our goodbyes and told Matt we’d be back in the near future. If you haven’t been to Delaplane Cellars lately, plan a visit soon and tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!