Category: Winemakers

Chester Gap Cellars

/ Paul / 1 Comment

On a recent Saturday we met our wine friends, Steve and Joe at Chester Gap Cellars for some wine tasting and some catching up.

As you travel down the driveway to the tasting room, you can’t miss the gorgeous views. Of course visiting in fall makes it even more colorful.

We decided to do the self-guided flight tasting. We tasted the 2017 Viognier, the 2020 Rosé, the 2017 Petit Manseng, the Lighter Side of Red and the 2017 Cabernet Franc. While we enjoyed them all, the 2020 Rosé and the Lighter Side of Red were our favorites. The 2020 Rosé reminded us of warmer times. It’s light and crisp and strawberry and melon flavors stand out. The Lighter Side of Red is perfect for lighter meals like pizza, pasta, sandwiches or even on it’s own. It’s a good starter red for those who aren’t red wine drinkers.

After our tasting we had a chance to chat with Jeff Seese, the winemaker and one of the owners. He let us taste several other wines that were not on the flight tasting. One standout was the 2019 Roussanne. I haven’t been a fan of Roussanne in the past but this one was different. It was light and fruity and didn’t have the oily, petrol aromas sometimes associated with roussanne. Jeff informed us it was aged in stainless steel. That certainly explained the crisp lightness of this one. It would be a perfect sipper on a warm day or the wine to go with some lighter meals that call for a white wine.

We finished our visit with some nibbles and a bottle of the 2017 Vintner’s Red. Before leaving we secured half a case to bring home. If you haven’t visited Chester Gap Cellars recently, it’s time to plan a visit soon! And when you do, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

Virginia Wine Month Weekend

/ Paul / 1 Comment

We are continuing to celebrate Virginia Wine Month! We started our Virginia Wine Month weekend by heading to Glen Manor Vineyards. It had been a year since our last visit so it was time to taste some new wines and find out how things are going at Glen Manor.

Jeff White’s wines are so popular that there weren’t many wines in stock to try. We should have visited sooner. We missed the Sauvignon Blanc, the Rosé and the Cabernet Franc. We were able to enjoy flights of the wines they did have available. We tasted the 2015 and 2016 St. Ruth, the 2014 Hodder Hill, the 2017 Petit Verdot and the 2017 and 2019 Petit Mansengs. All of the wines we sampled were wonderful but the 2014 Hodder Hill stood out as a favorite.

For lunch we enjoyed a bottle of the 2015 St. Ruth with different cheeses, crackers and prosciutto. It paired nicely with our lunch items. After lunch it was off to the Skyline Drive to view the fall colors but not before picking up a case of our favorite wines.

After our drive along the Skyline Drive, we headed to Gray Ghost Vineyards. We needed to pick up a case of Reserve Chardonnay we had on order and taste some new wines. It’s always great to see Amy, Cheryl and Al and catch up. We chatted about all kinds of things while enjoying a tasting of their current line up. Before leaving we enjoyed a glass of the Reserve Chardonnay. It was perfect with the beautiful weather. We also picked up that case of Reserve Chardonnay and then headed to Warrenton.

Once we reached Warrenton, we checked in to our hotel and then went to Claire’s at the Depot for dinner. We love the Claire’s! We both selected beef for dinner and Warren selected the 2016 Hardscrabble Red from Linden Vineyards to enjoy with our meal. The pairing was perfect and so was the meal! We recommend Claire’s if you are looking for a great place to eat in Warrenton.

The next day we headed to Muse Vineyards to meet some friends. It was another gorgeous day so we were able to sit outside on the second floor deck. Our fiends are club members so they made reservations in advance. Muse doesn’t serve flights on Saturdays so the group decided to order a bunch of food items for lunch and a couple different wines to pair with the food items. We selected the 2020 Gamay and the 2019 Urania. Both are reds with the Urania being an Italian blend of Teroldego, Sangiovese, Aglianico and Merlot. We found both wines to be very nice and paired well with our food. We were also quite surprised by the 2020 Gamay. It was bright and fruity and finished smooth. It was also just slightly chilled. It was the favorite among the group. We did not realize the winemaker is Tim Rouse. That explains the amazing wines at Muse.

After an amazing weekend of Virginia wine and fall foliage, it was time to head home. We left Muse with half a case of our favorites and headed home. It was a great Virginia Wine Month weekend! If you haven’t been to these wonderful wineries, we suggest you plan a visit soon! And tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!

October Is Virginia Wine Month

/ Paul / 1 Comment

Happy Virginia Wine Month!

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!

Remembering Summer 2021

/ Warren / 1 Comment

We continued to celebrate reunions and meetings with friends and family throughout the summer of 2021.  As we look forward to the golden leaves of autumn, I thought it would be appropriate to recall our fun times with family and friends during this past summer.  Of course, Virginia wineries were our gathering places!

Paul and I were excited to catch up with our friend Bob who lives on the Northern Neck of Virginia.  Bob introduced us to two new wineries in that area, and we were able to add two new wineries to our growing list of wineries that we visited.  These included Monroe Bay Winery and Backporch Vineyard.  In addition to tastings at those wineries, Paul and I were also able to sneak in a tasting at Ingleside Vineyards and The Hague Winery.

Monroe Bay Winery

Backporch Vineyard

Ingleside Vineyards

The Hague Winery

Williams Gap Vineyard has quickly become a favorite winery of ours, and we scheduled a tasting that introduced our friends Steve and Joe to their well crafted wines.  Bridgette Smith skillfully guided us through our tasting as we nibbled on charcuterie and cheeses.  In turn, Steve and Joe invited us to join them at a tasting of one of their recent favorite wineries, Forever Farm and Vineyard.  This was also a new winery visit for us, and we enjoyed our tasting with live music!

Williams Gap

Forever Farm and Vineyard

My parents were able to escape the chaos of Hurricane Ida after she blew through New Orleans, and a trip to Delaplane Cellars offered the perfect opportunity to view lovely mountain scenery as we tasted some excellent wines.  We also used the occasion to toast their 61st wedding anniversary!  We finished our afternoon of wine tasting with a visit to Barrel Oak where we were treated to a sample of their current lineup of wines and their excellent dessert wine.

Delaplane Cellars

Barrel Oak

Now we look forward to seeing the gold and crimson colors of fall leaves as they decorate the autumn skies.  We know that we will include Virginia wineries in our afternoon excursions to appreciate the gorgeous season.  Please decorate your fall wine collection with visits to the wineries mentioned in this post, after all October is Virginia Wine month! Be sure to mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you!