Tag: gray ghost

Holiday Open House

/ Paul / 3 Comments

On Saturday we went to the Gray Ghost Holiday Open house. They hold this event annually and we try not to miss it. Each year they have a different holiday glass design. This year its train. Turns out, Al Kellert also made a train out of corks for the yearly cork contest.You have to guess how many corks it took to create the train. Warren and I guess every year but never win. We aren’t the best at guesstimation. At this time of the year the tank room is decorated for the holidays showing all the previous creations for the cork contest.

During the event we enjoyed some wonderful foods and all the delicious wines offered at Gray Ghost. I noticed the Victorian Red had changed slightly since the last time I tasted it. This time it had some big cranberry notes on the nose and in the mouth. It was a surprising change that I thoroughly enjoyed. Warren decided his favorite of the day was the Reserve Chardonnay. He has always been a big fan of the Reserve Chardonnay.

Here are some pictures from the Holiday Open House at Gray Ghost:

Thanksgiving

/ Paul / Leave a comment

Happy Thanksgiving! Today Warren made the thanksgiving meal for me, my mom, and his parents. Everything was delicious of course and we had a wonderful time visiting with everyone. Normally we would post about what wines to serve for Thanksgiving. This time however, we’re posting after the fact and posting about the wines we did have for Thanksgiving. It was mostly a Gray Ghost Thanksgiving this year.

We began with a butternut squash soup and had the 2009 Gewurztraminer from Gray Ghost. After the soup Warren served a harvest salad with the 2008 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay from Fox Meadow. The main course consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cornbread dressing, cranberry sauces (both kinds), green beans, and cornbread. We had the 2009 Cabernet Franc from Gray Ghost. For desert we had Warren’s mother’s pecan pie and the 2009 Adieu from Gray Ghost. All the wines paired perfectly with the meal. What Virginia wines did you have for Thanksgiving?

New Releases at Gray Ghost Vineyards

/ Warren / Leave a comment

Gray Ghost Vineyards has released several new wines, and this gave us the perfect excuse to pay the Kellerts a visit. Recent releases include the 2009 Cabernet Franc, the 2009 Seyval Blanc, and the 2009 Merlot.

Winemaker Al Kellert conducted our tasting, and that gave us the opportunity to catch up with Al about the latest happenings at Gray Ghost Vineyards. Of course, the newest releases were our chief interest, and the 2009 Seyval Blanc was the first to be poured into our glasses. Fermented for a short time in Hungarian oak, it resembled a California-style Fume blanc with a very faint smokiness and citrus characteristics. Perfect for summer, this Seyval Blanc should pair nicely with anything that would partner favorably with a Sauvignon Blanc.

The 2009 Cabernet Franc was the latest red to be released on the day of our visit. Gray Ghost Vineyards produces a stand-alone Cabernet Franc that is not blended with any other variety, and it presents qualities more akin to a Chinon-style Cabernet Franc. Aged ten months in French oak barrels, vibrant cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors abound with a characteristic spicy edge. I’d consider this one for fall menus, especially Thanksgiving dinner. Now what about the 2009 Merlot? Paul reserved a case of it in March when we participated in the barrel tasting; based on this sneak preview, he went ahead and ordered a case. However, on the day of our visit, the Merlot was not yet released and therefore not available for tasting. Not to worry, though, because Paul picked up his case while we were at the winery, and we had a bottle with dinner that evening! We decanted it first, and we noted a deep garnet color. After swirls, sniffs, and sips the word, “deep” came to mind for both of us. Rich, dark cherry and black berry characteristics prevailed with some vanilla at the finish. We enjoyed it that evening with filet mignon, and it was the perfect pairing.

As we sipped away at the tasting bar, Al Kellert revealed to us that all of the 2009 releases were produced from 100% estate grown fruit. This had been a goal of his for quite some time, and for the Kellerts, it represents a statement about quality. Anyone who has visited Gray Ghost Vineyards can attest to the immaculate state of the vineyards, and careful maintenance and management of the vineyards have allowed the Kellerts to achieve this milestone. We were also curious about the 2010 season and what appears to be an early veraison in the vineyards. Al acknowledged that the extreme heat that has been characteristic of the 2010 spring and summer led to early developments in the vineyards; however, he was confident that the upcoming harvest has the potential to produce complex and robust red wines. (Of course, that assumes no extreme circumstances like hurricanes!)

With our tasting done, we decided to enjoy a glass of the 2009 Seyval Blanc out on the veranda with a hunk of goat cheese and bread. We will return to Gray Ghost Vineyards soon, and readers should visit even sooner—just mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.

My Blends

/ Paul / 1 Comment

Warren shared his blending experience with you in the last post. I’ll share mine in this post. I will agree with Warren about Al’s malbec. It’s one of the best I’ve tasted. It reminded me of Lori Corcoran’s malbec. Maybe in the future Al will plant enough to produce a stand alone. It’s definitely a great addition to the pieces he uses for blending.

My first blend was made up of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Malbec, and 10% Petit Verdot. I really liked the stand alone versions of these grapes and thought larger amounts of merlot and cab sauv would make a nice wine. Well, in the end this first blend had too much spice for my taste. I didn’t understand that because I only had 15% of the cab franc which were I thought most of the spice would come from. Al explained to me that when you put them all together, they bring out different characteristics and my blend just happened to bring out more spice. Of course I needed to change the percentages in my second blend.

Since I really enjoyed the malbec as a stand alone, I decided to make that one of the major components of my second blend. I went with 30% Malbec, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. This second blend was so much better than the first blend. The spiciness was gone and replaced with some nice fruit and decent tannins. I was ready to bottle this blend. Warren said he enjoyed it as well.

Al explained how they create 15 different blends, make a gallon of each one, and taste them at three different time intervals. The blend for this year’s Ranger Reserve is 29% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 20% Petit Verdot, 15% Cabernet Franc and 12% Malbec. We got a chance to taste it and of course it was wonderful. We had a great time at the blending class and look forward to blending again in the future.