Our Saturday sips included two white wines. We started the evening with the 2008 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay from Delaplane Cellars. I thought it was a food wine while Warren was easily able to sip it while enjoying some cheese and crackers. Our dinner wine was the 2008 Viognier from Pollak Vineyards.
We had the 2008 Barrel Fermented Chardonnay from Delaplane Cellars with some manchego cheese and crackers. I noted oaky pear on the nose while Warren jotted down pear and honey. In the mouth I thought this was a classic oaken chardonnay with buttery notes and a creamy mouth feel. Warren noted a honey texture, bit-o-honey (like the candy) and a toasty finish. We both thought though, that it went really well with the cheese and crackers. I thought it might even go better with some white fish or crab cakes. Warren agreed.
For dinner we had parmesan encrusted tilapia with black rice (by the way this was the first time I had black rice and it was pretty good…bland, but pretty good). Warren selected the 2008 Viognier from Pollak Vineyards. I was upset because this was my last bottle. I have loved all the vintages of the viognier from Pollak. I need to visit them again to get some of the 2010. Back to the wine…on the nose we noted apricot, stone fruit. In the mouth we noted minerality, stone fruit, Warren’s “bit-O-honey,” and a fruity finish. As it warmed up I definitely got honey as Warren noted. I love this wine and thought it went beautifully with our tilapia. If you find yourself enjoying a tasting at Pollak Vineyards or Delaplane Cellars, please tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Recently Jordon Harris, winemaker at Tarara, left a comment on the Swirl, Sip, Snark blog suggesting some of us create a list of our top 20 Virginia wines. We all decided that was a great idea. So here are our top 20 lists. Both of our lists are in alphabetical order by winery and are not intended to rank any one wine over another on the lists.