In honor of the second inauguration of Barack Obama we are having the Thibaut-Janisson Winery Brut with cookies from Cookies & Corks. We are having the Zesty Lemon and the Peanut Butter Chocolate. We both agree the Zesty Lemon pairs very well with the Brut. The lemony flavors come out with each nibble and sip.
Category: Wines
2012 Retrospective
I was asked at a recent dinner party about Virginia wines I had tasted in 2012 that were the most memorable. This could have been any wine that I tasted but not necessarily purchased in 2012. I gave a quick answer but then realized that more reflection time would have generated a list of favorite wines. I will list my top five white wines and top five red wines; these are memorable wines that I enjoyed last year but may have been purchased in previous years.
White Wines:
Afton Mountain 2010 Gewurztraminer
Glen Manor 2011 Sauvignon Blanc
Gray Ghost 2011 Adieu
Jefferson 2010 Reserve Chardonnay
Linden 2009 Hardscrabble Chardonnay
Red Wines:
Barboursville 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc
Breaux 2005 Nebbiolo
Glen Manor 2009 Hodder Hill
Keswick 2009 Merlot
Pollak 2009 Cabernet Franc Reserve
Favorite wines not produced in Virginia? Hanzell 2009 Pinot Noir, J Vineyards Brut Rose, and Silver Oak 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon top my list. The Champagne Mailly Grand Cru was another winner that made New Years’ Eve very special. My most disappointing wine experience, though, was a 2004 French Burgundy that I had been saving for a special occasion; yes, it was rather expensive. I opened it before a dinner party to honor two guests who had just been married, and thankfully, I tasted it before it was poured. Yikes was it bad! Oxidized and funky were the only words to describe it. Heartbroken, I even tried decanting, but it could not be saved—it was done!
Feel free to share your own favorites in the comments section! Of course, plan a visit to any of the wonderful wineries listed in this post, and mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.
Return To Piedmont
Some wine friends of ours recently told us that Piedmont Vineyards was still open for business. We thought it was sold and no longer producing wine. It was time for us to return to Piedmont Vineyards. After our stop at Boxwood Winery over the weekend, we decided to go by Piedmont and see if they were in fact open.
When we entered the tasting room we saw a very familiar face…Gerhard Von Finck. After hellos and welcomes, we found out that he was recently in the hospital but is almost back to normal and still selling wine at Piedmont. The only wine he is selling is his 2010 Chambourcin. He only has about 20 cases left so you need to get out there soon and get your case. All other wines on the tasting menu are from DelFosse Vineyards. Gerhard’s plan is finish selling his Chambourcin and then Claude DelFosse will be able to get a license to sell his wines on his own. So Piedmont will most likely become a satellite tasting room for DelFosse Vineyards. Gerhard hops to return to Toronto in the near future.
We last visited DelFosse in October and wrote about our visit at that time. If you want to find out what we thought about the wines at that time, check out that post. Even though we just recently tasted the DelFosse wines, we went ahead and did a tasting. As usual, we enjoyed the wines. A few favorites: The 2011 Reserve d’Oriane presented pineapple, peach, and apricot and a long finish. The 2008 Petit Verdot is 100% petit verdot with notes of blackberry, violet, and beautifully smooth ending. I thought of food right away with this one.
After enjoying a bottle of the 2011 Reserve d’Oriane with lunch and bird watching on the patio and long chats with Gerhard, we wished him well and success in future before leaving. We also purchased a few of our favorites. Visit Piedmont Vineyards soon to enjoy the DelFosse wines and be sure to tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Starting 2013 at Boxwood Estate Winery
So we are back on the wine trails, and what better way to start than with a tasting at Boxwood Estate Winery? We had not been to Boxwood since it opened a tasting room on the estate last summer, and we knew that we were due for a visit.
We were impressed with the seated tasting set up, and our tasting associate started us right away with our tasting. Five red wines were available for tasting, and three were from the 2010 vintage while the other two were from the 2009 vintage.
Overall, we were most impressed with the 2010 offerings. The 2010 Boxwood Estate Trellis, a blend dominated by Merlot (68%) and complimented by Malbec (18%) and Petit Verdot (14%) proved to be an accessible, medium-bodied wine with aromas of violet and cigar box. Flavors of cherry and nutmeg filled the mouth.
My own favorite was the 2010 Topiary, a blend of Cabernet Franc (61%) and Merlot (39%). Violet and tobacco notes were evident as well as aromas and flavors of raspberry and black pepper. An even more complex wine was the 2010 Boxwood, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (50%), Merlot (43%), and Petit Verdot (7%). Concentrated aromas of dark berries and plum along with undertones of licorice and cigar box made for a complex nose; similar flavors were noted in the mouth with an additional layer of blackberry. An elegant and age-worthy wine, I determined to add a bottle of the 2010 Boxwood to my own wine rack at home! Paul’s favorite? The 2010 Boxwood.
With our tasting completed, we decided to enjoy a glass of the 2010 Topiary while viewing the stark winter landscape from our seat near the window. Paul was armed with his new camera to take snapshots of barren trees reaching up to stark blue skies as well as the occasional hungry hawk soaring above to find an afternoon treat. We will return to Boxwood Estate Winery soon especially when we know that the new Rose will be released. Until then, plan a visit to Boxwood Estate Winery and mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.
Holiday Wines at Rappahannock Cellars
Time for more holiday menus, and this time it’s Christmas parties and dinners. Of course, that means celebrating with the perfect Virginia wines. Our recent visit to Rappahannock Cellars presented a few options.
2011 Viogner from Ducard Vineyard: Newly released on the day of our visit to Rappahannock Cellars, this aromatic wine with its honeysuckle notes and soft peach flavors would be a natural pairing with roasted turkey.
2011 Noblesse Rouge: I really enjoyed this one. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot, this accessible red wine with its raspberry and blackberry flavors should prove quite the partner with pork roast.
2010 Meritage: Bold!! Of course, this Bordeaux-style blend is from the very warm and dry 2010 vintage, and tasters may want to buy now but drink later. However, if you plan to serve up a rib roast for the holidays, consider this one; however, decant before pouring. Aromas and flavors include blackberry, dark cherry, and spice with a whiff of tobacco to boot.
2011 Rose: Ham is always a favorite this time of year, so consider the 2011 Rose. Paul liked this one a lot and he seemed to enjoy the fizzy mouth presence. It was a bit odd for me, though, since this is not a sparkling wine. However, I do think it would work well salty smoked ham that has been spiked with cloves and glazed with honey. Cranberry sauce on the side, of course!
Solera: Sugared pecans, dried fruit, and blue cheeses for dessert? Solera might be the dessert wine to offer guests. This sherry-like wine is made from Vidal Blanc grapes and presents aromas of honey, nuts, and orange peel.
We made certain to purchase our favorite wines for the holidays once our tasting concluded. Be sure to pay a visit to Rapahannock Cellars to find your own holiday favorites, and be sure to mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.
Ginger Molasses Cookies
We are slowly working our way through the boxes of cookies we received a while ago. Recently we decided to try the Ginger Molasses Cookies from Cookies and Corks. We decided to pair them with the 2011 Green from Cardinal Point Vineyard and Winery. The Green is a blend of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Petit Manseng. The wine wheel/cookie combination suggested a chardonnay. Even though the Green isn’t all Chardonnay, we thought we’d try it anyway.
Warren is the tasting expert. He suggested getting our palates wet with the wine and then tasting the cookie. The ginger of the cookie was pretty strong but notes of pineapple, pear, and mango were evident. The tropical notes from the petit manning as well as the ripe pear elements from the chardonnay play well with the ginger spice of the cookies. I thought the ginger was a bit overwhelming but Warren thought the flavors played well together.
We have plenty of cookies yet to taste so stay tuned for future posts. And we’ve been told the 2012 Green has been released so we will need to try this new vintage. If you visit Cardinal Point anytime soon be sure to check out the 2012 Green and tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Holiday Cheer and Cheese at Gray Ghost Vineyards
We always look forward to the holiday party at Gray Ghost Vineyards; in particular, we look forward to counting the corks on winemaker Al Kellert’s latest holiday creation. This year’s cork creation was candy canes, and the party attendee who correctly guessed the number of corks used to create the piece will win an assortment of Gray Ghost wines. I’ve been attending these for the last twelve years or so, and I’ve never won. However, I feel good about my chances this year after I simply copied Paul’s number and added a few more corks to the count. Paul had just won $14 in the lottery, so I felt confident Paul was on a winning streak that could only be broken by one person—me!
Anyway, a twist to this year’s holiday party at Gray Ghost was the pairing of Gray Ghost wines with locally produced cheeses and meats. In the past, co-winemaker Cheryl Kellert prepared hors d’oerves and sweet treats for the event; this year, though, the Kellerts opted to promote local food products as complements to their wines. The participating dairies included Culpeper Cheese, Everona Dairy, and Marshall Farms. Crofton Market provided the meats. Dessert items included brownies and mini-cheese cakes. Guests were able to enjoy the foods with the full menu of Gray Ghost wines including the newly released 2011 Reserve Chardonnay, and these were sampled in logo glasses with a holiday design created just for the holiday event. Listed below were the cheeses offered for tasting at the event:
Everona Dairy
Stony man
Piedmont
Herbs de Provence
Marshall Farms
Farmstead cheddar
Monterey Jack
Cracked Peppercorn Cheddar
Culpepper Cheese
Amish Butter Cheese
Croftburn Market
Black peppercorn and red wine salami
So what were our favorite wine and cheese pairings? I found the cheeses to be amazing versatile with any of the Gray Ghost wines that were poured. I’m a big fan of the Reserve Chardonnay, and the 2011 vintage paired well with the harder Farmstead Cheddar from Marshall Farms. Paul preferred the 2011 Chardonnay with the Amish Butter Cheese from Culpeper Cheese. My favorite cheese was the cracked peppercorn cheddar from Marshall Farms, and this paired well with the slightly sweet Victorian White (or the sweeter Vidal Blanc) and the 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon. Paul’s favorite cheese was the Stoney Man, a manchego-style cheese, from Everona Dairy partnered with the 2010 Ranger Reserve. And what about wines and sweets? The brownies were delicious and played well with both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Ranger Reserve; however, we did enjoy these with the rose-style Victorian Red. And the mini-cheese cakes? Of course, these can only be savored with the 2011 Adieu.
The Gray Ghost holiday party helped us to kick off the holiday season, and we left fully confident that a basket of Gray Ghost wines will be won by one of us. To be on the safe side, though, we left with bottles of our favorite Gray Ghost wines. We applaud Al and Cheryl Kellert’s efforts to promote the eat (and drink) local concept, too. Plan a visit to Gray Ghost Vineyards soon, and be sure to mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.
Events Space at Breaux
A few weeks ago we attended the Cellar Club pick up party at Breaux Vineyards. I was behind picking up my shipments so it was time to collect my bottles of club wines. Warren’s parents were in town so we brought them with us to taste the wines and see the new events space that was previewed that weekend. Our wine friend Susan McHenry was there as well! It’s always fun to enjoy wine events with friends and family.
At the pick up party we were able to taste the 2009 Barrel Select Nebbiolo. We noted violets, tobacco, and a spicy ending. We also tasted the Lineage Version 1. This is Breaux’s first port style wine. I am not a big fan of ports but Warren tasted it and thinks it will be a excellent dessert wine for a future dinner party. During the pick up party we were also able to taste the 2011 Rose, the 2009 Meritage D-Block East, and the 2009 Merlot. I am a big fan of the 2009 Merlot and it was tasting even better this time. It has benefitted from time in the bottle. I’m sure it will only get better with time.
After our pick up party tasting, we were able to take a tour of the new events space. Besides a new production space, the building includes a private tasting cellar that is an English Pub-style area. This area will eventually be used to club events and private tastings. The flagship space is The Acadia. It’s a huge room with a large fireplace, crystal chandeliers, and large windows with views of the vineyards. Everyone will be happy to hear there are PLENTY of new bathrooms! We are hoping to attend the first event in the new space in January, the Cabernet Vertical. Breaux is expanding and the expansion is beautiful. Here are some pictures from our tour.
After our tour we did a regular tasting. We tasted several of the new 2011s. After our tasting we enjoyed the gumbo weekend with bowls of gumbo, cheese and a nice warm baguette. We had a wonderful day at Breaux tasting wines, seeing the new building, and spending time with friends and family. If you haven’t been to Breaux lately, you need to plan a trip to taste all the new wines and see the new building. You will be impressed! And tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Cookies and Wine
Back in October when we attended the Virginia wine tastings at Whole Foods, we ran into Leah Kuo and Laura Englander from Cookies and Corks. They make cookies that pair with wines. What a great idea! That night they were offering tastings of their cookies with non-Virginia wines. We tried a few of the cookies with the wines and really enjoyed them. The cookies brought out different elements in the wine. During our conversations and tastings with them, we thought we could pair their cookies with Virginia wines. They sent us three boxes of cookies that pair with red, white, and sparkling wines. We decided to give it a try and pair some Virginia wines with the different cookies.
One of the great things about their cookies is they provide a pairing wheel. You simply look up the kind of wine you are having and select the cookies that go with that wine. We decided to do just that. We began our evening with the 2011 Reserve Chardonnay from Jefferson Vineyards. The cookie we selected to pair with the wine (according to the wheel) was the Apricot Sage cookie from the box of cookies to be paired with white wines. We began by tasting the cookie to get a baseline for the flavors. Obviously the apricot and sage flavors were evident. Then we washed the wine over our palates and other flavors began to appear. We noted lots pear notes with a twist of citrus which played off the sage really well. The apricot flavor wasn’t as present as we thought it might be with the wine but the reserve nature of the wine may have minimized the apricot flavor. However, the presence of the sage and citrus notes were a pleasant surprise. We thought the cookies paired very well with Reserve Chardonnay from Jefferson Vineyards. Make note of this if you plan to check out the cookies and need a wine to pair with them.
After our dinner we decided to select another cookie to pair with our dinner wine, the 2009 Merlot from Pollak Vineyards. Referring to the wheel again, we selected the Expresso Chocolate Peanut Butter cookie. This time we went with the wine first to get the wine notes on our palates before introducing the cookie flavors. We noted the wine brought the nuttiness forward and then red berry notes came through. The peanut butter flavor soon disappeared and the tasting experience ended with the coffee and chocolate notes. The chocolaty berry flavors together made for a nice dessert type experience. Once again we decided this was a good pairing. Warren enjoyed the pairing so much he finished off the cookies as he finished off the wine!
Since we’ve only tried two of the many flavors of cookies to pair with wines, there will be posts in the future as we pair more Virginia wines with more of the cookies from the different boxes. If you are looking for a unique pairing of sweets and Virginia wines be sure to pick up a few boxes of these cookies and several bottles of Virginia wine. You can purchase them in many locations in Virginia or from their website. And when you do, tell them you read about them on Virginia Wine Time!
Fundraising with Virginia Wines
A few weeks ago we attend a fundraiser hosted by Kurt and Carol from Wine About Virginia. It was an event to raise money for their church’s FUUSE program. All of the wines at the event were Virginia wines donated by Kurt and Carol and several other members of the Virginia wine community.
It was a fun evening tasting Virginia wines, selecting our favorites and chatting with other guests at the event. The wines were presented in different categories from varietals to blends. Some of the “winners” (those receiving the most votes) included:
2010 Sauvignon Blanc from Veritas
2010 Chardonnay from Rappahannock
2010 Viognier from Keswick
Veritas White Star
2009 Reserve Cabernet Franc and the 2009 Glen Manor Cabernet Franc tied
Bluestone Crooked and Weedy and the 2010 Red from Desert Rose tied
2010 Durant Red from Pollak
2008 Petit Verdot from Linden
Freezeland Red from Fox Meadow
On Kurt’s blog he reported; “We raised more than our fundraising goal for the evening.”
Here are a few photos from the evening.
