On Saturday we headed out to Front Royal, Virginia to visit Glen Manor Vineyards. We were attending the December 2018 Cellar Tasting. We always enjoy tasting wines from the barrel to see how they are developing.

We started with the 2018 Dry Petit Manseng. It’s 100% petit manseng. Being so fresh in the barrel it’s obvious that it needs more time. However, we did note a nice level of acidity. We know when its released it will be a nice dry version of petit manseng.

The second wine was the 2017 St. Ruth. It’s a blend of 43% merlot, 35% cabernet franc and 22% petit verdot. The blend for 2017 is a bit different then it is for the current release, 2014. There is less merlot and more petit verdot. We think the blend is perfect and would easily enjoy a glass right now. But we’ll wait until it is released in the future.

The final wine we tasted from the barrel was the 2017 Hodder Hill. The 2017 Hodder Hill is a blend of 63% cabernet sauvignon, 21% merlot and 16% petit verdot. This may not even be the final blend. They will go through more blending trials to get to the final blend. The Hodder Hill has always been one of our favorites and this blend doesn’t disappoint. We know it will be a few years before it will be ready to enjoy but we’ll wait patiently knowing it will be worth the wait.

After the barrel tastings we went upstairs to the tasting room and tasted the other wines on the tasting menu. We then decided to enjoy a glass of the 2015 Cabernet Franc before leaving. We also bought several of our favorite wines. The next time you visit Glen Manor Vineyards, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!