Windham Winery

Today we went to Windham Winery for lunch. We hadn’t visited Windham since last summer and wanted to see if they had released any of their reds. We did a tasting and enjoyed all of their selections. The 2004 Merlot won’t be released officially until March 2006 but the woman working the tasting bar offered us a taste. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it was obvious it needs to lay down for a few more months. We went ahead and bought a bottle and will enjoy it next spring.

We took some leftovers from Friday’s holiday dinner party and selected Windham’s 2003 Cabernet Franc to enjoy with our meal. We were pleasantly surprised at how well it went with our meal. We sat out on their deck, which the had enclosed for the winter months, and enjoyed our meal and the wine.

After our lunch and purchases, we walked around the property and took photos of the landscape. Below you can see Warren resting on a picnic table bench.

After our visit to Windham Winery we decided to stop by Village Winery. This is a very new winery. They have only been open a few months. We visited them on their opening weekend and things were really rough. This visit things were a bit more polished. Luckily we ended up being the only people visiting the winery. This made it possible for us to have a special private barrel tasting with the owner/winemaker. He was very nice and let us go on and on about wines and winemaking. We were able to taste a 3 month old cabernet franc. It smelled awful and the taste was just as bad. But you could tell that in about a year this will be a very nice wine. We really enjoyed our visit and felt lucky to be able to taste the cabernet franc so soon in the barrel.

Holiday Dinner Party

Earlier this evening we had a holiday dinner party with a few friends. Warren created a wonderful dinner and selected some delicious wines with each course.

With appetizers: Gray Ghost Chardonnay—very lightly oaked with lots of apple and pear flavors. Very good sipper that complements light cheeses and fruit.

1st course: Corn Chowder with goat cheese toast paired with the Gray Ghost Reserve Chardonnay. Creamy texture with this Chardonnay; more oak with buttery taste. Lots of fruit despite the heavier oak; longer finish than the first Chardonnay.

2nd course: Wilted Red Cabbage with Shrimp and Spicy Tangerine Dressing paired with Rene Mure Gerwurztraminer (2003). Off Dry wine with tropical fruit characteristics—ginger, pineapple, and spices. Very aromatic wine that hints at sweetness but actually rather dry finish.

Main course: Pork Roulade; Green beans topped with carmelized onions and prunes; Mashed sweet potatoes paired with the Barboursville Reserve Cabernet Franc (2002)—lots of raspberries and plums with hints of pepper and vanilla. Pepper/oak aromas as well. Well rounded wine with a longer finish.

Dessert: Pecan Pie with vanilla ice cream paired with Gray Ghost Adieu (2004)—proclaimed best wine east of California. Smooth dessert wine with apricot and peach flavors. Honey-like texture; always a crowd pleaser and a nice way to end a meal with friends.

New Zealand Surprise

On Saturday evening, Warren and I went to Cafe Deluxe in N.W. Washington, DC for dinner. I had a herb(ed) roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, and Warren had crab cakes. Warren selected a bottle of Allan Scott 2004 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. We were both a little surprised when the waiter brought the bottle and it was a twist off top. We know that many Wineries in New Zealand and Australia are using twist off tops but our experience with twist off tops on wines in America hasn’t been very good. We were both pleasantly surprised to find that this wine was very good and paired well with our dinner choices. The wine has strong lemon notes and Warren noted grass as well. I did not notice grass hints myself. The winery describes this wine as follows:

A very full bodied wine that contains an abundance of fruit flavours and a spanking acidity. Pineapple, passionfruit and melon like flavours are all present, in addition to a hint of Marlborough herbaceousness. A very lively and approachable wine.

I would say that Warren and I would agree with this description. Try it. You may enjoy it as much as we did.

Dinner Pours

This evening for dinner Paul made pasta with alfredo sauce with diced chicken. For the wine, Warren picked out a 2001 Piedmont Vineyards chardonnay. It’s fermented in stainless steel tanks so it does not have the oaky character of many chardonnays. This one was more fruity. It had a nice color and went well with the meal.

Before dinner we had were decorating the Christmas tree and having some simple nibbles. With the nibbles we selected the Chesapeake Wine Company Blue Crab Blanc. It went well with cheeses, smoked ham, crackers, and almonds.

Nice choice of wines for this evening’s events.