Tag: Breaux

Celebrating Virginia Wine Month

/ Warren / Leave a comment

vwm25smallHow Are You Celebrating Virginia Wine Month?

October is Virginia Wine Month, and we are doing it right by enjoying Virginia wine with dinner, at restaurants, and at Virginia wineries. Here is how we kicked off Virginia Wine month:

Dinner at Al Dente in Washington DC: Pappardelle pasta with wild boar ragout braised in red wine paired with Breaux’s Nebbiolo 2007.
Breaux
Harvest Salad as a first course at a dinner party: Crisp seasonal apples, chopped fennel, and slivered almonds tossed with a lemon vinaigrette then topped with crumbled blue cheese was served with Linden’s Riesling Vidal 2011

Steaks on Friday: We reserve Fridays as our red meat day. Filet Mignon topped with sautéed mushrooms was paired with Gray Ghost Vineyards’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2010.

Pumpkin Cake: My favorite seasonal dessert. Fall spices serve as supporting roles in this pumpkin-based delight. We enjoyed this with Naked Mountain’s Old Vine Riesling 2012 produced from the oldest Riesling vines on the property.
Hume
Need other suggestions to celebrate Virginia Wine Month? Hume Vineyards will release its 2012 Viognier; characteristic floral notes are accompanied by stone fruit elements and a white pepper undertone. This one should be perfect with poultry topped with a cream sauce. Planning to invite friends over for a hearty beef stew? We were impressed with the 2011 Petit Verdot with its whiff of violet as well as its brambleberry and dark fruit notes; it’s a bit chewy too!

So this is how we kicked off Virginia Wine Month. How are you celebrating Virginia Wine Month? We would like to know, so feel free to share with us. Visit the Virginia wineries mentioned in this post and mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.

Virginia Wine Month Celebration

/ Paul / 4 Comments

Last night we attended a reception to celebrate Virginia Wine Month and Virginia Wine Tourism. There were many winery dignitaries in attendance as well as lots of media folks. The guest of honor was Governor Bob McDonnell. After introductions and fanfare, the governor spoke. He spoke about the wine industry in Virginia and how successful it’s been in the last few years. He noted that the industry will have great growth in the future especially with Donald Trump getting into the game. Of course the focus of the evening was wine and we got the chance to taste some of the best Virginia wine.

Breaux Vineyards poured the 2010 Viognier, 2007 Cabernet Franc Reserve, and the 2005 Nebbiolo. We agreed the winner here was the 2005 Nebbiolo. We noted cherry and raspberry with hints of licorice and tobacco. I really noticed the smooth finish. What a nice wine!

Barboursville Vineyards poured the Viognier Reserve 2010, the Octagon 2007 and the Malvaxia Reserve 2006. Here we really enjoyed the Octagon 2007. Great color, intense tannins, and berry flavors stood out here. We thought of food with this one.

Boxwood Winery poured the Topiary Rose Blend 2010, the Topiary Blend 2009, and the Boxwood Blend 2009. I think the Boxwood Blend 2009 really stood out here. It has a deep, dark color with hints of blackberry, violet, and anise. The tannins would accompany a thick steak really well.

Chatham Vineyards poured the Church Creek Vintner’s Blend (non vintage 2009 and 2010), the Church Creek Cabernet Franc (non vintage 2009 and 2010), and the 2010 Steel Church Creek Chardonnay. I really preferred the 2010 Steel Church Creek Chardonnay. I noted the pear and apple flavors on the nose as well as in the mouth. It had a nice mouth feel even though it spent no time in oak.

The Virginia Wine Board and the Virginia Tourism Corporation put on a wonderful event. We enjoyed the conversation, the wines, and the promotion of Virginia wine. We met some great people that we hadn’t met before. We even got to meet the governor! It was a great way to celebrate Virginia Wine Month. If you haven’t visited any of the wineries that poured at the event, you need to plan a trip to visit them soon. And tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!


Some of the Virginia Wine Mafia was in attendance!

Saturday Sips

/ Paul / 2 Comments

Just recently we visited Blenheim Vineyards (more details to come) and picked up a few bottles of the White Table Wine. I decided we would begin our evening with this wine.

The White Table Wine from Blenheim VIneyards is 100% chardonnay.On the nose we noted pear, floral notes, peach, and stone fruit. In the mouth we noted stone fruit, peach, apricot, and a nice round mouth feel. We had this with goat cheese and baguette. It was a perfect pairing with our evening nibbles.

For dinner we were having parmesan encrusted tilapia with wild rice and mixed vegetables. We opted for the 2009 Viognier Water Bent Barrels from Breaux Vineyards from the Wine Club Selection. Right away we noticed the very light color. On the nose I wrote down light airy fruit. Warren noted floral qualities with some ripe fruit. In the mouth we noted floral notes, hints of honeysuckle, mango, apricot, and a nice mouth feel. It was very crisp and paired very well with our meal. We also noticed that as this one warmed up in our glasses, the flavors were much more pronounced. We really enjoyed this bottle of wine!

New Whites at Breaux Vineyards

/ Paul / 1 Comment

Over the weekend we went to Breaux Vineyards to pick up my cellar club selections. As you may or may not remember the wines in the Cellar Club at Breaux are created just for the club members. That’s what makes this wine club special. While at Breaux to pick up the wines, we decided to do a regular tasting with one of our favorite tasting associates, Sylvia. Many of the 2009 whites were recently released.

The Cellar Club selections included the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc Water Bent Barrels. We noted smoke, citrus, and nice acids. The water bent barrels make this a really nice wine. The Cellar Club selections also included the 2007 Merlot. Here we noted extracted fruit, integrated tannins, and smoke. You can drink this one now or save it for years to come.

Here’s a rundown of the 2009 whites from the regular tasting and what we noted about each one. After tasting them all we decided we liked them all and couldn’t decide on specific gold stars.

2009 Jolie Blonde-lemon, grapefruit, crisp, and dry
2009 Viognier-honeysuckle, peach, tart, citrus
2009 Madeleine’s Chardonnay-pear, tropical fruit, pineapple, crisp
2009 Jennifer’s Jambalaya-1% residual sugar, crisp, nice acids, lime
2009 Nebbiolo Ice-peach, creamy, nice texture

During our tasting with Sylvia, Bruce came in with fresh barber juice. In the winery they were in the process pushing down the fruit and Bruce secured a taste of the fresh juice for us. It was very sweet and fibrous.

On another note we have to mention the Equation. Every time we taste the Equation we note something different. This wine is definitely changing with time. We appreciate the changes each time we taste it. It just keeps getting better. We even left with a bottle this time! Plan a visit to Breaux Vineyards soon and check out all the new white wines and re-discover some of the reds again and of course, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!