Well Hung Vineyards– Great Name Mediocre Wine

Well Hung Vineyards Cabernet Franc

Well Hung Vineyards Viognier

For Christmas this year, I was gifted two bottles from a newer Virginia winery, Well Hung Vineyards. We finally got around to trying them this past week. First, I must say I love the name. It is witty and clever and the logo makes me laugh every time I see it. I was really hoping for a spectacular wine that lived up to the creativity of its name. However, I was disappointed. The cabernet franc was mediocre to say the least. The finish was a bit primitive and, even with a lot of aeration, this quality didn’t seem to improve. The cabernet franc was superior to the viognier which has an odd aftertaste that was somewhat sour. Virginia makes much higher quality cabernet francs and viogniers so I would definitely steer away from this winery in the future. In looking at the 2012 Virginia Wine Map, it appears that this winery, although located near Charlottesville near several other wineries, is not open to the public. At this point, I am not sure that this is a loss for other wineries in the area make superior wines. Even considering that, this wine would make a great gift for the name itself; of course, make sure the recipient is not easily offended.

Chrysalis Vineyards– One of My Favorites

I thought today I would write about one of my long-time favorite Virginia wineries, Chrysalis Vineyards. Chrysalis Vineyards has been around for a while and has always, in my opinions, produced some of the better wines in Virginia. This time, the wines did not disappoint and I actually ordered a case that I had shipped back home to me. In addition to the wine, the staff is always pleasant. Even though we arrived at close to closing time, the staff did not seem impatient and allow us to finish our tasting.

The whites were all good to very good, keeping in mind that I don’t even like most whites and especially not chardonnays. The Albarino was really good with a floral nose and dry taste. The Barrel Reserve Viognier was a bit oak for my taste; however, the nonoaked Viognier was very good and had a classic taste. The Mariposa, a rose, was a blend of norton and nebbiolo and was only slightly sweet. The Sarah’s Patio White, named from a former resident of the area, is a vidal blanc and traminette blend. It would make a great patio wine as it is semi sweet with about 2-3% residual sugar. The Sarah’s Patio Red is a sweet norton which was way too grapey on the finish. The Traminette was also very good and not too sweet with a lovely floral nose, which I always expect from a good traminette.

Although the whites were all good, I love the reds from Chrysalis. The 2011 Estate Bottle Norton is 85% norton and 15% nebiolo and was one of the classic nortons that I expect from Virginia wineries. The 2010 Locksley Reserve Norton was excellent and by far my favorite wine offered. This was a bit more aged that the Estate Bottle Norton so it had a more developed flavor. The 2009 Rubiana, a blend of Portuguese and French red varietals, was dry and very good. The 2009 Petit Verdot was a very classic petit verdot. The 2009 Tannat also had a classic flavor and, after this Tannat, I have developed a taste for the grape. The 1009 Papillon is a blending of petit verdot and tanant with a touch of viognier, which makes a unique but tasty combination.

I always recommend Chrysalis to those who want to try some of the better Virginia wines. I, personally, am looking forward to breaking into that case! The winemaker from Chrysalis is also working with a new vineyard located almost across the street from Chrysalis (I am afraid I have forgotten the name) but make a stop there too!

New winery that works with Chrysalis’ winemaker

Chrysalis Vineyards

Cobbler Mountain Cellars– A Newer Vineyard in the DC Area

In the last blog, we revisited Barrel Oak Winery and Three Foxes Vineyard. A new winery has appeared just a mile or so from these establishments called Cobbler Mountain Cellars. The tasting room is very quaint and located in the basement of the owners’ home. It has a very “cellar- like” feel which I find refreshing for a winery. The owners are very friendly and the wines are good. The winery is also pet friendly with a large field on a hill located outside the tasting room. The winery hosts snow tubing on this when able. There are also several hiking trails located on the winery grounds which would make this a great destination location for an afternoon.

The Cobblestone White is a blend of riesling, viognier, seyval blanc, and vidal blanc. It is good with a carmel taste at the end. The Malbec is very good with a very berry nose. The Meritage is a Sonoma Valley medal winner and is very good. It is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, malbec, cabernet franc, and petit verdot. The Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot were also very good, as was the Cabernet Franc. The winery also hosts two dessert wines made from maple syrup– the Maple Reserve Amber and Maple Reserve Special Dark. These were both very interesting and unique, although I am not a dessert wine person.

I would recommend a stop at this winery,

Cobbler Mountain Cellars

The hill outside of the tasting room is used for snow tubing in the winter.

The tasting room at Cobbler Mountain Cellars has a real “cellar-like” feel.

if you want to get in a hike with your wine or if you are a red drinker. The reds are all very good and the hiking trails add a little something special to this winery.

Barrel Oak and Three Foxes Revisited

I think today we will go back to wines. You may recall a previous post about Barrel Oak and Three Foxes Wineries. I recently had the opportunity to revisit both of these wineries. I must say there was a quite a difference in crowds between a Saturday afternoon during the summer and a Monday afternoon in the winter. Because of their proximity to Washington DC and easy access from Interstate 66, these wineries can be quite crowded. Both wineries were pretty much vacant on my recent visit, which I prefer. I have the opportunity to truly taste the wines and ask questions. Both of these wineries were open on a Monday– the majority of wineries in the area were not.

Barrel Oak was our first stop. The tasting room here is beautiful and the outdoor patio is great on a warm day. Barrel Oak has a large selection of wines. Unfortunately, I really thought the quality of wines had diminished somewhat at this winery from my last visit. I think the problem is that when Virginia wineries become popular, and this is probably one of the most popular in the state, they go for quantity over quality. The winery is probably so popular because of it is dog friendly and often participates in adoption and other animal related events throughout the year. Interesting, I heard a criticism of this winery because of this. Chateau Morrissette in the Blue Ridge region of Virginia is a much older winery who started with a dog theme from their inception. They are known for their Blue Dog, a riesling; Blushing Dog, a rose; and Black Dog, a red blend. The criticism was the Barrel Oak was trying to hop on the bandwagon, late, and steal an existing idea from a well-known winery. You see, Barrel Oak goes by the BOW winery– and some of their wines reflect this. I personally think Chateau Morrissette does it better.

The Bowhaus White is very a very good semisweet wine with a 2% residual sugar. The Seyval Blanc is very reminiscent of a New Zealand style sauvignon blanc with hints of grapefruit. The Traminette was a disappointment and did not have the characteristic floral nose even though the tasting notes promised it. The Rose was not notable. The Petit Manseng was very unique and had an underlying coconut nose.

Moving on the reds. The Bowhaus Red was a very good blend of chambourcin, merlot, syrah, and malbec. The Tour’ga Franc was a sour blend of a Portuguese grape, touriga nationale, and cabernet franc. The Merlot was good but not memorable. The Cabernet Franc had a bit too much green pepper on the finish for my taste. Although their Norton was made in the traditional style and was not a dessert wine, the nose was very yeasty to the point that it ruined the palate for the taste.

Three Fox Vineyards remained remarkably unchanged. I enjoyed the atmosphere much more this time. The tasting room is very small and on a crowded day can be a bit uncomfortable. The wines here are Italian style. I personally think they would do much better trying to produce Virginia style wines. The wines are generally unremarkable.

Barrel Oak Winery

Three Foxes Vineyard

One good thing about these vineyards being close to DC is cell phone service– Three Fox Vineyards

Stafford Area Wineries– Mattaponi, Hartwood, and Potomac Point

Mattaponi Winery

Potomac Point tasting room

Potomac Point

Hartwood Winery tasting room

: Hartwood Winery

Today’s blog takes us farther north along I-95 toward Washington, DC. This area used to only have a few wineries in the Fredericksburg, VA area. However, today there are several. We stopped at three of these wineries: Hartwood, Mattaponi, and Potomac Point.

Mattaponi Winery is a throwback to the previous Virginia winery. The winemaker/owner runs a small tasting room out of the back of her home. She is Native American and the winery itself is named after the tribe, Mattaponi, that used to live in the area. The tasting room is homey and decorated in Native American art. The owner even offered free chili for anyone stopping by on the day we visited. The big wine here is a strawberry wine made 100% from strawberries, the majority of which are grown on the property. This wine is very sweet but very good. It would go well with any dessert, especially chocolate or cheesecake. The owner recommended mixing it about half and half with champagne or sparkling wine to create a strawberry sparkling. I imagine this would be excellent. We bought a bottle back for a friend who always liked a strawberry sparkling wine. I made the suggest to her so we will have to find out from her if she tried it.

Hartwood is also has a very cozy tasting room. Our pourer was actually a local artist who was selling some of her paintings at the winery. The winery offered a good variety of wines. The Hartwood Station White was mostly Viognier (the state grape of Virginia) but combined with a Rkatsiteli grape which hails from Georgia in the former Soviet Union. The Rappahannock Rose is primarily Chambourcin but combined with Seyval Blanc. The Rappahannock White is a very good semisweet wine with 1% residual sugar made from Seyval Blanc and Vidal Blanc. The Merlot and 2010 Cabernet Franc are very good reds. Here we had our first taste of the Tannat which is a varietal of grape that dates back to Roman times. It is a wine that needs time to age. Although good young, I am told that if I wait 40-60 years, it will be fantastic. I don’t think a wine can last that long in my home though.

Potomac Point is a bit more of a pretentious winery. The winery has the feel of a Napa Valley tasting room and is built in a Mediterranean style. The winery is dog friendly and there were several dogs enjoying the day in the enclosed courtyard. This winery had a large selection. We liked their Norton best of all the wines available. The service was not very friendly and I wish I could have had a better experience here because the building is quite beautiful. However, I think this one is so close to DC that it has lost its friendly feel.

James River Cellars– A Richmond Area Winery

James River Cellars is another winery that is very easy to find. It sits just off Route 1 in Ashland, VA, a few miles north of Richmond. This is not one of my favorite area vineyards– not because of the wines but because of the atmosphere. The tasting room is very popular with a very young crowd and gives it a feeling that you are on a college campus instead of at a serious winery. Because of the age of the typical consumer here, the wines tend to be less developed and on the sweeter side.

The chardonnays from James River are very traditional. They also have a gewurztraminer, which used to be much more common at Virginia wineries. There’s is a bit on the sour side for a traditional German-style gewurztraminer. The vidal blanc is slightly sweet with a residual sugar at 1.5%. The 2011 chardonel is supposedly a gold medal winner but not much to my taste. The 2011 Rad Red was the best of the wines here. A blend of several reds like merlot, petite verdot, and cab franc, this wine was very good with an off dry taste. The 2010 merlot, also touted as a medal winner, had a very musty nose, reminiscent of many French wines. The meritage was also very good and full bodied. The remaining reds, the 2011 Hanover, the 2011 chambourcin, and the 2011 Real Santa Red, were all too sweet for my taste.

I would only recommend this winery if you want to make a quick stop near Richmond and are looking for something different to do. Otherwise, keep heading either north to the Stafford area where several great new wineries have opened, east toward New Kent County, or west toward Charlottesville, where some of Virginia’s best known wineries reside.

James River Cellars

New Kent County Wineries– Saude Creek and New Kent

New Kent County is located between Hampton Roads and Richmond, VA and lies right along Interstate 64, the main thoroughfare between these two metropolitan areas. New Kent is relatively new to the wine business, with New Kent Winery opening a few years ago. Saude Creek Vineyards is just a couple of years old.

I had been to New Kent Winery a few times in the past. The easy-to-get-to location makes it a great place to stop on the short trip between Richmond and Hampton Roads. New Kent has a very unique White Norton which is made from the previously mentioned (see my blog Have Virginia Wines Gone Red (Neck)) norton grape. As I said in my previous post, I think the norton grape is a great grape for a traditional style red. New Kent, like many other Virginia wineries, has decided to take this grape in the direction of sweet. I personally think this is a shame. I used to enjoy the White Norton produced at this winery as it was mildly sweet and went well with spicy foods. Now, it seems to me that this wine, has crossed into the land of too sweet for anything but a dessert. Many of the wines here are on the sweeter side, including their White Merlot and Vidal Blanc. They have 2 chardonnays that are ok, but then again I am not a chardonnay fan. The best two wines were the Meritage and Merlot– neither of which was outstanding. The Meritage had a very berry nose that did not match the taste and the Merlot was a bit on the sour side.

In addition to the wines being marginal, I also find the concept of New Kent Winery a bit off-putting. The winery is actually located within a planned community. Obviously, the houses located in and around the vineyards will only be available to wealthier individuals. For me this seems to perpetrate the idea that wine is the drink of the rich. I find the whole concept a bit pretentious.

Located only a few miles from New Kent is Saude Creek Vineyards. Saude Creek is a little farther off the main road and requires a bit of driving through back roads to find. However, of the 2 vineyards, Saude Creek has a much better selection of wines. The Merlot here is a medal winner and is very good. If you are not a Merlot fan, then their Saude Creek Red and Meritage (both red blends) are also worth the trip. They make an interesting white, Saude Creek White, which is 100% apple– not to my liking but interesting none the less. The Cabernet Franc is also good here. Once again, however, this winery has taken a great grape, chambourcin, and turned it into a sweet wine. According to their tasting notes, their Chambourcin has 4.0% sugar. My usual cut off is around 2.0%. My husband, who likes the sweeter wines, thought it was quite good.

The atmosphere at Saude Creek is also an improvement over New Kent. Saude Creek sits out in the country, surrounded by hills. You can see the Pamunkey River from their large deck, which would be a great place to have a glass during the summer months. In the winter a huge fireplace is burning, giving the tasting room a homey feel. The winery even has a resident black cat who will greet you near the fire.

A beautiful new tasting room with great views.

View of the vineyards

Another view of the vineyards.

Saude Creek Vineyards, a lovely winery in New Kent County, VA

New Kent Winery tasting room.

Virginia Wine Country (DC Region)

As some of you reading may know, I am originally from Maryland and lived a large percentage of my life in the Washington DC area. One of my favorite things to do, just an hour or so outside of DC proper, has been to visit Virginia Wine Country. Virginia is a very fast growing wine producing region with many high quality wines. Virginia has become known for their Nortons, Chambourcins, Traminettes, and Viogniers. There are some very high quality wineries within a short distance of DC. In fact, I have even seen mention of Virginia Wine Country tours on TV shows such as Today. The best way to start a Virginia Wine Country tour is to get a map which are available at almost all local wineries or at http://www.virginiawine.org. I have probably been to the vast majority of the wineries in the state but every year more and more are popping up so you can always find something new. I always suggest bringing a picnic lunch so that you can spend some time at a winery you enjoy. Most wineries have picnic tables available and sell wine by the bottle or glass in addition to tastings. Unlike many other wine regions, tasting fees at many Virginia wineries are low cost or even free.

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