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