Winery Visit - The Winery at La Grange

The main house with a tasting room and shop

On Sunday, April 29th I visited The Winery at La Grange in Haymarket, Virginia with my brother, sister, and friend.  Upon our arrival, I was shocked to see how many cars were in the lot and how many people were enjoying food and wine on the grass.  We all thought there was an event going on.  I got worried that they were closed for a private party and that we'd have to turn around and go home.  We walked into what looked like a home and saw groups of people tasting a variety of wine.  I went up to the counter and they welcomed us with open arms.  I proceeded to tell the young lady at the counter how crowded the place was and she informed me that it was actually one of their slower days. She told me how the line at the register is usually out the door as people visit often to enjoy their wine and appetizers.

Petit Verdot grapes growing

Cabernet Sauvignon grapes growing

This winery is currently in a premature stage of harvesting, so they do not actually harvest any grapes.  Petit Verdot and Cabernet Sauvignon are the two grapes that they are growing, but they will not be harvested for a few years.

Award winning wines from La Grange

We started off with tasting the wines before exploring the winery.  There were 9 reds, 1 rose, and 5 whites.
2010 Pinot Gris: This is a new world style wine with a citrus aroma. It had a very earthy taste to it.
2010 Fletcher's Chardonnay: This was my favorite white that I tried! It seems to be everyone else's favorite too due to all the awards it has won.  It is a non malolactic French Oak fermentation produced wine.  It had a sweet taste to it, but not overbearingly sweet.
2007 Fletcher's Chardonnay: This wine tasted very similar to the 2010, but had a more dry taste to it.
2009 Viogner: This wine is extremely aromatic with fruit flavors, such as honeysuckle and lychee.  It is fermented in stainless steel and aged for 6 months in Hungarian Barrels.
2010 Rose of Merlot: Very good! Extremely crisp and refreshing rose. It had a beautiful light cherry and strawberry aroma with hints of flavor from raspberries. I would definitely like to enjoy this wine with a nice fruit salad.
2010 Cuvee Blanc: This cuvee had a strong aroma of lychee fruit.  It tasted like a mix of flowers and honey.  The host told us that it'd be great to pair with spicy foods.
2010 Norton: I was excited to try the Norton because I keep hearing about this grape since it's popularly grown in Virginia.  This wine had extreme oak flavors.  It had a hint of spice to it.
2009 Cabernet Franc: This is a complex wine blended from four of Virginia's vineyards.  It had notes of fig and berry aromas along with flavors of cocoa, spice, and oak. The oak flavor was way too strong for my liking.
2010 Reserve Cabernet Franc: This emerged from a double aging process.  There are dark cherry chocolate flavors with a  hint of black pepper.  A very smoky, but smooth finish.  There is a ton of flavor in this wine.
2010 Merlot: This wine had hints of cedar and spice on the nose with an integration of black cherry and tannin.  This wine didn't wow me.
2009 Meritage: This wine is a blend of 4 of the 5 grapes from Bordeaux.  It includes Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. It is aged 14 months.  Very tannic, but also very smooth.
2010 Cabernet Sauvignon: A classic Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was dry, but I feel like it'd be great to pair with food.  The host informed us that it is great aged and has a strong age-worthy component.
2009 Tannat: A full bodied red wine with an extreme tannic structure.  It made my mouth pucker and left a dry feeling.  Not my preferred style of wine.
2009 Snort: Snort is a play on the word "Port". Delicious! I loved this wine. It was sweeter than most reds I've tried, so I really enjoyed that. They gave us pieces of dark chocolate to pair with it.  When I tried to wine before the chocolate it was sweet, but once I tried the chocolate and then had a sip of the wine all those flavors just intensified! It had such a great impact on it.
General's Battlefield Red: This was a special wine they were allowing us to taste.  I really enjoyed all the flavors I was exposed to.  There was oak and fruit flavors. It was very subtle yet had a big impact on my palate.


After we were done tasting these wonderful wines, we grabbed a menu and ordered a few snacks to enjoy with our glasses of wine.  I ordered a glass of the 2010 Chardonnay along with a baguette.  My siblings and friend order crab and artichoke spread, jalapeño cheese spread, pita chips, and prosciutto.  The wine tasted even better with the food.  For some reason it seemed as if the taste of the Chardonnay was sweeter once I had food with it.  It was such an enjoyable experience.  We sat outside in the beautiful weather listening to a band that was playing.  It was very relaxing.

Drinking a glass of Chardonnay with bread and spreads

Another view of the winery

Once we were all done with our meal, we began our tour of the winery.  We didn't need to have a formal tour because we were free to roam everything at the winery and ask questions to the employees around the area.  I got to see their barrel room and production site. It was such a great visit! I would definitely come back and enjoy more food and wine here!

Winery Visit - Paradise Springs

On Wednesday, March 7, 2012, I went to Paradise Springs in Clifton, VA with four of my friends to tour the vineyard and try out the different wines that they offered. This was my first time visiting a winery, so I was extremely excited to see how the process worked and all the storing facilities.
Paradise Springs is located in the small town of Clifton, Virginia. This area was known for the mineral springs, which was said to be "healing waters".   In 1904, Paradise Springs had bottled water instead of wine. This winery consists of 36 acres of land right on the edge of Fairfax County, which includes the cabin, barrel room, vineyard, tank room, and a production site. This winery went through many battles to operate and produce wine.  They fought a legal battle for years until they were finally able to reach an agreement with the Virginia ABC board that allowed them to operate and obtain a license to serve wine. Paradise Springs Winery officially opened on January 16th, 2010.

Tasting Room

In the photo above is the tasting room at Paradise Springs.  The design was absolutely gorgeous! It looked very modern, but with a antique finish due to all the wooden walls and decorations.  The tables available for seating were barrels, which I found very unique.

Barrels storing the wine

After walking around the tasting room we were taken into the barrel room, which is where all the wine is stored.  They have tubes connected to all the barrels, which allow removal of the wine to be processed for bottling. They had each section of barrels categorized by varietal of grape. We also explored the production site and tank room, which was very interesting to see! (Unfortunately my camera died, so I was not able to take photos of all the production going on)  The grape grown on Paradise Springs is Cabernet Franc, so we were able to see those grapes being processed. It was fun to watch the production process because growing up I had always imagined grapes being smashed by foot due to an episode on "I Love Lucy". After the tour was done we went to taste all the wines sold at the winery!  The descriptions and my opinion of the wines are provided below.

Wines:

• 2010 Sommet Blanc: This white wine is 58% Vidal Blanc, 34% Traminette, and 8% Chardonnay. It tasted very refreshing with a floral scent to it.  It had different fruit flavors, but wasn't too sweet. 
• 2010 Petit Manseng: The tour guide described this wine as dry with a citrus nose, including tastes of orange and peach.  I thought I'd like it, but it was way too dry for my liking.  I didn't really get heavy fruit flavors from this wine.  To me it had a bitter finish to it. 
• 2010 Chardonnay: Definitely my favorite from this vineyard! It was the winner of the VA Governor's Cup for the "Best White Wine in VA" and I definitely know why.  It was very smooth and crisp with strong flavors of apples.  I couldn't help but buy a bottle for myself after the tasting. 
• 2010 Viognier: This wine was fermented in stainless steel and aged for 8 months in French Oak.  The guide said this wine was extremely popular for the holidays. Initially I didn't think it would be due to the stainless steel fermentation, but I guess the 8 months in French Oak really got that oak flavor through the wine.  Not my favorite. 
• 2010 Reserve Carbernet Sauvignon: This is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon and is aged 13 months in 1-4 year old oak barrels.  This wine is very tannic and is said to age well for 10+ years.  The "oak monster" was present for this wine. Although I'm not a fan of that oak taste, I could see this wine being paired with meaty dishes.  This wine seems to be great for food pairing, but alone it did not work for me. 
• 2010 Cabernet Franc: Since Cabernet Franc is grown at Paradise Springs I was excited to try this wine. This was a nice, typical red wine. Very smooth, crisp, and clean.  I would love to try this with a nice cheese platter. 
• 2010 Petit Verdot: Aged in French Oak and is said to have rich flavors of ripe fruit, blackberries, and clove.  To me this wine was extremely dry and bitter.  I didn't taste any fruit flavors, just oak. 
• 2010 Meritage: This is a blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and Malbec. It is aged 10 months in American Oak.  The flavor that popped out to me was licorice. I am actually not a fan of black licorice, so I didn't enjoy this wine either.  I would like to say that it was a nice blend, but as far as my personal preference, I do not enjoy that dark, bitter taste. 
• Apres Sparkling Viognier: This sparkling wine is made from 100% Virginia Viognier.  It is aged, fermented, and hand turned into bottle for 13 months using the same method as bottling champagne.  This is Paradise Spring's celebratory wine! This was a bit more dry than what I'm used to with sparkling wine, but it was good nonetheless! I absolutely love sparkling wine.

Hanging out in the Barrel Room

I had such a great experience at Paradise Springs Winery. The scenery was gorgeous, the tour was educational, the staff was friendly and helpful, and the wine was delicious!  It was my first winery experience, but will not be my last.

Tasting - "Risata Moscato d'Asti"

Name: Risata Moscato d'Asti
Variety: 100% Moscato
Region: Asti, Piedmont DOCG 
Country: Italy
Year: 2010
Price: $15.95

Wine Shop Review: This Moscato d'Asti is fresh, fragrant, and frizz ante with vibrant flavors and aromas of ripe stone fruit, tangerines, and honey.  The wine is concentrated and flavorful, but not overly rich or heavy; sweet, yet balanced.

My Review: Very refreshing! This Moscato is nice, light, and sweet, but not overbearing.  You can taste all the fruit and citrus flavors with just a little bit of fizz to it. The smell was very floral and sweet that I knew I would like the taste of it.  I agree that it was very balanced in taste.

I did not taste this wine with food.

Tasting - "Coldstream Hills Sauvignon Blanc"

Name: Coldstream Hills Sauvignon Blanc
Variety: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Yarra Valley
Continent: Australia
Year: 2009
Price: $7.95

Wine Shop Review: Predominately fermented at cool temperatures in stainless steel tanks, with a small portion barrel fermented in older French oak, the wine is blended, bottled, and released three to four months after fermentation.  The nose shows fragrant gooseberry characters with underlying passionfruit and lychee aromas.  Minerally, stalky notes are evident and provide additional complexity.  The palate is a fine and elegant style with zesty lemon acidity and length.  Varietal characters of passionfruit pulp and gooseberry dominate with hints of lemon peel in the background.

My Review:  The taste of this wine was way too potent for me.  The flavors were very strong and bitter. From the review I thought it'd taste fruity, but I hardly tasted any fruit.  To me the smell and taste were both smoky and oak like.

I did not taste this wine with food.

Tasting - "Frisk Prickly Reisling"

Name: Frisk Prickly Reisling
Variety: 90% Riesling, 10% Muscat Gordo
Region: Victoria
Continent: Australia
Year: 2011
Price: $11.95

Wine Shop Review: Leave it to the Aussies to come up with a tasty value wine with a sassy descriptive name.  Frisk is a frisky Riesling with a pleasing level of prickly spritz lifting the ample fruity flavors.  It has a pale straw color, lively bubbles, loads of tropical fruit and jasmine aromas, off-dry fruity flavors, a refreshing 9.8% alcohol and a sweet/tart finish; and all that Australian goodness.

My Review: So tasty! I'm a sucker for sweet wines, so this was definitely in my favor. It tasted like candy to me. It wasn't as sweet as Moscato, so I could see myself drinking it with more than just dessert. I could taste all sorts of fruits in this wine, such as apple and  lemon.  When it was poured into my glass there were two things I noticed, the bubbles and the thickness of the wine. It appeared a little bit thicker than the other whites, so I figured it'd be sweet.

I did not taste this wine with food.

Tasting - "Leese Fitch Savignon Blanc"

Name: Leese Fitch Sauvignon Blanc
Variety:100% Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Sonoma, California
County: USA
Year: 2010
Price: $10.95

Wine Shop Review: 90 points, Wine Enthusiast.  A lovely Sauvignon Blanc, dry, crisply acidic and clean with complex citrus, flower and mineral flavors.  A great value for the money.

My Review:  This white wine is so smooth and has great flavor to it. It smelled fruity and tasted similar, but had just a little touch of sweetness. Extremely refreshing due to the citrus and lemony aroma to it. I bought a bottle to serve with a nice pasta dish.

I did not taste this with food.

Tasting - "Opera Prima Moscato"

Name: Opera Prima Pink Moscato
Variety: 97% Muscat, 3% Tempranillo
Region: Castilla La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: N/A
Price: $5.95

Wine Shop Review: This is an amazing value for an inexpensive Moscato sparkler that is great for many occasions.  Its bright fruit aromas of lychee and lime are appealing and the flavors of honeydew, lime, and lychee are delightful. Great for cake or fruit-based desserts.

My Review: My absolute favorite from the tasting! I've only tried Moscato once before and I wasn't a huge fan, so when I tasted this one I was surprised by how good it tasted! The sweet fruity flavors definitely came through and I could taste the hint of lime.  The sparkling wine reminded me of a fruity 7UP. I bought a bottle and plan to serve it with a fruit tart of some sort.

I did not taste this wine with food.