We are in Charlottesville enjoying the Michael Shap 2007 Viognier.
Author: Paul
A Day In Pictures
Today we arrived in Charlottesville ready to talk and taste wine. We began with a conversation with Michael Shaps about viognier. We then had lunch at Kluge followed by a great impromptu conversation with Kirsty Harmon at Blenheim. Big things happening there! We continued on to Sugarleaf for a tasting and ended our day at Keswick just before they closed. Here are a few pictures from the day. A full report will be forth coming.
Vineyard View
Click to see a larger version.
2005 Estate Bottled Norton
Warren and I met a friend at Chrysalis Vineyards for a tasting and a picnic lunch. We enjoyed the 2005 Estate Bottled Norton. We decided to make a short video.
Manassas Wine & Jazz Festival
Congratulations Gray Ghost!
Gray Ghost’s Adieu won gold at the 16th Annual Amenti del Vino International Wine Competition held in Cromwell, Connecticut the end of May! Gray Ghost’s Adieu was the only Virginia wine awarded Gold!
Gray Ghost’s 2006 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon won gold at the Virginia State Fair Wine Competition held Monday, June 8 in Richmond! Produced from 100% Estate Grown grapes and aged three in years in French oak, Gray Ghost only produces a Reserve Cabernet in exceptional years. This is only the ninth Reserve Cabernet to be produced in fifteen vintage years.
15th Anniversary Celebration at Gray Ghost Vineyards
Saturday & Sunday, July 11 & 12, 2009
11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Enjoy wine tastings, winery tours, vineyard tours and live music by the Seth Kibel Jazz Trio! Experience a Civil War campsite and the firing of an operational Civil War cannon! 11:00 am to 5:00 pm. $10 per person includes tasting, Gray Ghost logo glass and all festivities. Barbecue lunch is $10 with 100% of lunch money benefiting the Culpeper Food Closet. Please call for lunch reservations or bring a picnic. Gray Ghost is located at 14706 Lee Highway in Amissville and can be contacted at 540-937-4869.
Information from Amy Payette, Director of Marketing at Gray Ghost and photos courtesy of T. J. Cabrera.
Changes
As you can see some changes are being made here at Virginia Wine Time. Please hang in there. We’ll have the archives up in the next few weeks. We’ll be adding more each day.
We have moved the site to WordPress which allows users to search for specific winery information. We hope this will help our readers find the information they are looking for. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon. Our content will be continuously updated.
All of the previous comments that were left are now gone. Thank you for all the comments but now you can start leaving new ones.
Thanks!
Paul and Warren
Edible Chesapeake Spring 2009
Our latest article for Edible Chesapeake can be found in the current spring issue. It’s about hybrid varietals such as seyval blanc, vidal blanc and chambourcin and their success in Virginia. Edible Chesapeake can be found at Whole Foods; visit the wineries mentioned in the article and mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.
Weekend Wrap Up
We had a busy wine weekend! We had two wine events to attend this weekend and they were both wonderful events. There’s so much to say about both but we’ve decided to mention a few things and show you the events through pictures.
On Saturday we attended the annual Nebbiolo Vertical tasting at Breaux Vineyards. The food was absolutely delicious and provided by Grandale Farms. We had three flights of wine with a course of food to enjoy with each flight.
We tasted the 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, and 2007 Nebbiolos. 2005, 2006, and 2007 are still in the barrels and won’t be released for a few years. Of those we tasted, the 2001 and the 2007 got our gold stars. They both had nice tannis, nice color and went well with the food parings.
On Sunday we attended the Warrenton Wine and Arts Festival. Several local wineries were in attendance and it was nice to taste many of the wines we enjoy at their wineries. One winery that we haven’t had the chance to visit was Rogers Ford. We really need to plan to visit them soon. At their table we really enjoyed the Sumerduck Rose. We actually picked up a bottle to bring home before leaving.
Another notable wine that received one of our gold stars was the 2008 8 Chains LoCo Vino which is a traminette/vidal blanc blend. It was crisp and fruity and perfect on a hot day like today. We secured a bottle of this one as well. Doug Fabbioli produced this wonderful wine.
After our tasting we wandered around the displays of artwork, photography, and antiques. We also enjoyed some delicious lunch items from the Knights of Columbus. It was a very warm day but we enjoyed the event and came away with some great wines. We hope this becomes an annual event. If so, it’s one you’ll want to put on your calendar next year.
Don’t Forget!
Don’t forget! The Warrenton Wine and Arts Festival is this weekend! The event takes place on the campus of St. John Evangelist School on Saturday April 25th noon to 6:00 pm and Sunday April 26th noon to 5:00 pm.
Several Virginia wineries will be attending the festival including Barboursville, Delfosse, Pearmund, Tarara, and many others. There will be local artists and photographers attending the festival as well as antique dealers, musicians, and authors.
Tickets can be purchased ahead of time for $20.00 and at the gate for $25.00. Designated driver tickets are available for $10.00. Proceeds from the festival will benefit St. John Evangelist School, Church, and Knights of Columbus.
We will be attending the event and of course we’ll be writing about our experiences. Look for us there!