Wine and Swine at Chrysalis

Alprazolam Online Reviews The Passport to Virginia wineries lists all the wine events that take place throughout the year. These events appeal to the wine aficiando of all levels from novice to expert; in fact, these events are fun for those who do not ordinarily drink wine but tag along with friends to enjoy food, music, and well-carted wine. One such event was Chrysalis’ 5th Annual Wine and Swine; we wanted to take advantage of the cool, late spring weather and decided to check in with the Virginia Passport to find a fun, outdoor event that provided food, music, and wine. The Chrysalis event fit the bill; it was held this past Saturday, we decided to attend. We had a blast!

Buy Real Alprazolam For $50 ($35 for VIP members) we enjoyed southern BBQ provided by Red Hot and Blue, and the menu included beef brisket, baby back ribs, pulled pork, and grilled chicken. In addition, we received a souvenir glass to use for the Estate wine tasting. Now we should clarify the term, Estate—these were wines produced with the grapes grown and harvested on the Chrysalis properties. These wines included the award-winning Viognier, the newly released Verdejo, and the Chardonnay. Special attention must be paid to the Norton; Chrysalis considers the Norton to be the premier red wine of Virginia, and Chrysalis’ stated objective is to bring the Norton grape to a position of prominence enjoyed by te Norton arietal in the 19th century. In fact, in 1873, Norton wines produced in the United States received international acclaim in Vienna; however, with the prohibition movement in full swing not long afterward, Norton’s potential was never developed. Chrysalis has successfully returned Norton to it place of prominence, and we gladly tasted the results of this effort.

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After the Estate tasting,we enjoyed the BBQ and listened to Billy Clement and The Pickups. Billy Clements and his Pickups returned us to the 1950s, and we heard classic tunes by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Buddy Holly. Paul stopped himself from wildy dancing the watusi while Billy serenaded us with these rock classics. With our BBQ lunch, we both decided to pair the BBQ with the 2002 Estate Norton. The raspberry flavors and rustic characteristics of the Norton paired quite nicely with the BBQ; the slight sweetness accompanied the smoky flavors that dominate BBQ, Warren is not a huge fan of Norton, but he had to admit that the Norton was the perfect partner for the barbequed brisket, sausage, and ribs. Paul really enjoyed the Norton enough to have two glasses and even bought a bottle of the 2002 Norton to bring home. Warren opted to have a glass of Chardonnay after lunch, and we both enjoyed the rock-a-billy sounds of Billy Clement and the Pickups.


Ultimately, we decided to taste the Reseve wines. This tasting included all the wines we sampled in the Estate tasting as well as the Reserve wines; some Reserve wines were produced from grapes grown on other properties. The Lockseley-grown wines were featured, and we sampled the Lockseley Norton along with the Petit Verdot and the lovely Albarino, a white wine that will receive special attention in our feature article. Please indulge and taste these wines; Petit Verdot is fast becoming another Virginia specialty. Petit Verdot is used in France to blend their world-famous Bordeauxs, but Petit Verdot on its own can produce an excellent, medium-bodied wine that will conjure dreams of roasted leg of lamb or even veal chops.


Chrysalis’ Wine and Swine was well attended, and we encourage our readers to take advantage of winery events whenever possible. At these events, a full tasting of wines will be offered, and foods served will give even the food and wine pairing novice an idea of how to pair food and wines. If that’s not enough to entice, then at least attend with family/friends to enjoy a lovely late spring afternoon with nice wine and food. You won’t regret the experience.

Pearmund Cellars

https://inteligencialimite.org/2024/08/07/o2y0ro07 On Saturday we opted to miss Vintage Virginia and visit Pearmund Cellars. We have been to Pearmund before but not since the new Passport To Virginia Wineries 2006 book came out. So we decided to pack a lunch, do a tasting and get the sticker for our books.

Since our last visit their tasting menu has changed and some new wines have been released. Among the wines on the tasting list were their new 2005 Riesling and the 2004 Lisa’s Merlot. All of their wines were tasty and lived up to the tasting notes.

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https://polyploid.net/blog/?p=nishj7b6 For lunch we decided on the 2004 Viognier. As it warmed up in the sun we enjoyed tropical fruity taste more and more. We enjoyed the viognier with ham sandwiches, cheeses and crackers, and almonds. During our lunch the winery dog visited us several times to check out what we were having. He’s such a sweet dog.

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https://mandikaye.com/blog/kmc5yitx Before leaving Pearmund we decided to make some purchases. Paul bought the 2004 Lisa’s Merlot and Warren left with a 2004 Lisa’s Merlot and a bottle of the 2005 Riesling. Both selections are excellent additions to our collections.

Gray Ghost Vidal Blanc

https://nedediciones.com/uncategorized/eh3zr9s On Memorial Day we went to the Bishop’s Garden at the National Cathedral. While we weren’t visiting a Virginia winery, we were enjoying a Virginia wine. With us we brought a 2005 Vidal Blanc from Gray Ghost.

https://www.psicologialaboral.net/2024/08/07/d0q70wnknhc The Vidal Blanc has a clear, pale yellow complexion; it possesses citrus and pear aromas. On the palate, citrus and melon flavors prevail with subtle hints of peach. It has a tart, crisp finish—somewhat sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. This Vidal Blanc has already won numerous awards including Best in Class at the 2006 LA County Fair International Wine Competition, and it is destined to be a crowd pleaser this summer. It’s a lovely appertif and pairs nicely with spicy mango salsa; other spicy dishes would also be complementary. Feel adventurous and dare to pair this one with blue cheese!

https://blog.extraface.com/2024/08/07/2ywhxuko94v On this particularly warm day, the Vidal Blanc was a perfect companion for our picnic. Fresh mango, strawberries, and light cheeses matched quite well; spicy ham sandwiches on baguettes seasoned with olive oil, cracked pepper, and Italian herbs likewise paired very well. A special mention of the buttery-soft St. Andre cheese should be made; this cheese is a delight, and we brought it along to enjoy with the fruit and wine. On this warm afternoon, the Gray Ghost 2005 Vidal Blanc was cool, crisp and refreshing.

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Kluge Simply Red

Saturday evening we had a friend over for Paul’s birthday. Warren selected the Kluge Estate Albemarle Simply Red to compliment our steak dinner.

https://foster2forever.com/2024/08/yv1n9ibmq.html This wine is a Bordeaux style red, predominately Merlot with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. We got nice big cherry aromas with hints of chocolate and vanilla. The color was a deep garnet. When tasting this wine the Merlot shined through with big red cherry flavors with some pepper qualities from the Cabernet Franc. It had a little bit of a herby flavor from the Franc as well. The tannic finish was smooth. The tannins didn’t really grip you.

We had this with steaks, au gratin potatoes, and grilled vegetables. The wine paired well with our dinner selections.

We visited Kluge last summer and really enjoyed their facility. They have a wonderful deli with all kinds of cheeses, desserts, and foods. They have a nice tasting room to the side where you can taste all their wines. It was well worth the stop on our Charlottesville tour last summer. We hope to visit them again this summer.

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Check out our latest submission to The Daily News Record about Chester Gap, a new winery in Virginia, and the first of a four part series about the evolution of wine.

Ribbon Cutting

On Saturday we were invited to attend the new tasting room ribbon cutting at Gray Ghost Winery. Many of Gray Ghost’s friends and customers attended the ceremony.

Buy Xanax Cod Overnight Speaking at the ceremony were Todd Gilbert from the Virginia House of Delegates, 15th District, Mark D. Obenshain from the Senate of Virginia, 26th District, and Gordon W. Murchie, President of the Vinifera Wine Growers Association. After the keynote by Gordon Murchie, the participants lined up at the door and cut the ribbon to officially open the new tasting room.

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A wonderful reception followed the ceremony. They served the full line of Gray Ghost wines. We enjoyed the wines as well as the tasty horderves. After the ceremony we decided to have lunch in the garden. It was a beautiful day to enjoy a lunch and a bottle of the Gray Ghost Seyval Blanc.


After lunch we decided to go to Rappahannock Cellars for a tasting and to get a sticker for our Passport To Virginia Wineries 2006 book. Then we ended our day at Gadino Cellars for a tasting. We also enjoyed some conversation with Aleta Gadino.

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The Quest Continues

https://mandikaye.com/blog/vliasfnxm4 It is our goal to visit as many Virginia wineries as is possible in 2006. We continued working on this goal on Saturday by visiting three more wineries. We decided on three that were close to each other and would provide us stickers for our Loudoun Wine Trail book as well as our Passport To Virginia Wineries 2006 book.

https://www.clawscustomboxes.com/mcvsgdr Our first stop was Lost Creek Winery in Loudoun County. We visited Lost Creek last summer and since that visit we noticed a few changes. They have been working on the exterior areas of the winery. Landscaping was taking place and they have installed a trellis around the patio area at the entrance of the building.

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Once inside we were greeted with a friendly hello. The pouring associate remembered us from last summer! She informed us that they had sold out of most of their wines and were only tasting 4 wines. We tasted their Vidal Blanc, Chardonnay, a Chambourcin- blended dessert wine called Courtney’s Christmas, and their Cabernet Sauvignon. Paul was disappointed because he was looking forward to tasting the Merlot. The pouring associate informed us they planned to be stocked up with all their wines by the end of June. After our tasting we decided to enjoy a glass of their Vidal Blanc as we sat under their pavilion. This Vidal had a nice golden color with pear and even some tropical fruit on the nose. It had fruit flavors that included pear with suggestions of mango and melon. Warren noticed a unctuous, honey mouth feel with a shorter finish. All in all, a nice patio sipper.


As it turned out, Hidden Brook Winery was right next door to Lost Creek. It was an easy stop on our quest for the stickers. We also visited Hidden Brook last summer on the same day we visited Lost Creek. Luckily, Hidden Brook had eight wines to taste. While we were tasting the wines the tasting room began to fill up. Just as we were leaving an limousine of 15 people showed up. Our tasting room associate had her hands full after we left.

https://solomedicalsupply.com/2024/08/07/1d9k53i59 Our final stop of the day was at Tarara Vineyard and Winery. We have visited Tarara before and have been to some of their events. Since our last visit some changes have taken place. They have expanded their tasting room into the conference area. They now have a tasting bar that goes around the room. You buy your ticket at the counter as you enter the winery and then move on to the tasting room for the tasting. The first thing we noticed was the extensive tasting sheet provided to us at the beginning of the tasting. It includes all the information you might want to know about their wines. The featured tasting included 9 of their wines. You could also elect to do the winemaker’s select tasting for an additional fee. We decided to begin with the featured tasting and then after lunch we would try the winemaker’s select tasting.

https://nedediciones.com/uncategorized/6lsr7tm6z4p The featured selection tasting consisted of three white wines and six reds. The whites we tasted were the Pinot Gris, the Viognier, and the Charval. Of the whites, we both found the Pinot Gris to be most enjoyable. The reds includedf their Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, their Cameo (a blend), and their Wild River Red (also a blend). All of the reds in the featured selection tasting were very nice and exhibited qualities expected from each red.
It was at this point we decided to have lunch and enjoy a bottle of their Chardonnay. We sat out on their deck and enjoyed cheeses, crackers, sandwiches, and apples while enjoying the view and the friendly visits from Shadow, the winery’s dog. The weather was perfect for enjoying the Chardonnay on the deck.

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After our lunch we opted for the Winemaker’s Select tasting. With this tasting you are able to taste one white, the 2004 Chardonnay, and four reds, as well as one port style wine. The reds included the Reserve Cabernet Franc, Reserve Merlot, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, and their Meritage. The final wine, Whitie’s D9 is a port style wine. It’s 100% Merlot. Of the reds, the 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon stood out. It is a full bodied cabernet with lots of cherry, plum, and some spice on the nose. This one would certainly go well with chocolates. As a matter of fact, after the tasting we decided to have a glass of this with the chocolates we brought. We left Tarara with a few bottles of wine. We plan to visit Tarara again to attend one of their music events in the summer.

https://blog.extraface.com/2024/08/07/yjrjj1z4 At the end of the day we had secured three more stickers for our Loudoun County Wine Trail book and three more stickers for our 2006 Passport to Virginia Wineries. We now have five more wineries to visit in Loudoun County and more then we can count in Virginia. The summer will be here soon and we’ll have plenty of time to complete the quest.

Nebbiolo Vertical Tasting

The last time we visited Breaux Vineyards we heard about their Nebbiolo Vertical Tasting taking place this weekend. Being interested in Nebbiolo and not having much experience with it, we decided to sign up for the tasting.

The vertical tasting took place on Saturday. Breaux was a very popular place on Saturday. The tasting room was populated with patrons waiting to taste. Breaux had so many visitors they had to set up a tent outside for more tasting space. There were also lots of people having picnics on the grounds.

Breaux had set up long tables in their tank room for the Nebbiolo vertical tasting. It looked as though they could seat 30 to 40 people for each tasting. After being seated, David Collins, the winemaker, told us about the history of Nebbiolo at Breaux. Then the tasting began.

We began with the 2004 and 2003 Breaux Nebbiolos out of the barrel. Both will be spending a year or two more in the barrels before bottling. The 2004 was very earthy, and rustic, with a red brick color and hints of raisin flavors. The 2003 had the same color but was smoother with dark berry flavors.

Next up were the 2002 Breaux Nebbiolo and the 2001 Veraldo Barbaresco. The 2002 Nebbiolo was from the bottle. It was fruitier with pepper, spicy flavors. It was slightly lighter in color but not in body. The 2001 Veraldo Barbaresco was a deeper red with a long finish and gave the sensation of sweetness without the sweet taste. The sensation of sweet was noted by some and questioned by others. Everyone’s palate is different.

Finally we had the 2001 Breaux Nebbiolo (current release) and the 2000 Allesandra Montigliero (Barolo). These were very similar. Both had dark brick red colors, smooth on the tongue, with some cherry/dark berry flavors.

Of course the foods prepared by Grandale Farm were perfectly paired with the wines. We had braised duck confit, caponata with prosciutto, Maryland crab mousse, sauteed grandale mizuno and chicory, aged Italian asiago, and nut toffee with vanilla wafer crust. Outstanding tastes to compliment the wines.

After the nebbiolos, we were treated to a taste of the syrah in the barrel room. They provided some chocolates to go with the syrah. While the syrah was very nice (especially with the chocolates), Paul really enjoyed the merlot they poured before the Nebbiolo tasting began. But then again, he’s partial to merlots. From the Nebbiolo tasting, Warren found the 2001 Breaux Nebbiolo to be most interesting. Not being all that familiar with Nebbiolo, we enjoyed the opportunity to taste so many and compare the different vintages. It certainly was an interesting wine afternoon.

Barrel Tasting at Linden

On Sunday we went to a once yearly barrel tasting at Linden Vineyards. We invited our friends Caroline and Kerry to join us at this event. We were so pleased they decided to join us.

Once we got to Linden we participated in their regular tasting and were able to taste their recently released 2004 Cabernet Franc and their 2005 Vidal Riesling as well as their current offerings. We could not find a bad thing to say about any of their wines. We enjoyed each one.

After our tasting we picked up our glass and our tasting sheet and went to the cellar to began the barrel tasting. The tasting sheet describes the event like this:

https://oevenezolano.org/2024/08/6t4eqvr “Once a year we like to give you the opportunity to taste the new vintage. There is something magical about tasting a wine right from the barrel. The wines are young, unpolished, exuberant and full of fresh fruit flavors with a puckery dryness. We will tell you about the growing season, the logic behind the blends and how we think the wines will evolve.”

From the first barrel we were able to taste the 2005 Avenius. This wine is a blend of cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot. The grapes come from Shari Avenius’ vineyard which is close to Linden. She grows the grapes for Linden and Jim Law uses his skill to create the wines. Shari Avenius herself was using the wine theif to serve our taste of this developing wine. We would really enjoy having the chance to talk with her sometime about her vineyard.

The second barrel revealed the 2005 Hardscrabble which is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, merlot, and cabernet franc. This one became the favorite of Paul and Caroline. The man providing our taste explained that this wine would be staying the barrel for several more months. We look forward to it’s release.

Barrel three consisted of the 2005 Petit Verdot. This wine contained petit verdot and cabernet franc. Warren found this one to be his favorite. Kerry enjoyed this one as well.

The last barrel was the 2005 Boisseau which is a blend of cabernet franc, petit verdot, and merlot. Richard Boisseau has 3 arces of grapes that he sells to Jim Law for creating this wine. Richard explained to us that each wine takes the name of the vineyard from which the grapes come. Instead of naming the wine by the largest concentration of a certain grape, the wine takes the name from the vineyard’s owner. Interesting way to name wines.

After the barrel tasting we entered a different part of the cellar for a special release tasting. Over the weekend Linden released the 2005 Avenius Sauvignon Blanc, the 2002 Hardscrabble Red, and the 2004 Petit Manseng. All three were very good. With each wine they provided foods that paired well with each one. After this tasting we went back upstairs and enjoyed two bottles of wine and nibbles for lunch. While we were having our lunch, they sold out of the 2002 Hardscrabble Red. Paul was a bit upset because he was planning on buying a bottle or two because it was 100% merlot.

We have found that barrel tasting provide you insight to the upcoming wines. We thoroughly enjoyed this barrel tasting at Linden and can’t say enough about their wines. Here are some photos from our visit to Linden:


Caroline, Kerry, and Warren at the regular tasting.

Warren, Kerry, and Caroline enjoying the barrel tasting.

Richard Boisseau using the wine theif to provide Warren a taste of the 2005 Boisseau.

Pontchartrain Vineyards

Last week we went to visit Warren’s family in New Orleans, Louisiana. Besides all the damage we saw from hurricane Katrina, we made time to visit Pontchartrain Vineyards. There are very few wineries in Louisiana and Pontchartrain Vineyards is the only one right now with a tasting room. Our goal was to try their Cynthiana Norton and see how it compares with the Norton from Chrysalis. We will be writing more about this comparison in an article for the Daily News Record.

Until then, enjoy this short video from our visit to Pontchartrain Vineyards. Click play to see the video.