Last weekend we went to Piedmont Vineyards. It was the coldest day of February and we were hoping they would have indoor space to enjoy some wine and some nibbles. They have a very nice tasting room with a gas fireplace that was lit. We were pleased to see that considering how cold it was outside.

We did a tasting and were pleasantly pleased with their offerings. We then decided to get a bottle of their 2001 Reserve Chardonnay to enjoy with lunch. We chose a table near the fireplace and settled in to enjoy the wine and the nibbles we brought. The Chardonnay had a beautiful golden yellow color and had a nutty, toasty nose. You could easily taste pear and apple flavors and the time spent in the French oak barrel was evident. This Chardonnay paired well with our apples, almonds, white cheeses and crackers.

To extend our time at Piedmont we decided to have a glass of their 2004 Merlot with the chocolates we brought. The Merlot had a garnet color, was medium bodied, and presented berry and pepper flavors. The longer it sat on our table, the better it got. The dark chocolates we enjoyed really brought out the berry flavors. The 2004 Merlot is well worth a taste.

This is a photo of the tasting room at Piedmont Vineyards.

Here is a picture of the tasting room.

On Saturday we were in Charlottesville visiting wineries and one on our list was Oakencroft Winery. We visited Oakencroft in August 2005 and really enjoyed our visit. We decided on this trip to Charlottesville we must stop at Oakencroft to see what new wines have been released.

Oakencroft produces wonderful wines. We did a tasting and chatted with our tastress about the current offerings and those to come in the future. After our tasting, we decided to enjoy a bottle of their 2003 Merlot. Even though 2003 wasn’t the best year for grapes, their 2003 Merlot was quite good. Unfortunately the 2003 is no longer available. While we were there they sold their last bottle. They are now offering the 2004 Merlot. We sat out on their patio and enjoyed the Merlot with some sandwiches and chocolate. Before leaving, we purchased the 2004 Merlot as well as the 2002 Merlot Reserve. Thanks to Lorraine, the manager of the tasting room, and our tastress for providing a superb experience.

This evening we enjoyed the 2002 First Colony Merlot. We visited First Colony in September 2005 and saved this wine for a special evening. We had this merlot with some chocolates and nibbles appropriate for merlot.

Strong cherry aromas greet the nose; big cherry flavors fill the mouth with hints of chocolate and vanilla at the end. This merlot craves chocolates! It lingers in the mouth to provide a longer finish. Some tobacco/leather appears at the end. The tannis are fairly soft and accessible to the mouth; this merlot would be fine with food such as steak yet elegant and easy enough to sip on its own.

This weekend we are headed off to Charlottesville to attend the Mardi Gras event at Horton Cellars Winery. We will also visit Oakencroft Winery and Vinyard and Barboursville Vineyard. We will provide tasting notes on our upcoming wine experiences at Horton, Oakencroft, and Barboursville.

Today we went to Linden Vineyards to enjoy their cellar tasting. During the special cellar tasting you get to compare wines from different vintages. We began with the 1999 Hardscrabble Chardonnay (one of our favorites) and got to compare it with the 2001 Hardscrabble Chardonnay. We then moved on to the 2000 Glen Manor Red and were able to compare to the 2001 Glen Manor Red. And finally we tasted the 2003 Late Harvest and compared it with the 2000 Late Harvest. All the wines were exceptional and Margaret, our tasting specialist, was very knowledgable. We then enjoyed a bottle of their Claret with sausage and cheese on their enclosed deck. The scenery at Linden is breathtaking and shouldn’t be missed. If you have considered a visit to Linden, we highly suggest you plan that trip.

Today we went to Gray Ghost Vineyards in Amissville Virginia. Gray Ghost is one of our favorite wineries. We went to celebrate Warren’s birthday. We enjoyed a bottle of their 2002 Reserve Cabernet. It was a perfect compliment to our steak, cheeses and crackers, portebele mushrooms, and chocolates. In the photo you see Warren enjoying the wine and food while taking notes about the wine.

We also added another sticker to our 2006 Passport to Virginia Wineries. There are 101 wineries listed in this year’s passport. We are hoping to get to most of them and report on wonderful Virginia wines and wineries.

This is just one of Linden’s excellent wines. This Chardonnay is very crisp with lots of apple aromas. Flavors are more citrusy with a long finish. This would pair nicely with seafood, but we had it with chicken and rice flavored with pine nuts. We tasted this one at Linden’s cellar tasting and had to buy it. Now we have to go back to Linden to buy another bottle!

We last visited Linden in November 2005. We enjoyed their Claret with some summer sausage, pepper cheese, and homemade bread. We really enjoyed participating in their cellar tasting at the time. Their grounds are beautiful. Here’s a photo of Lava enjoying the Claret.

Today we went to Windham Winery for lunch. We hadn’t visited Windham since last summer and wanted to see if they had released any of their reds. We did a tasting and enjoyed all of their selections. The 2004 Merlot won’t be released officially until March 2006 but the woman working the tasting bar offered us a taste. I thoroughly enjoyed it but it was obvious it needs to lay down for a few more months. We went ahead and bought a bottle and will enjoy it next spring.

We took some leftovers from Friday’s holiday dinner party and selected Windham’s 2003 Cabernet Franc to enjoy with our meal. We were pleasantly surprised at how well it went with our meal. We sat out on their deck, which the had enclosed for the winter months, and enjoyed our meal and the wine.

After our lunch and purchases, we walked around the property and took photos of the landscape. Below you can see Warren resting on a picnic table bench.

After our visit to Windham Winery we decided to stop by Village Winery. This is a very new winery. They have only been open a few months. We visited them on their opening weekend and things were really rough. This visit things were a bit more polished. Luckily we ended up being the only people visiting the winery. This made it possible for us to have a special private barrel tasting with the owner/winemaker. He was very nice and let us go on and on about wines and winemaking. We were able to taste a 3 month old cabernet franc. It smelled awful and the taste was just as bad. But you could tell that in about a year this will be a very nice wine. We really enjoyed our visit and felt lucky to be able to taste the cabernet franc so soon in the barrel.