Our Memorial Day Weekend ended up being quite hectic, and we could only afford enough time to visit a more local winery. Piedmont Vineyards fit the bill. Located less than an hour away from DC, Piedmont is located in the horse country of Virginia and just outside of Middleburg proper. Of course, Piedmont offers quality wines and idyllic views. Readers may recall that our last visit there was in the midst of winter’s freeze, and our guest reviewer, Michael Tyler, provided the commentary. This latest visit allowed us to enjoy warmer weather, and it also gave us the opportunity to sample new pours as well as older releases.
When we arrived at Piedmont we were lucky enough to among only two customers there for a tasting. We like it this way as we get more time to talk with the winemaker, John Fitter. In fact, John conducted our tasting. Fans of the Native Yeast Chardonnay may want to visit Piedmont soon as this limited production wine is almost sold out. However, Chardonnay fans need not despair as Piedmont will be offering the 2005 Chardonnay from DelFosse until the release of their next Chardonnay. The DelFosse 2005 Chardonnay is actually a blend of Chardonnay and Viognier, and this blend seems to work well. It offers the firm backbone of an oak-aged Chardonnay with the fruitiness of the Viognier. Those who hope to get in on the Rose revival recently discussed in Wine Spectator will be pleased with Michael Tyler’s favorite, the Little River Rose. Dry with bright fruit characteristics, the Little River Rose is destined for the pic nic or the summer concert but would also be at home on the dinner table.
We were both anxious to see how the reds were evolving in the bottle, and Paul, the Merlot fan, was more than eager to sample the 2004 Merlot and the 2005 Merlot. His gold star favorite was the 2005 Merlot. More bold than its 2004 sibling, the 2005 Merlot packs lots of dark cherry and mocha flavors. However, don’t discount the 2004 Merlot. It’s lighter-bodied and easy to drink. For those who have purchased the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon, this one is evolving quite nicely. Warren plans to keep his bottle on the rack for a while longer as it is indeed aging very well.
We did bring along some lunch; this was courtesy of Balduccis since we only had time to grab some ready-made sandwiches to bring along. We selected a bottle of the 2005 Merlot to accompany our roastbeef sandwiches. We also grabbed some dark chocolate bars; so, we had already set ourselves up for a red wine! The 2005 Merlot proved to be the perfect choice.
After lunch we decided to purchase some wines to bring home and to thank John for conducting our tasting. If you visit Piedmont anytime soon, and we suggest that you do, tell John Fitter that you heard about Piedmont Winery from Virginia Wine Time.