We try out the new Vacanti Wine Glasses with a wonderful wine for Virginia Wine Month.
Tag: gray ghost
Harvesting At Gray Ghost
Today we went to Gray Ghost Vineyards to help harvest the chardonnay grapes. We do this every year and have been for the last 12 years. They had a bumper crop this year. Al Kellert reported bringing in almost 50% more than they did last year. We had a great time as usual! Here’s what the grapes looked like this morning.
Celebrating Virginia Wine Month
How Are You Celebrating Virginia Wine Month?
October is Virginia Wine Month, and we are doing it right by enjoying Virginia wine with dinner, at restaurants, and at Virginia wineries. Here is how we kicked off Virginia Wine month:
Dinner at Al Dente in Washington DC: Pappardelle pasta with wild boar ragout braised in red wine paired with Breaux’s Nebbiolo 2007.
Harvest Salad as a first course at a dinner party: Crisp seasonal apples, chopped fennel, and slivered almonds tossed with a lemon vinaigrette then topped with crumbled blue cheese was served with Linden’s Riesling Vidal 2011
Steaks on Friday: We reserve Fridays as our red meat day. Filet Mignon topped with sautéed mushrooms was paired with Gray Ghost Vineyards’ Cabernet Sauvignon 2010.
Pumpkin Cake: My favorite seasonal dessert. Fall spices serve as supporting roles in this pumpkin-based delight. We enjoyed this with Naked Mountain’s Old Vine Riesling 2012 produced from the oldest Riesling vines on the property.
Need other suggestions to celebrate Virginia Wine Month? Hume Vineyards will release its 2012 Viognier; characteristic floral notes are accompanied by stone fruit elements and a white pepper undertone. This one should be perfect with poultry topped with a cream sauce. Planning to invite friends over for a hearty beef stew? We were impressed with the 2011 Petit Verdot with its whiff of violet as well as its brambleberry and dark fruit notes; it’s a bit chewy too!
So this is how we kicked off Virginia Wine Month. How are you celebrating Virginia Wine Month? We would like to know, so feel free to share with us. Visit the Virginia wineries mentioned in this post and mention that Virginia Wine Time sent you.
Harvesting Chardonnay
On Saturday we went to Gray Ghost to help harvest the chardonnay. As in past years, we do this every year and always have a great time. Here are some photos from our time harvesting.
We gathered early Saturday morning to harvest the chardonnay.
Al used his “Powerpoint” presentation to demonstrate how to harvest.
Amy put on a show to display this years harvest T-shirt.
Before heading to the vineyard Warren got a chance to talk with Al about the harvest.
We then headed to the vineyard and got a closer lesson on harvesting.
Here’s Warren harvesting some grapes.
After all the lugs were full, Al Jr and helpers collected all the lugs and brought them to the crush pad.
Here are some of the grapes we were harvesting.
After all the grapes were brought in, we toasted to this year’s harvest.
Bud Growth
Cabernet Release Party
On Saturday evening we attended the 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon release party at Gray Ghost Vineyards. This is always an elegant night filled with music, food, and wine. Gray Ghost Vineyards only produces a reserve Cabernet in exceptional years, and the result is always an exceptional wine. The 2009 did not disappoint. It delighted our palate with notes of blackberry, cherry, and dark chocolate. It paired beautifully with our prime rib dinner. The food was delicious, the wine was wonderful, and company was enjoyable. We had a wonderful evening. Here are some pictures from the evening.
Virginia Wine Month
October is Virginia Wine Month! There are lots of events happening this month to celebrate Virginia Wine Month. Whole Foods will even be having special tastings of select Virginia Wines. We’ll be busy enjoying lots of Virginia wines this month. We got started a little early. On Sunday we enjoyed the 2011 Seyval Blanc from Gray Ghost Vineyards. We enjoyed it with a picnic lunch at the Bishop’s Garden at the National Cathedral.
Our celebrating will continue this weekend when we head to Charlottesville to visit some of our favorite wineries. Stay tuned for more coverage of Virginia Wine Month! And if you visit any wineries, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Gray Ghost Harvest
On Sunday we went to Gray Ghost to help harvest the chardonnay grapes. We do this every year and always have a good time. Here are some pictures from the day.
We all gathered very early in the morning.
Al Kellert told us all about the process.
Amy showed us what this year’s T-shirt looked like.
These are the grapes we were harvesting.
Here’s Warren harvesting the grapes.
During a break, Amy reminded us of a few things to remember when harvesting.
Al estimated we brought in more than 10 tons of grapes.
The grapes were put through the de-stemmer.
Then they were fed into the bladder press.
Here’s Al working the bladder press.
When we were all done we had a congratulatory toast.
And this is why we work so hard to harvest the grapes.
Winemaker’s Dinner
On Saturday evening we joined many of our wine trail friends for the annual Gray Ghost Winemaker’s Dinner at The Marriott Ranch. We enjoyed a delicious five course meal with Gray Ghost wines paired with each course. Al and Cheryl Kellert introduced each wine and talked about each vintage. The pairings were perfect of course. My favorite course and pairing was the trout schnitzel with the 2011 Gewürztraminer. I liked the trout schnitzel so much that I asked the chef after the dinner how he made it. I have a good idea of how to replicate the dish later. Everyone had a great time enjoying the food, the wine, and the company. I took a few pictures but not enough to completely document the meal. I was too busy enjoying the evening!
The Wine Trail Table
The Menu
Third Course
Cabernet and Chocolates
On Saturday we attended the annual Cabernet and Chocolates event at Gray Ghost. We always have a great time enjoying the chocolates and red wines. This year Gray Ghost released the Vidal Blanc on this chocolate filled weekend. We enjoyed the new Vidal with it’s melon and crisp fruity flavors. Of course we enjoyed the red wines as well. The merlot was my favorite paired with the chocolates. Here are some pictures from the event:
