Here’s a short video showing which wine we had on Friday evening with dinner.
Tag: Walsh Family Wine
Weekend Wineries
On a recent Saturday we went to Walsh Family Wine to check out the latest wines and enjoy the nice weather.
Warren chose the red wine flight and I chose the white wine flight. We shared our tastes.
My tasting consisted of:
2021 Bethany Ridge Sauvignon Blanc
2020 North Gate Estate Petit Manseng
2020 North Gate Estate Chardonnay
2020 Viognier
Warren’s tasting consisted of:
2015 North Gate Merlot
2020 Bethany Ridge Cabernet Franc
2019 Russ Mountain Merlot
2020 Bethany Ridge Tannat
While we enjoyed all the wines on the tasting, we did have some favorites. We both selected the 2020 North Gate Estate Chardonnay from the white wine tasting. We both noted the apple flavors, the round mouth feel and the long length. We were split on the reds. I enjoyed the 2015 North Gate Estate Merlot and Warren enjoyed the 2020 Bethany Ridge Cabernet Franc. We thought they were both versatile and ready to enjoy now. We also noted the 2020 Bethany Ridge Tannat was age worthy and could stand some time on your wine rack.
After our tasting we enjoyed a bottle of the 2020 North Gate Estate Chardonnay with a delicious bread and cheese board. All the cheeses paired nicely with the Chardonnay. Before leaving we purchased half a case of our favorites.
After our time at Walsh Family Wine, we decided to check out a new winery, Good Spirit Farm. They have only been opened about a month. Most of their plantings are relatively new and have not produced grapes to make wine with yet. Nate Walsh will be the winemaker in the near future. As more grapes are ready for winemaking, more wines will be produced.
Once again I selected to try the white wine flight and Warren selected the red wine flight. Each flight has a mix of Good Spirit Farm wines and other wines from different regions.
My tasting consisted of:
2021 Pazo Señorans Albariño
2020 Melanie Pfister Paar Pinot Blanc
2020 Good Spirit Farm Chardonnay
2021 Good Spirit Farm Rosé
Warren’s tasting consisted of:
2020 Good Spirit Farm Red Blend
2020 Lapostolle Grand Selection Merlot
2018 El Enemigo Malbec
2020 Good Spirit Farm Petit Verdot
After our tasting we shared a glass of the 2020 Good Spirit Farm Chardonnay. We had a chance to meet and chat with the owner Mike Gutermuths. His son also works in the tasting room. Before leaving we bought a few bottles to bring home. We plan to return in the future when they have more of their own wines to share. If you haven’t been to Walsh Family Wine or Good Spirit Farm, plan a trip soon and tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Walsh Family Wine
We joined Kurt from Wine About Virginia at Walsh Family Wine to celebrate their recent anniversary weekend. Happy Anniversary Walsh Family!
We began with a self directed tasting of the 2019 Estate Chardonnay, the 2018 Viognier, the 2018 Loudoun County Cuvée and the 2017 En Passant. The Chardonnay was a favorite as we worked our way through the wines. The Viognier was soft and refreshing. The 2018 Cuvée was smooth, fruity and a perfect light red sipper. The 2017 En Passant ended up being the favorite red in this tasting. We noted dark fruit, coffee and some black pepper.
After our tasting we selected the 2019 Estate Chardonnay to enjoy with our lunch items. We had lots of food items to enjoy with the chardonnay. It paired well! While enjoying our lunch and the chardonnay, Nate Walsh came by and chatted with us. It was nice to catch up with him. We were also able to see Sarah and the new baby!
We enjoyed our time at Walsh Family Wine. It’s always nice to visit and catch up and enjoy all the wonderful wines. If you haven’t been to Walsh lately, you need to plan a trip and when you do, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Walsh Family Wine
Recently we met up with Kurt from Wine About Virginia at Walsh Family Wine. With all the changes happening at wineries during COVID-19, we wondered how Walsh Family was conducting tastings.
Like many wineries have discovered, they can continue to do tastings with modifications. Walsh Family is offering flights of wines to taste. Each flight consists of three wines you select served in little bottles. A wine glass is provided to sample each wine. I chose to taste the 2018 Chardonnay, the 2019 Rosé and the 2017 En Passant. All three were wonderful.
After our tastings we decided to enjoy a bottle of the sauvignon blanc with our lunch items. It paired nicely with our lunch. It was nice to relax, enjoy food and wine and catch up with Kurt. Because of social distancing, we were able to sit inside to avoid the heat and be comfortably away from others.
We had a chance to chat with Nate and Sarah Walsh. They are enjoying doing their “DrinkWell” virtual tastings on Facebook on Fridays at 5:00 PM. We have participated in a few of them and really enjoyed discovering new wines. You can purchase and have shipped the wines for each virtual tasting. Nate and Sarah have also begun doing corporate virtual tastings….exposing a wider audience to some fantastic wines.
They also shared with us a taste of the 2018 Petit Manning. Beautiful tropical nose with a dry finish with a pear note. It would pair nicely with scallops.
Before leaving we said our goodbyes and purchased our favorites. If you haven’t been to Walsh Family Wine in awhile, it’s time to go back. We felt very comfortable visiting Walsh Family with the COVID 19 restrictions in place. And don’t forget you can participate virtually with their Friday Drink Well virtual tastings. When you visit, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
Walsh Family Wine
On Good Friday I had the chance to visit the Walsh Family Wine in Loudoun County to tour the vineyards, taste some wines and hear what’s going on from Nate Walsh.
I met our wine friends Kurt and Carol from Wine About Virginia on a very windy hill at Walsh Family Vineyards. We made plans to meet up with our wine friend Susan McHenry. She was running late. We said our hellos and followed Nate Walsh out to the vineyards. The site we visited is known as Bethany Ridge. Nate told us there are 20 acres planted with Albarino, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Petit Manseng, (and a teeny bit of Gruner Veltliner), Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Tannat.
Nate told us of another vineyard not far away called Twin Notch Farm. This site has 8 acres planted with Sauvignon Blanc, Petit Manseng, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
Nate talked about the recent deal with Northgate Vineyards. He will be making the wine there and keeping the winery running since Mark and Vicki Fedor have decided to move on to their next chapter. He plans to keep things the same and maybe eventually have Walsh Family Wines involved in some way.
After our vineyard tour and talk, we joined others at the picnic tables to taste some wines. We were able to taste the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc, 2017 Rosé, the 2016 Viognier and finally a red blend created from tannat and cab sauvignon that was blended for the Tarara wine club. All of the wines were very good and I favored the 2017 Sauvignon Blanc and the 2017 Rosé.
After tasting the wines and chatting more with Nate, it was time to buy some wines and head home. We hope to see more of Nate soon at Northgate and we look forward to tasting the wines he creates. If you visit Walsh Family Wine or see Nate, tell them Virginia Wine Time sent you!
