Last weekend Gabriele and I got away to the Blue Ridge Mountain wine area of Virginia. We stayed in a nice VRBO, had a couple of great meals and hit four wineries on Saturday.
Our first stop after driving down Friday was the Ivy Inn in Charlottesville. It was a bit of a drive from our rental in Afton but well worth the effort. We’ve been twice before, and the Ivy Inn never fails to deliver a fine dining experience. The appetizers of stuffed portobello and summer corn ravioli were excellent, and the entrees of beef tenderloin and rack of lamb were even better. The dinner also introduced us to a fantastic new Pinot Noir.
That wine was the 2021 J.K. Carriere Vespidae Pinor Noir. From the Willamette Valley, the wine was the perfect weight and texture, with nice cherry fruit, some rose petal, a hink of earthiness, and leather. The winemaker produced wine for a number of well-known Oregon Pinot Noir producers before going off on his own in 1999. Highly recommend searching for it next time you want a quality Willamette Pinot.
After that auspicious start we planned some winery visits on Saturday. Our first stop was at King Family Vineyards in Crozet. It’s a beautiful property with a relaxed vibe, and locals setting up picnics on the patio. From spring to October there are polo matches every Sunday.
Our favorites were their 2020 Meritage, 2021 Chardonnay, and non-vintage Crose (get it?) Rose. The Rose was made from the Merlot grape and had a lot of peach on the nose. It was finished in stainless steel for six months so it had nice acidity and was dry to the finish. The Chardonnay was aged in French oak of four different ages, which gave it a subtle oak touch on the palate, with some green apple and vanilla. The Meritage was a Bordeaux grapes blend without the typical Cabernet Sauvignon and was smooth, with dark cherry, some spice, and a tiny hint of smoke.
We walked away with two bottles each. It was a good thing we started there first – as we were leaving an enormous bridal function was coming in that no doubt took over the tasting tables. That looks to be something to plan for on any good weather weekend in the summer.
Next was the closeby Septenary Winery. We sampled their 2002 Viognier, 2021 Chardonnay, 2021 “Summer Kitchen” Rose, and 2016 Manor House. The winner for us was the Rose. It was different from the King Rose, which was Provence-like. The Summer Kitchen has beautiful watermelon and strawberry fruit that explodes in your mouth, but with enough acidity for a clean finish.
Then we were off to Pollak Vineyards in Greenwood. Our host Nick took great care of us, explaining how Pollak only uses its own grapes and the extensive experience of the winemaker, Benoit Pineeu, in the Caneros region of California. There wasn’t a bad wine in our tasting, and the somewhat surprising winner was the 2019 Pinot Gris. Not a grape we drink a lot, this was a refreshing wine. It had nice nectarine and passion fruit, with some minerality and a dry, clean finish. We also liked their Petit Mansing dessert wine.
Their offering of flights was representative of what you’ll find at many of the vineyards in the area.
Finally, we stopped at Stinson Vineyards. Our favorite here was another varietal we don’t often drink, their 2021 Sugar Hollow White made from the hybrid Vidal Blanc grape. It was slightly off-dry with a taste of cantaloupe and grapefruit. It was a nicely different wine for a summer day.
We stopped at four vineyards because we had special dinner plans. We had a reservation at the Farmhouse at Veritas, for a prix fixe meal with paired wines with each of the four courses. The weather, the service and the food were outstanding. We would have liked to have purchased some of their after-dinner wine, Othello, but for some arcane, ABC-related reason they could not sell any wine at the dinner.
Our Blue Ridge Mountain wine getaway was short, but a real break from the usual day-to-day. And it’s so close for anyone in the greater DMV area. We’ll definitely be back soon. If you’ve any favorite vineyards we should visit please drop a comment.
Take it from me – don’t sleep on Virginia wines!
