A trip to Virginia’s Wineries: A weekend of wine drinking in Virginia tastes best with good friends!

The majority of wine production in the United States takes place in 5 of the 50 states: California, Oregon, Washington, and to a lesser extent Michigan and New York. The last two may not be making wines the caliber of their west coast counterparts, but there are many good Rieslings and Ice Wines coming from Michigan and New York that are gaining national and international attention.

But what about the other 45 states?

For starters, wine (of some sort!) is being made in almost every state in the US. Idaho, Montana, Texas, Virginia and even Maryland have been producing wine for many years now. But you have to wonder: who’s drinking these wines and are they any good? I’ve been in Maryland for 4 years now and I know very little about the wines of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania- all of which have wineries less than 2 hours from my home. I have had a few bottles here and there that had me impressed (an Elk Run Gewurztraminer comes to mind), as well as one outstanding bottle of 1980 Byrd Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon that Kim and I had at Della Notte a few years back. Yes, a 1980 Maryland Cabernet, drank in 2005, that was very good. Sad to say I can’t find out any information on Byrd Vineyards and they are not around today (if you know anything e-mail me: michael@foodandwineblog.com).

Truth be told, I have had some pretty awful Maryland wines as well. So as to begin my quest to understand and evaluate the wines that are being made all around me (I knew I should have applied to PhD programs in the Rhone Valley of France!), Kim and I joined our friends Jace and Liz at their beautiful home on the Shenandoah and spent two days visiting wineries in the Blue Ridge Mountains just two hours from Baltimore. Another very fun couple who we met through Jace, Dave and Ali (of “Life as an E“) joined in on the fun. Everyone in the group has very good palates, has previously traveled all over the world in pursuit of good wines, and most importantly, takes a fun and laid back approach to food, wine and life! For more on the specifics of our weekend, I urge you to check out this outstanding review (by Ali) filled with pictures and commentary! More pictures can be seen here as well.

On our two hour drive down Kim and I visited a couple vineyards that were both right off of route 66. Both had very nice tasting rooms that were situated amongst their many acres of vines. I learned quickly though that this wasn’t going to be an easy trip- some of the wines were really bad. That said, we kept our minds open and worked through wines that were good, OK, and some that were just awful. Below is a recap of the vineyards we visited. I was most impressed with Glen Manor and Linden. Coincidentally, Jeff White who is the owner/winemaker at Glen Manor used to work for Linden- his winery is brand new and already putting out some quaffable juice. The others had their highs and lows- I commend all on their efforts and more importantly their passion. It was obvious that these winemakers and staff really put a lot of hard work and care into their vineyards and the winemaking. I think that in due time, with a little help from mother nature, some of these wineries will be making very good wines.

The top two vineyards:

Glen Manor: This very new, off-the-beaten-path vineyard and winery is a project by winemaker Jeff White who used to work at Linden Vineyards. We had dinner with Jeff on Saturday night at Jace’s where I spent a lot of time learning about his extensive agricultural background, time at Linden, and philosophy in the vineyards and during the crush. More on this in the upcoming weeks as I am going to do a full profile of Glen Manor as I was impressed with his wines. He poured a 2005 Petit Verdot (My rating: 88+ pts) that was very good as well as a 2007 Sauvignon Blanc (My rating: 84 pts) which was a nice effort, albeit very young. Highly recommend that you visit Jeff and try his wines- it’s a tough place to find but worth it for the wines, stories and views. (Glen Manor vines above, tasting room below with the group and Jeff White pouring us his wines). Though we only tasted two wines (of what is currently available) Jeff assured us that there will be more released in the near future!

Linden Vineyards: My first wine from Linden was at dinner on Saturday night where Jeff White brought a ‘99 Linden Cabernet Sauvignon blend. The wine was actually quite good- I would have never guessed Virginia- perhaps a 10 year old unclassified Bordeaux. Everyone in the group was more than taken aback by how well this 9 year old Virginia Cab was showing! This had me excited for our visit to Linden the next afternoon. Our trip to the Linden tasting room and cellar gets the vote for best overall layout. Elegant design, in the middle of their vineyards with area to picnic (which we did) and relax. Unfortunately their seated balcony area is only for “Club” members- I guess even in Virginia some people feel the need to be “exclusive.” As far as wines go, Jace set us up with a reserve, in-cellar tasting of 5 wines. While I wasn’t thrilled with a few of the wines, there was great potential in some of the bottles. Of note is the 2006 Vidal Late Harvest (My rating: 87 pts) which had tropical fruits, nice texture and good acidity and balance. Dave and I agreed on the wines in the reserve tasting: they were mostly just OK. It was fun to compare wines from different vintages and vineyards though. We both splurged on a bottle of the Vidal which I would be proud to open for some of my wino friends. Next trip to Linden I’ll probably pick up another bottle of the Vidal, a few of their Petit Verdot, and try and track down some more of that ‘99 Cabernet!

Other Vineyards Visisted:

Chateau O’Brien- tasting fee: $3: The first thing that stuck me was the beautiful new tasting room; tons of parking, tons of space, beautiful deck. Manhattan native Howard O’Brien, Jr the owner and winemaker is a man of energy, passion and salesmanship…and did I mention he’s full of energy? After each taste of wine he was quick to confirm that “someone else made that same remark earlier today” and to remind us that his wines have done well at competitions around the world! He was also quick to give you a new stem with each pour!  I do give him credit on his “Buddy’s Bistro Red” which is a Cabernet Franc was actually somewhat good. I’d give it a non-blind 83 pts- we supported this effort, even at $16. It’s a wine that I would like to taste it side-by-side with some better Cab Francs from the Loire as it was similar in style with earthy-spiciness to it. We picked up a bottle of the apple wine (My rating: 70 pts) which I used in a brine for some BBQ ribs…but I wouldn’t suggest using it for drinking! It was overly sweet, acidic and off balance. Interesting effort, but not something to serve to guests if you want them to come back. One wine I had wanted to try but Howard wasn’t pouring is the ‘05 Reserve Tannat. At $55 this wine was the most expensive we saw all weekend and had me very interested in trying it . But being unavailable in the tasting and for the price of a good Brunello, I am more than happy to live the rest of my life wondering what it’s like!

Chester Gap Cellars: Tasting Fee: $5: This husband and wife run vineyard featured a still-under-renovation tasting room and small parking area, but gorgeous views of the mountains and valleys. The outdoor seating area offered a place to grab a glass of wine and take in all that mother nature has to offer. You might even be able to enjoy the wine without bringing your own! Sure, overall the wines were just OK: I didn’t care for their Viognier (77 pts), but the Viognier Reserve had nice aromas and structure and was a step up (80 pts) from the basic bottling. The rose was perhaps a 70 pt wine but owner/winemaker Bernd Jung assured us that it sells in volumes! I did like the effort on a 2005 Merlot (84 pts) of which I picked up a bottle at $18 or so. It had some good characteristics to it- I look forward to popping the cork on it and giving it further evaluation. Bernd also poured us a 2005 and 2006 Cabernet Franc. I thought that the ‘05 wasn’t very good (My rating: 78 pts), but saw potential in the ‘06 (My rating: 82 pts). This is a no-brainer as a stop when traveling through the area- the hosts were very nice and the views are top notch.

Naked Mountain: Tasting Fee: $5 DRINK NAKED! The tasting room here was the only dog-friendly of the bunch which the Huskies and Jake appreciated (at the others they waited in the car with the AC on!). The wines of Naked Mountain were OK for the most part. Kim really liked their ‘05 Chardonnay (My rating: 83 pts) which was lightly oaked and still had some good fruit structure (the ‘04 was all oak!). I grabbed a bottle of their Raptor Red (My rating: 84 pts), which is an earthy, medium bodied blend of 47% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, 4% Tannat, 3% Petit Verdot. We also picked up a Riesling that was actually a good wine (My rating: 83 pts) that was a touch sweet with nice acidity and interesting minerality. While we were in the tasting room a guy came in and picked up a case of this for himself, which shows that the locals enjoy this wine as well! The other wines were not that good, but I get the sense that a lot of people that don’t drink wine too often might enjoy their wines. Most importantly, Kim picked up a nice “Drink Naked” hat which I’m sure people will interpret as “Drink Naked Mountain’s Wines!”. I’d recommend this stop on your journey through Virginia wine country as you may find a few bottles that you like.

Rappahannock Cellars: Talk about touristy. Entering the tasting room and gift shop at Rappahannock Cellars, I was surprised at the level of marketing and self promotion going on here. Behind the tasting bar were individual bottles of each of their wines, draped with medals that each has won in various local and national competitions. No, I am not kidding. They actually had medals draped over each of the bottles. And that is when we decided not to taste their wines. I’m sure they make some good wines though, with all of those awards…but a little modesty goes a long way and here there was none to be found.

When it was all said and done, I had a case of Virginia wine in the car with an average sticker price of around $20. In that bunch, there were probably 3 wines that deserved $15 or more, but I like supporting the hard work of the winemakers and look forward to watching these vineyards develop over the next 5-10 years or more. If you’re in the area, it makes for a fun weekend to head to the Blue Ridge Mountains and check out some of the vineyards. Some really are worth the drive and while you’re at the others, just think that it’s better than being in the city! Just be sure to keep an open mind and go with friends- even bad wines can be fun to taste if you’re with the right people!