As I sat preparing my pontificating post, I tried my best to figure out how to do justice to the 30+ wines being poured. In the end, I decided not to review and list every wine as that would not make for an interesting read. I tried to spend a good amount of time at each station talking and chatting, especially at those who I have yet to visit . While I won’t list every wine, I will list a few of the wines that caught my attention, a few of my observations, and a few comments that I overheard from out of towners. The absence of a particular wine or winery in this post is by no means meant as a slight. It is also not an indication that the wine or winery was bad. Quite the contrary. Frank organized quite the lineup.
The Gents from Rappahannock Cellars
We were set up on the Boxwood crush pad with each winery pouring 3+ of their wines.
Rachel Stinson (of Stinson Winery), Nathan Vrooman, and Christine Vrooman of Ankida Ridge
As luck would have it, my first stop was the much talked about and highly anticipated Ankida Ridge Vineyards, home of not the first Virginia Pinot Noir, but certainly the most buzzed about Pinot Noir. I had been looking forward to this wine after noting that they would be at Taste Camp, so I was hoping they’d live up to the hype. Full disclosure: I’m not a pinot drinker. Sorry. I didn’t like Sideway’s either (it was depressing). However, I liked Ankida Ridge’s Pinot Noir. It was elegant and soft, without too much acid or any astringent flavors that have come to define other Virginia pinots (and there are several). It was earthy on the nose with cherry notes to taste. I found this wine to be quite successful. Ankida Ridge is a very young winery, and 2010, the vintage we tried (which happens to be their first and only), was a great growing year for Virginia writ-large. I hope they can continue with this consistency for years to come, and who knows, they may have made me a pinot drinker. While the pinot is the belle of the ball, their chardonnay is not to be forgotten. It too was enjoyable.
Whites:
Virginia viogner is showing very well-Out of State Blogger
I too found some strong renditions of viogner. The differences from table to table were astounding, not in quality, but in texture and taste. The set up was a phenomenal way to sample Virginia’s signature grape. A few of my favorites were:
2011 Veritas Vineyards, which I marked as my favorite, although the other two were close behind
2011 White Hall Vineyards
2010 Annefield Vineyards
Barboursville Vineyards notably brought a 2002 viogner to demonstrate the age-ability of viogner. Hat tip to them. I noted a very intense nose with some sweetness and what I could only describe as a “grilled” flavor. It didn’t work for my personal tastes, but it was nice to see how a Virginia white can lay down for a while.
I also must tip my hat to Kirsty Harmon, the winemaker at Blenheim for making a smashingly good Chardonnay, a grape I typically shy away from. Her dry rose (coupled with Boxwood’s) have reaffirmed my love affair with roses. (Oh and PS Screw caps are awesome too). If you haven’t read Virginia Wine Time’s piece about Kirsty,(Here) I highly recommend it.
Reds:
I’m shocked about the petit verdot -Out of State Blogger
This comment had a positive connotation. Many out of state bloggers were blown away by the single varietal (or predominate) PVs poured at Taste Camp. It’s a blending grape for a reason, as it will suck your face off when out of balance and overly dry, but when done well, Virginians are producing incredibly elegant wines. The 2010 White Hall Petit Verdot was just such a wine. It was smooth and a bit spicy. It clearly needed some food to cut through the tannins, but overall I found it to be exceptional.
Another top red for me was the 2010 Rappahannock Cellars Cabernet Franc Reserve. While many Virginian wineries pride themselves on this grape (and it does grow well here), I find many to be too herbal and green. However, I didn’t get that with Rappahannock’s. It was full bodied with the right about of spice. Very nice.
I also enjoyed the complete lineup of Annefield Vineyards 2010 Reds. For me, I found them to be a bit tight. However, given a little more time in bottle I think they will age beautifully, and I look forward to finally visiting the winery and the wines in the near future.
Overall, Virginia brought its A-game. This tasting was the perfect segue into an evening at Breaux, which will be the subject of Part 3.
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