Ruminations of a Taste Camp Rookie: Day Two-Vineyard Walks

It’s been about a month since Taste Camp ended and I’m still only on day two. What can I say. Life happens.

It’s been a good month since, not the least of which because I got the chance to read everyone else’s Taste Camp posts and decide which content to copy. I kid.

Day One really highlighted some of the quality wine that Virginia can produce, and I had no doubt that Day Two would prove equally as enjoyable.

To say that day two was jam packed, would be akin to calling the Pope just a Catholic or calling the Redskins mediocre. Each is the embodiment of the word, as is day two the embodiment of “jam packed.”

A visit to Loudoun County’s Wine Country is really not complete without a trip to Fabbiloi Cellars. Our first stop of the day was a vineyard walk at Fabbioli.

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Passion, knowledge, quirk, and fun don’t do the man justice. His love of wine, his love of Virginia, and his love of the land really show. He’s big on “going local.” A prime example, he ships in local horse and llama manure to treat his land. Doug’s production is around 4,000 cases (2011), almost exclusively red wines, although he made “Something White” at the behest of his customers insistance. Doug talked about his take on pruning, how me manages the “Virginia Swank” (the unappealing green pepper notes that many Virginia reds have), and canopy management. If I ever ditch my day job for a job in a vineyard, I’ll at least know how to tell when you’ve thinned your canopy enough, thanks to Doug: Imagine a topless person on the other side, when you tell whether its a woman or a man, you’re good to go.

I like most of Doug’s wines, however, the Tannat really stood out to me. Kudos to Shannon at Grape Occasions for requesting that one.

After our tasting, we borded the bus to head to Tarara Winery, a few short miles down the road.

I’m ashamed to admit that it’s been a long time since I’ve been to Tarara. I went pre-Jordan Harris (yes a while ago), and walked away disappointed. Not the least of which was because they were using grapes from Washington State for at least one of their wines.

Fast forward 5 years, and lots has changed. Gone are many of the extracurricular activities that took the focus away from winemaking, and in my opinion, for the better. The wine is the focus. Petit Mansent in tow, Jordan shuffled us over to two tractors to take us on an impromptu tour of his prized Nevaeh Vineyard.

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Jordan’s a cane prunner, he practices “Smart Dyson” trellising, and favors stressing over irrigation. His view: make the vines work. He’s not prepping the vines for today, he’s prepping them for 50 years from now, deep roots mean more complex and intense flavors, and that’s what he’s going for.

On the wagon ride back, Jordan poured his 2007 Syrah, one of my favorite grapes period, and one of my favorite wines of the day (even though it was only 11:30). It turned out to be one of my favorites of the weekend.

Following the tour: our 2nd grand tasting featuring wines from: Corcoran, Delaplane, General’s Ridge, Horton, Loudoun Valley, Narmada, Philip Carter, Stinson, Tarara, and Zephaniah.

A few of the wines the caught my attention:

Delaplane: 2008 Williams Gap: 33% Cabernet Franc, 33% Merlot, 17& Cabernet Sauvignon and 17& Petit Verdot. I love this wine. It’s an amazing mix of dark fruit, lots of blackberry and a long lingering tannic finish. I think Anthony at Virginia Pour House Blog would give his left….arm for a bottle of this stuff. I’d also give his left arm for a bottle. Too bad it’s in library.

Narmada: 2010 Viogner. my notes are a bit of a mess, but “Really, clean, and nice” pretty much sums it up.

Tarara: 2010 Leap (XII) 50% Mouvedre, 40% Syrah and 1o% Grenache was a slam dunk for me. I was amazed at the depth that a Virginia Rhone-style blend could have. $50 is a wee bit steep for this one. They only make it on leap years.

Philip Carter: 2010 Meritage, Jammy and full of dark fruit, just like a meritage should taste like.

Zephaniah: Holy crap did Zephaniah change my view on Chambourcin. Their 2010 Chambourcin’s (Estate and Reserve) made me rethink this grape. What I typically find boring and forgettable, was filled with, well flavor. despite some bad handwriting, I think I actually favored the estate bottling over the reserve, but both were fantastic.

Following a delicious lunch by Pizzeria Moto, we were off to Tranquility Vineyard with Ben Renshaw, owner and wine maker at 8 Chains North.

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Tranquillity Vineyard sits on a steep slope in Purceville, Virginia, directly across from Otium Cellars.

Ben doesn’t own the property, however, he and others lease plots on the land. He, like others, told of us the latest problems of the new vine disease called “grape vine yellows.” He shared his preference over cane vs shoot pruning, and revealed his preference in using Round-up in killing weeds below his fruit.

We followed Ben across the street to Otium Cellars for a tasting of several of his wines, as well as Otium’s offerings. For my take on each, see my post on 8 Chains North and Otium Cellars.

Following a bus ride back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and a shower, we hopped back in the bus for North Gate Vineyard for the traditional Taste Camp BYOB catered by Smokin’ Willy (delicious).

It was quite the end to a great day, with someone asking finally “can I stop spitting now?”

It was a great opportunity to try wines from all over, including Quebec, a place whose wine I know NOTHING about.

Another one of my favorites was a Pinot “home brew” from @waterintowino.

Suffice to say, it was a great ending to a long, but fun and educational day.