First in a series
Looking for something different in Virginia wine country for 2012? We can help with that. But first: take this quick personality assessment.
Which of the following best describes you?
1. First in. Early adopter. You love a mystery, and once you get a tip on an emerging anything, you like to get there before the masses. You love finding hidden gems. Once the secret’s out, though, you move on to the next adventure.
OR
2. No surprises. First-class predictability. You let someone else be the pioneer. You don’t mind paying a little more, and you don’t mind crowds. You never travel without your GPS.
If #2 sounds like your speed, head to the Monticello Wine Trail in Charlottesville, where you’ll find lots of predictably happy people drinking predictably good wine. (They’ve been at it a while.)
But if you self-identify as a gem hunter, point yourself toward the Northern Neck in 2012, part of the Chesapeake Bay Wine Trail.
“Where’s that?” your friends will ask. (See, you’re cool already!) Mentioning Ingleside Vineyards usually gets a glimmer of recognition; after decades of pouring wine for passersby, the popular winery has become as much a part of the Northern Neck as blue crabs, oysters, corn and soybeans.
The quiet Neck is the unpretentious, hospitable sibling in a loud Virginia family full of decorated war veterans and decked-out grande dames. But don’t mistake its congenial nature for lack of depth: it’s the homeplace for not only the nation’s first president, but also two signers of the Declaration of Independence, the Commander of the Confederate Army of Virginia—Robert E. Lee—and perhaps the first true success story of Virginia wine-making, Charles Carter. Carter—a forebear of Philip Carter Strother of Philip Carter Winery in Northern Virginia—is credited with the first recorded history of successful grape production in Virginia with European vines.
Read more about Northern Neck history in this little volume written by the founder of Ingleside Vineyards, Carl Flemer. Birthplace of the Nation
The Wines
Today, Old World grapes continue to thrive at the Northern Neck’s ten wineries. Growing conditions for vinis vinifera seem to favor stalwarts such as merlot and cabernet franc. Ingleside, The Hague Winery, and the new General’s Ridge Vineyards are also working with the Virginia up-and-comer, petit verdot, and you’ll see sprinklings of cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese, syrah, and pinot noir.
Whites branch out to include both Old World and hybrids, including chardonnay, chardonel, and vidal blanc. Vignoles also makes an appearance, and petit manseng blossoms at Ingleside, along with muscat in The Hague’s Cynthia dessert wine. The new Jacey Vineyards has ambitious plans to add albariño and sauvignon blanc.
Next installment…Northern Neck wine tour itinerary, part 1
View "2012 Virginia Wine Tour Itineraries – Northern Neck" on its own page.
For wineries, spring means a new vintage. Want to toast the season? We suggest starting a weekend in Culpeper, Virginia, where you can wander the budding vines at Old House Vineyards, then sample a ruby-red glass of Bacchanalia on the Southern-style veranda.
Hungry? Enjoy a dinner of roasted chicken stuffed with fresh herbs at the European-themed It’s About Thyme. At the Thyme Inn, you can settle into a Jacuzzi, then drift off by a fire in one of the five guest rooms. On the first Sunday of the month, you might hop over to Prince Michel Vineyard & Winery (800-800-9463), ten miles down the road, for brunch ($25). Try a glass of Petit Manseng for dessert; with flavors of honey, apricot, and orange, it tastes like spring.
Heading home, take a detour to the new Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton. In the tasting room, which is an 1800s log cabin, try a sip of Nana’s Rosé, with its bouquet of strawberry shortcake.
Rooms at the Thyme Inn range from $125 to $550.
This article appeared in the April issue of Washingtonian magazine. See more local travel ideas from Washingtonian here.
Download the Virginia Wine in My Pocket app for iPhone/iPad – our guide to wine travel in Virginia – just $3.99 in the iTunes store.
Last Saturday’s winery visits (#112 through 116 on our 150 Wineries in 150 Days Tour) make a great “Five Faces of Virginia Wine” itinerary.
The Rustic Horse Barn
Willowcroft, the first winery to open in now-hopping Loudoun County, has a lock on our award for “coolest winery building ever.” To get to the tasting room, you walk through the center of the pre-Civil war barn and past the old horse stalls, one still bearing a plaque for a star racer of yesteryear. Nouveau rustic is the “in” look at new Virginia wineries (and we love it; who wouldn’t?), but Willowcroft’s rustic feel comes with actual history, and the wine is good, too – amazing what you can do with a few of decades of experience.
Willowcroft's fabulous horse stalls
Bill, Robert, Pam, Rick, and Dean. RICK? Who let him behind the bar?
The Multi-Generation Farm
At Zephaniah, a former dairy farm is reborn as winery. There’s no tasting bar per se—the tastings take place in what looks like the family’s living room, with photos of kids and grandparents, and books and little tchatchkes for sale. Owner and winemaker Bill Hatch stayed busy weaving through the crowd, bottle in hand, probably sending up little prayers of thanks to Bacchus for taking matters in hand. Selling wine’s gotta be more fun than peddling dairy.
Heading into Zephaniah
The hordes have arrived...
The Revolution in the Making
Hopping down to Middleburg, we made our first pilgrimage to Chrysalis. Half of D.C. was there. (The attractive, well dressed, and young-enough-to-be-carded half). At our tasting, the girl next to me asked if I was tired of tasting wines yet. Odd, I thought, since we’d only tried one or two. Then—oh, be still my heart–she said she recognized me from our blog and had been following our 150 Wineries Tour.
I thought of that line from Notting Hill, where Honey says to Julia Roberts: “Oh God, this is one of those key moments in life, when it’s possible you can be really, genuinely cool – and I’m failing 100%.”
You may have noticed that I already mentioned Our Readers in my last post, and even took a photo of Them. So, clearly, I am not genuinely cool. But you have to admit, Our Readers are quite attractive. And exceptionally intelligent.
Why everyone comes to Chrysalis. And for the Norton.
John, educating and entertaining the horde
The Old Favorite
I’d been looking forward to Piedmont since we started this Tour. When Rick and were dating, in 1999, we drove out to Piedmont more than once to buy bottles of Hunt Country Chardonnay and sit in the Adirondack chairs on the lawn. We held hands and talked weddings. Rick does not remember this. I find this an odd thing for him to not remember, don’t you?
The winery has now gone upscale, with a big new tasting building, but the Adirondacks are still there.
Piedmont, looking spiffy
The look, and the chairs, that won me over
The Perfectionist
We had to flee Piedmont after just a couple of tastes to make our 4:00 tour reservation ($20) at Boxwood. A big, white electric fence and a call box marked the entrance to the winery, but the subtlety was lost on us, and we drove the ‘hood trying to find the way in. Fortunately, we had friends on the inside waiting for us, so they relayed instructions via cell phone.
Inside, the subtlety continued, with an angles and circles theme that played out in rooms of stainless steel and glass. Every item encountered is the best available, precisely placed: A laser guides the planting of the vines to perfect symmetry; the barrels in the wine cave, arranged in meticulous concentric circles; a gleaming, top-of-the-line bottling machine, waiting to be called upon to demonstrate its 1,500 bottles-per-hour capacity. (With a production of about 2,000 cases a year, I estimate Boxwood uses their bottler less than 30 hours a year.)
Our friend remarked to our elegant tour guide, “So, the owners are kind of perfectionist, huh?” And she said, “Ohhhhhh, yes.” Nothing mars the perfection. It’s better than a yoga class; you’ll leave much calmer than when you arrive.
We whisper the password, and the castle gates open...
Spiegelau glasses. Do you know how much these babies run??
View "Itinerary: Five Faces of Northern Virginia Wine" on its own page.
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