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+--- Thread: More Virginia Wines (/thread-14092.html)
- mrdutton - 10-22-2000
Spent last weekend in the Shenandoah Valley. We traveled along Sky Line Drive from Front Royal to Waynesboro.
Saturday night did not include Virginia wines. In Front Royal, Virginia for the night, we ate at a German place. The wine we chose was a Schmitt-Shone Riesling to go with our Jaeger Schnitzle (and please forgive me my spelling), red cabbabe and spaetzle.
Sunday we landed at the Jordan Hollow Farm Inn in Stanley, VA. Their dining rooms are located in their old farm house which was built circa 1784. My wife had filet mignon and I had mustard/garlic encrusted rack of very young lamb (dem bones wuz small, dat meat was tender!). The wine we chose was a 1996 Oasis Vineyards Meritage (cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot). The wine was a perfect match for the meal, so we thought.
On the way home from the mountains we stopped at two Virginia Wineries.
First stop was Burnley Vineyards where we purchased a rooty-tooty fruity pink thing that my wife and her friends like, and some of their Zinfandel (some which had been sent to two other members of this wine board and from whom I am waiting a report on their opinion).
Second stop was at Horton Vineyards. There I bought a few bottles of their Viognier (which I think is very "french-like" and not at all like the over-oaked high alcohol content stuff I've sampled from cali),
- a bottle of their Port (worth a try - given as a gift to a friend who reported back it was good, but gone so quickly I did not even get to taste it),
- their non-vintage Stonecastle 2000 about which I've posted some information in another thread and which I though was quite good (a light to medium bodied red that would be good with fatty fish or grilled hamburgers, sausages and such),
- their 1993 Stonecastle Red which is a wonderful blend of norton, mourvedre and cab franc (this is one of thier "library wines" which reminds the taster about why Horton is a member of the Rhone Rangers),
- their 1998 Norton with its plum-like fruit along with a hint of cherry - both on the nose and the palate, hints of earth and spicy pepper on the finish, this very dark, almost purple red tends to stain the teeth, not astringent but some tannin does present itself. I think this one would be a good candidate for some spicy, ethnic foods like Mexican or Indian.
So here are some Virginia Wines that I think are worth a try:
1999 Horton Viognier
1998 Horton Norton
Horton NV Stonecastle 2000
1993 Horton Stonecastle
1996 Oasis Meritage
1998/1999 Burnley Zinfandel
It has taken me a while, but I have finally opened the door in my own backyard to discover some decent, local wines.