I mentioned the Loudoun Valley Vineyards Winter Soup Day that happened this past weekend. It was a lot of fun, and the soups were great. I took a couple of pictures of the vineyard:







Wine review coming shortly.

Wine: Willowcroft 2002 Merlot



Review: Wow. It has been a while since I posted my review. I am a fan of Willowcroft's reds and this one is no exception. It has aged very well and clearly mellowed, but not too much. The wine has deep garnet color and a strong aroma with blackberry and plum aromas. The wine has a strong flavor that stays on the palette.

Price: $16

Grade: 90

If you are in the area and looking for something fun to do this weekend, Loudoun Valley Vineyards is having one of their Winter Soup Days. This one features a choice of Roasted Red Bell Pepper or Mushroom with Hazelnut and, of course, a glass of wine.

It is always a lot of fun, check it out.

Last night I went with a friend to Best Cellar's Wine Smarts 101 and had a really good time. Sometimes people assume that since I drink a lot of wine I know a great deal about it, but I really just know what I have picked up from here and there and don't know a whole lot about the more formal side of wine -- I can make wine, but I don't know the "proper" way to taste it, etc.

So, this course was an eye opener for me, especially the manner in which the instructor (who was fantastic) explained the different tastes, how to separate taste from flavor and more. It was a good basic class, and more importantly it was a lot of fun. By the end of evening was more focused on sharing their newfound knowledge with each other and comparing notes on the wine then they were in listening to the instructor.

They had a wine selection of wines, with some interesting food pairings...I especially liked the bottle of Bordeaux they used (name escapes me, I will check my notes).

It was an all-around great time, and kudos to Best Cellars for putting on a really good show.

My apologies for the dearth of posts over the weekend, but Blogger was acting squirrelly and I really didn't want to take any chances.

By day I am a security analyst and spend most of my time away from my company's home office. I have a great relationship with the receptionist, mostly because she does such a great job of managing all of my wine deliveries. On Friday I was expecting a delivery of a 1969 Chateau Magdelaine Bordeaux. According to the person selling the wine, it has been meticulously stored in a wine cellar for the last 35+ years. So, it was with great horror that I checked my messages to find this one from the receptionist: "It looks like you got another wine delivery, I put it on the window sill for you".

Of course, I was over-reacting, but it is a thing of beauty:



I am not one who buys wine and stores it for years and years, I prefer to enjoy them, I just need to find the right reason to pop this one open.

Congrats to Jathan on the new site it looks great!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #19 has been posted and the theme for this month: When in Rhone.

I am back from San Francisco (I actually got back yesterday). I had a great time and a big part of that fun was the CAV wine bar mentioned in an earlier post.

Review: The CAV wine bar was a lot of fun. I have to confess that I have never been to a wine bar before, so I was looking forward to this opportunity and I was not disappointed. First and foremost, the sommelier was excellent, he did a great job of recommending wines and helping me move from glass to glass. He really shone on Saturday, when I visited with my friend Bridget, who is not a wine drinker. He was patient, funny and had a good deal of information about each of the wines he served.

Their wine list changes weekly, unfortunately there were no Cab Francs that week, but each region was well represented. There were wines from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, Portugal, Chile among others; and of course the United States with wines from California, Washington, Oregon and New York.

The food was good as well. The first night I was there I had the Spaghetti and the second night I tried the tapas, both of which were excellent.

A couple of other reviews

Grade: 95

We do have wine bars in the DC area, but I have never been. After this experience I will have to try some of them out.

A bit belated, but Wineona has a great list of ways to spend Valentines with Virginia wine. Some really good suggestions...

The hotel I am staying at is right next to what is, in my mind at least, the perfect wine bar. The place is called CAV and it has a great selection and a very subdued environment. I will post a more detailed review tomorrow, in the meantime here is a San Francisco Examiner review.

I just found out I am going to be in San Francisco for CodeCon this weekend. I won't have time to get out to Sonoma or Napa this time (I visited Sonoma on a previous trip), does anyone have any recommendations for wine bars, or wine landmarks in SF I should visit?

Dr. Vino has posted the results of Wine Blogging Wednesday #18. Check it out, and thanks to him for hosting a very interesting event.

It's been 24 hours. The bottles have now been labeled and PVC'd. I tried something different with the PVCs this time. Rather than use a blow dryer on them, which turns out to be pretty uneven, I used boiling water. I boiled just enough water to reach from the top of the bottle to the bottom of the PVC, then I dipped each bottle into the pot, holding the PVC in place until the force of the water took over. The results look pretty good, although for my next bottling I need to do the PVCs prior to putting on the label.





I didn't mention this yesterday, but I opted for synthetic corks this time around. I am really coming around to the idea that synthetic corks are better than traditional -- but I still can't bring myself to go the screwtop route :).

You may have noticed a couple of changes in the design of this place over the weekend. I picked this template because I liked its simple elegance. However, simple is not always best. I wanted to keep the simplicity but do a better job of seperating and highlighting each entry. I also wanted a logo.

Many thanks to Nancy at The Stagehand for help in updating this blog.

Today was bottling day. I have been dying to get this batch bottled, but haven't had the time and I had all morning free to do it.

Step one is to sanitize the bottles and get the equipment ready:



Next, transfer the wine from the secondary fermentor to the primary fermentor:



When the primary fermentor was filled, I moved it to the counter:



And, began filling the bottles:



I actually managed to squeeze 30 bottles out of this batch -- and there were no major disasters:



Corking also went off without a hitch, the floor corker is really one of the best investments I have made in terms of efficiency:



The bottles need to sit upright for 24 hours. So, tomorrow I will clean them off, label them and throw them in my wine cellar. Once they are in there, I will only have room for about 1/2 dozen more bottles...sounds like it is time for a wine party:



As to the wine itself, it will definitely need to age a couple of months. The blackberry is still a little tart, but the wine itself has a really good aroma and I think the blackberries will mellow out and blend with the Cabernet Franc really well.

I will post an update in a couple of months.

Wine: Tarara 2002 Meritage

Review: I went out to Tarara with a friend to do the wine tour and go through their tasting. Well, it just so happens that Tarara was having their Midwinter Blues' Blues festival. Rather than hit another winery, we grabbed a bottle of the Meritage and sat down to listen to good music.

I picked the Meritage because my friend is fond of Boudeaux style wines. This one is an excellent blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. It was a dark wine aromas of pepper, cherry and plum. The taste was excellent: spicy with hints of chocolate, fruit and a prominent taste of oak. This is an excellent wine that will get better with age.

How good was it? My friend insisted on taking the unfinished portion home -- so no picture :).

Price: $35

Grade: 95

Another Virginia wine blogger. She is punny and she likes Virginia's Cabernet Franc what's not to like. Check her out, and added to my blogroll.

Wine: Rappahannock Cellars 2004 Cabernet Franc



Review: This is a medium-bodied Cabernet Franc, with aromas of fuit, peppers, and oak. It has a smooth taste, with hints of spice and oak, but it is not overwhelming and it has a smooth finish. A good wine, although it could probably have aged a little longer.

Price: $19

Grade: 90

Dr. Vino is hosting this week's Wine Blogging Wednesday entitled: Wine Shops that Feel the Love.

My main source of wine is the Leesburg Vintner. A corner shop in historic Leesburg that has been around since 1988.



Mike, Peter and Claire are always spot-on with their recommendations, whether I am looking for a cheap bottle of table wine, or a nice gift for my boss. In addition, they take the time to get to know their customers personally, ask me about my son, and they have learned a little bit about my tastes.

The shop itself is cozy, nothing fancy, but the kind of shop you expect in a small town. The wine is well taken care of, and their tastings are always interesting.

Where they really excel is in their knowledge of Virginia wine. Not just the stuff they carry, but wine from all over the state. I have gotten many excellent recommendations from them and they can share stories from many Virginia wineries.