Looking for interesting wine things to do in NOVA this Labor Day weekend? Here are two suggestions:

On Saturday you can attend the grand opening of the Winery at La Grange. This is the latest winery in the Pearmund family, so you know the wines will be good, and it looks very interesting. Plus, you can't beat $5.00 tastings.

Monday is the 18th Annual Herndon Wine & Jazz Festival. Good wine, good food and great local artists. $15 for drinkers, $3 for those who just want to enjoy the music.

Enjoy!

I went to Uncorked & Unplugged on Tuesday with the wine group. Not only did I get to meet Dezel, but I had a good time.

The wines were okay, nothing stood out as spectacular. The best, in my opinion, was the Moon Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine stood out because it had strong aromas -- smelling of vanilla and berry. Unfortunately, the taste did not match the aromas, it is was good but a bit of a letdown compared to my expectations. A good value for a $13 bottle of wine, but not the best.

The entertainment was great though. Both Mozella and Sierra Swan were excellent and I highly recommend checking them out on iTunes.

I hope the success of events of like this encourages more innovative pairings of wine with cultural events...it makes for a great time. One suggestion I have to the event planners: sell bottles at the event :).

I went to Piedmont Vineyards with a friend today. It was my first visit to the winery, though I have heard a lot about it. The weather was perfect, we got there around 12:30, and the thermometer was just hitting 80. There was a nice breeze and no clouds in the sky.

We did the tasting, a couple of good wines, notably their Merlot and the steel-aged Chadronnay. But, for a summer day the Little River Red and the Little River Peach (reviews below) could not be beat. They had tables set up around the pond, so we grabbed a couple of bottles and our picnic and just enjoyed the day.









Wine: 2005 Piedmont Winery Little River Red



Review: This wine is 80% Raspberry and 20% Plum, it has a unique tartness that I have not tasted in other Raspberry-based wines. The blending with the plums allows more of the Raspberry to flow through. It made an excellent pairing with the chocolate covered strawberries and had a great kick.

Price: $12.5

Grade: 90


Wine: 2005 Piedmont Winery Little River Peach



Review: 100% Peach and it shows. This is a very light wine with an amazingly smooth taste. It went well with fruit and has a pleasant aroma. Excellent match for any summer day.

Price: $12.5

Grade: 95

Adler has a good post about changes in French wine marketing, at least at the lower end of the spectrum.

Which reminds me about a wine I found about a month ago called French Rabbit. The packaging and marketing of this wine are unique, a wine designed for campers and other outdoor activities.

Interesting, and at $9.00 a litre is not a bad deal.

I love the fact that so many Virginia wineries are expanding beyond simply offering wine tastings and tours. They are incorporating wine as part of other activities. Tarara has taken a lead in this area, in particular with their summer concert series.

I went to the July 29th concert with the Virginia Wine Club:







The performer that night was Shane Hines, who was great, and the evening was a lot of fun. If you are in the area, I highly recommend spending a Saturday night at one of the concerts

Wine: 2004 AmRhein Wine Cellars Traminette



Review: This was a recent selection from the Virginia Wine of the Month Club. For those of you not familiar with it, Traminette is a descendant of the German grape Gewürztraminer.

This is a crisp wine with strong hints of citrus both in aroma and taste. The acidity of the wine is balanced out by the high sugar content of the grapes. It is a good, light wine, a great wine for a hot summer afternoon.

Price: $16

Grade: 85

Wine: 2003 Monsoon Valley Red



Review: A wine from Thailand? Monsoon Valley is one of the brands under the auspices of the Siam Winery. The red is 80% Pokdum, 15% Shiraz and 5% Black Muscat. It is advertised as a perfect complement to Thai Food and it was.

The wine has a strong fruity aroma, and a sweetness that went well with the spicy food. Even though it was a blended wine, it was not that complex, so it did not overwhelm the taste of the food. I would not recommend as a standalone wine, but as a good and cheap addition to a Thai dinner it cannot be beat.

Price: $9

Grade: 90