Dry Mill Winery

Dry Mill is one of Loudoun County's newest wineries (if not the newest). Continuing with what seems to be a trend in Loudoun County wineries, Dry Mill is a converted barn. The tasting room retains the rustic feel of a barn with exposed wood beams and two activity rooms that make good use of the original wood.

The owners, Dean and Nancy, have a put a lot of work into restoring the barn and their care really shows.

The wines are made at Hillsborough under the watchful eye of Dean. They currently offer a Cabernet Franc, a Syrah, a Norton and Rose. The Cabernet Franc in particular is a standout wine: black cherries with hints of pepper, nicely aged with medium tannins, a good Cab Franc.

Definitely add them to your next tour.

Review: 2005 Clarendelle

Wine: 2005 Clarendelle Bordeaux



Review: I always like to find good quality, value-priced, Bordeaux wines. This is a wine with a handsome pedigree, it is produced by the same team that run the fabled Chateau Haut Brion.

This is a Merlot-based Bordeaux comprised of 82% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc and 13% Cabernet Sauvignon. The winemakers decided to limit the harvest to give this wine a much more forward feel. The nose hinted of dark fruit, almonds and it had a strong oak taste. The wine has a smooth taste that belies its young age, but you start to pick up on the subtle complexities as it sits on your palette. It is a very drinkable wine now, and it should get better over time.

Price: $21

Grade: 90

Wine Is Fragile

In the last few decades vineyard managers and winemakers have developed techniques and processes that can turn out decent vintages from even most bad years. The downside to this is that some wines (I'm looking at you Mondavi) have traded the uniqueness of each vintage and the vineyard's terroir for homogeneity and blandness (another, less annoying, side effect is Bordeaux's infamous "vintage of the century" come along a lot more frequently ;)).

But, even with all of the modern methods, there are some things that can still ruin a vintage:

A week after a series of violent hailstorms struck some of Bordeaux's key appellations, wine producers are assessing the damage to affected vineyards and are predicting decreased yields for the 2009 vintage.

The storms caused extensive damage in the Côtes de Bourg, Premières Côtes de Blaye, Côtes de Castillon and Entre-Deux-Mers appellations, and also hit a few major appellations, including St.-Emilion, Margaux and Graves.

On the Left Bank, vineyards in the southern part of the Margaux appellation were worst affected, including Châteaus Palmer, Brane-Cantenac and d'Issan. Châteaus further north in the appellation, including first-growth Margaux, were largely untouched, according to producers.

Steven Spurrier Tastes Veramar Wines

I mentioned Virginia wines are going to be represented at the London International Wine Fair. This is, obviously, a really big deal and the wineries owners I've talked to are naturally excited.

But, it is not just Virginia winemakers who are excited, it seems the international community is excited as well. Check out what Steven Spurrier said about Veramar wines:

Veramar Vineyards 2007 Chardonnay:
Fresh pale yellow, good broad Chardonnay fruit backed by good acidity, quite high in alcohol, but good fruit. 16-.

Veramar Vineyard 2006 Cabernet Franc:
Good colour and good fleshy fruit, quite forward, nice "earthy" taste,
quite French in style, and a little green on the finish. 16-.

Steven Spurrier works for Decanter and uses their 17 point grading scale...so a 16 is very good!

DC Brane Cantenac Wine Dinner

Remember three posts again when I said I would stop talking about Brane. I lied :).

It turns out the Brane Cantenac winemaker will be hosting a wine dinner at Petit Plats in Woodley Park on Monday the 11th.

Details are here.

I'll be there!

Portland Trip Part 2

As I said before I didn't have much time for wine tasting while I was in Portland. Since I could not go to the wineries, I thought it would be nice to bring them to me. Fortunately, less than two blocks from my hotel was Oregon Wines on Broadway!

Oregon Wines on Broadway is a great wine bar that specializes in wine from the Northwest. They have a great selection, though one that is heavily focused on Pinot Noirs (in fairness, the region is famous for its Pinots :)).

Kate, the owner, is great (though, it took her forever to place my Virginia accent). She knows the wines really well and was able to quickly put together a wine flight based on a couple of questions about my wine preferences. All of her choices were great and, as you can see in the second picture, she writes down the name of the wine as she does the pouring, making it easy to remember what you like and don't like.

Oregon Wines on Broadway also has light faire to go along with the wine tasting. The cheese plate looked really good and all the cheeses were locally made.

If you are in Portland, I definately reccomend checking them out.

Review: Drop Dead Red

Wine: Hip CHICKS do Wine Drop Dead Red



Review: I won't lie, the thing that initially intrigued me about this wine was the label. The label was designed by a local artist who specialized in pulp fiction book covers. His work graces the bottles of this wine and the Wine Bunny Rouge. The label is intriguing because it plays up on the intrigue and danger and associates it with the wine (and, well, frankly, I have a thing for red heads :)).

The wine does not have a vintage. it is made from 67% Washington Grapes and 33% Oregon Grapes and is a blend of 38% Merlot, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon and 29% Cabernet Franc. Its a complex wine with strong aromas of blackberry and plum. Medium bodied with very light tannins, it is an excellent every day wine. I am not sure how well it will age, but it is great to drink now and a wine that I am going to add into my permanent rotation.

Price: $20

Grade: 95

Portland Trip Part 1

Last month I had to travel to Portland for work. Unfortunately, I was not able to take away too much time to indulge my wine interests, but I still got some tasting done.

I did manage to get out to Hip CHICKS do WINE for a tasting. HCdW is an urban winery located in the SE quadrant of Portland -- if you visit make sure you pay close attention to the signs :). The staff is warm and friendly, and the tasting experience is a lot of fun.

The Drop Dead Red is, by far, the highlight of the tasting (review will be coming up shortly). But they also have a good Muscat and their Cabernet Franc is excellent, it doesn't have the strong peppery taste that a Virginia Cab Franc does, but it still carries the aromas of plum and tobacco you often see associated with this varietal.

If you are in the area you should definitely check them out.

2008 Brane Cantenac

I promise I'll pick on some other wines shortly, but I just wanted to post this tremendous review from Robert Parker for the 2008 vintage of Brane Cantenac:

This is one of the most complex wines of the appellation, exhibiting notes of underbrush, sweet currants, cherries, and subtle touches of roasted herbs, incense, and spice box. It does not possess the power or depth of the 2005, and may not even eclipse the 2006, but it is a beautiful, pure, mid-weight, well-balanced, impeccably pure Margaux that should drink well for 15+ years.

He rated it between a 90-93.