We went out to Charlottesville a couple of weekends ago and took some time to visit three vineyards while we were out there. Keswick Vineyards (Twitter: keswickvineyard) was the first one we hit.
Keswick has been producing some excellent wines, and after visiting the estate it is easy to see why. Despite the 400 available acres only 40 are under vine. From the vineyard map it appears a lot of thought has been given to terroir and different varietals are planted where they have the best chance of thriving.
The estate is beautiful with plenty of places for visitors to sit and enjoy a bottle of wine and even a picnic. The tasting room is inviting with lots of bar space for visitors.
Currently the estate bottles about 5000 cases a year, though they are planning to increase production by 50% this year to 7500 (a lot of Virginia wineries are saying the same thing, which is very good news).
The wines were all very good, two that really stood out were the Verdejo, a Spanish white that you don't see very often in Virginia (in fact, I am pretty sure Keswick is the only winery producing it) and the 2007 Cabernet Franc. The Cabernet Franc was full bodied with lots of tannins and a very earthy taste to it, and you really can't beat the excellent 2007 vintage.
No comments:
Post a Comment