A Taste of TasteCamp 2012 at Breaux Vineyards

TasteCamp was created in 2009 by Lenn Thompson, of The New York Cork Report. Its goal is to get journalists and bloggers together in a specific region to taste as much wine as possible, and speak to as many winemakers from that region over the course of a weekend. This weekend, TasteCamp 2012 was held in Northern Virginia, where I happen to live. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the majority of the events, but I was able to meet up with the group on Friday night for a wine dinner out at Breaux Vineyards that was catered by Tuscarora Mills Restaurant.
The group rode out to Breaux on a bus (yes, I was the last one on the bus, and if you ask Frank from DrinkWhatYouLike, I made us late!)and upon our arrival, the ever gracious host Jen Breaux greeted us with a 2010 Sauvignon Blanc. After she greeted us, we had a chance to mingle on the patio and enjoy some delicious passed hors d'ouevres such as roasted pear an carmelized onion tartlets and seared scallop on lavosh with fennel salad and orange glaze. We also were able to taste 3 other wines as well. The ever popular 2010 Jen's Jambalaya, a great all around table white, the 2010 Viognier, and the 2002 Merlot Reserve.

After a while, we were directed to the barrel room where the tables were ready and waiting for our arrival. Our first course was a salad with local organic greens, crumbled goat cheese, walnuts and a balseto vinaigrette that was paired with the 2011 Breaux Rose. This is the first wine produced by the new winemaker, David Castano. It is a blend of nebbiolo, cabernet sauvignon and merlot. This rose is a bit drier than in years past, but was delicious!

The next course was Spiced Angus Beef Medallions with bacon fig sauce scented with chocolate, gorgonzola and risotto studded with currants and almonds. This was paired with the 2007 Cabernet Franc Reserve and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. The Cabernet Franc was done in all French Oak (mostly new) and went really well with the beef. The Cabernet Sauvignon I thought paired better with the risotto, but of the two, the Cabernet Franc was my favorite.


The third course was a variety of cheeses (morbier, valdeon blue, mahon, quince, and some hazelnut-onion marmalade) paired with the 2001, 2002, 2005 and a barrel sample of the 2007 Nebbiolos. I had recently attended the Nebbiolo Vertical at Breaux, so it was interesting to have them again, and note how even in that short time they had changed a bit. The 2007 Nebbiolo was much darker than the others, and definitely seems like it will be as good as the 2001 after it's been bottled for a while.

For dessert we were served a white chocolate-apricot cake with lychee sabayon. This was paired with the 2010 "Chere Marie" Vidal Blanc and the 2006 Soleil. Both great dessert wines, but my preference is the Chere Marie as it is not quite as sweet as the Soleil.
It was a fantastic evening of food, wine and meeting some other great bloggers that I normally only see online!! Thanks so much to Lenn Thompson for allowing me to join the party, even if it was just for an evening, and to Breaux and Tuscorora for putting together yet another Fantastic event! I can't wait to see what all the other bloggers have to say about the rest of the weekend! Cheers!