Glass House Winery

As the fall foliage begins to peak in the Virginia wine region, I thought it would be a great idea to hit the wine trail and explore some wineries I'd not yet been too.  My first stop this weekend was Glass House Winery in Free Union, VA (near Charlottesville).  The first thing I noticed as we pulled up was the lush pond in front of the building, it was beautiful!

 As we entered the tasting room, we were warming greeted by Sabrina, who did our tasting.  For the $5 tasting fee, we tasted 6 wines.  First up was the 2011 Viognier, which is made of estate grown grapes. It was a blend of Viognier aged in French oak with some Viognier aged in stainless steele.  The next wine on the tasting sheet, the 2011 Pinot Gris was sold out, so instead, we were given the 2011 Vino Signora Dry, which was a dry Gewurztraminer done in stainless steele.  I am not used to tasting a dry Gewurztraminer, so it wasn't my favorite of the day, but was definitely drinkable, if you like dry whites.  The third white we tried was the 2011 Vino Signora...a sweeter version of the previous wine we had just tasted.  This to me, was more representative of what I'm used to for a Gewurztraminer.  This wine has a 2.5% residual sugar and is aged in stainless steele.

Onto the reds, our first taste was the 2010 21st (for the 21st Amendment).  This is a bordeaux blend of 50% Cabernet Franc, 30% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon aged in neutral and new American oak.  I found it to be fruit forward, but with a nice tannic finish.  Next up was the 2011 C-Villian, made from Chambourcin and blended with around 25% Merlot.  There was a 2010 Barbera on the tasting list, but that was sold out, so we were unable to taste.  Our final wine was the 2011 Meglio del Sesso, a Norton blended with Cabernet Franc, which is then aged with 82% ground chocolate, then settled out and filtered prior to bottling. We tasted this while enjoying some salted caramel chocolate that is hand made on site....YUM!  There was definitely a chocolate flavor to the wine, but it wasn't overpowering and it went really well with the chocolate we tasted.  We enjoyed the amazing views of the fall foliage while out on the patio sipping a glass.

One of the unusual features of all of the wines offered at Glass house is that all of the wines use Glass corks!  It was really cool to see those, although I am curious about how they hold up to regular, synthetic corks or screw tops. 

Another great feature of this winery is their actual Glass House that is heated and cooled from a geothermal system that lies in the bottom of the lake on the property.  It is filled with tropical fruits and exotic flowers as well as tables and chairs so you can sit among the greenery and not have to worry about the weather outside.  A great place to be in the winter if you feel the need to soak up some sun! 

The only thing we didn't really get to check out on this visit was the Bed and Breakfast that is also located on the property.  A great feature to have so people can come and enjoy the winery all day, but not have to worry about driving!

If you're in the area, I definitely recommend a visit!  Cheers!