Drew's Wine

[Wretch]

Since you live in Virginia, you and your wife might want to take a tour of some of the wineries in the state. It is a pleasant way to spend a day or two on a weekend.

Virginia is the fifth leading producer of wine in the US. Many of the wines are excellent, and the winery tasting rooms and grounds are often on par with what you find out in Napa and Sonoma.

We've spent some time in Charlottesville area at the wineries there. I am a fan of Dave Matthew's winery, Blenheim, Barboursville and Cardinal Point. Both Blenheim and Cardinal Point are low key and unpretentious. Barboursville is a bit more of a tourist trap but the ruins are interesting and I enjoyed their Octagon wine. We had a bottle of their sparkling white for New Years and I thought it was good, but I have little to compare it to.

We had the chance to speak at length to the Assistant Winemaker at Blenheim and he recommended several of the smaller wineries in the area (including Cardinal Point) that were making interesting wines rather than mass producing commercial wines.

 

[wizwor]

Is this Patsfan.com 2 pages of comments and no insults or flames? Impossible, has the site been hijacked by Anonymous or something.

As a wine neonate I appreciate the informed comments of the participant and I am currently taking notes so I can buy some good bottles of wine for my wife who appreciates wine more than me.

lol me too! great thread that I feared would be a Bledsoe/brady mess. thanks guys!

 

[wizwor]

I just wanted to let you know that I might be one of the 5 people on this board who knows who Norm Zauchin is.

one of the six

 

[PatsDeb]

Have not opened the bottle. I will probably put it down for a couple of years. However, in a private e-mail exchange with Zeus, he said that he had tasted some Doubleback and this was his comment: "Great stuff - not the the overextracted/high alcohol California style. More subtle, austere old world style (which is what Drew was hoping to do)."

Sorry the Cloudy Bay is so expensive. It is down here in Northern Virginia as well, but I can get it for about $21-$22. Most SBs from New Zealand are very good and affordable. Just that I think Cloudy Bay is the best. My wife, who rarely comments on wine, said "Wow, this is great stuff," the first time she tasted it. I would say that it is a bit more subtle, not quite as citrus fruit forward as your typical NZ SB.

No worries - I will eventually try the Cloudy Bay - too curious now to pass up! I'll just see if I can find it for cheaper at the state liquor store next time I go, and if not, I'll splurge at the supermarket!

Sounds like I will have to search for the Doubleback too!