Latest Trip

We're sitting in the lobby of the Comfort Suites in Manassas, enjoying the afterglow of another incrdible wine weekend. We hit wineries 75-82, only spit away from 100. Much more to share, but we just wanted to give a special shout out to Paradise Springs, a new winery in Fairfax with wonderful historic atmosphere. Ask for Kirk. He left his post at Homeland Security to serve a more important post: making America safe for wine drinkers. More later . . .

Change of Plans

It's a dirty job, but . . . As it turns out, Woodland won't be able to accomodate us this weekend, so instead we're planning another NoVA trip. We heard Chatham Street will be playing at Rappahanock Cellars on Saturday, so we're trying to hit 5 wineries in and around Front Royal. Our biggest concern at this point is weather and road conditions. In case you haven't heard, the DC area just got a double whammy of snow in major proportions. Cross your fingers that by Saturday, the roads will be clear and the wineries will be open. Our tentative list:

• Chester Gap
• Rappahannock
• Linden
• Phillip Carter
• Miracle Valley

If all goes well, these will be 75, 76, 77, 78, and 79. (Seventy-nine is my lucky number!)

Looking forward to hitting the road again

Mike and Deb are coming down to Williamsburg for a week, so the PoLo wine club will be on the prowl again. We're only planning to hit one next weekend -- Woodland, which is somewhere near Richmond. The following weekend we're going to make our second trip up the Northern Neck and hit a few wineries we missed last year: Athena, The Hague, and Hummel. We'll also make repeat visits to Vault and Ingleside. So . . . that will be # 75-78. We hope to hit 100 by the summer. Now, that will be a great milestone. It'll be important that we choose a special winery for #100.

What makes a winery memorable?

Last night we were talking about our most memorable winery experiences. Here's what it comes down to. First of all, good wine. I guess that's a prerequisite, but it takes more than good wine to make a good winery experience. A knowledgeable server is important. At some wineries, the servers have just memorized a speech. "This one pairs well with Thai food.." Our best times are when we can relax and enjoy a full glass of our top choice and maybe some food (but light on the cheese). Music makes it even better. That's one reason we love running into Chatham Street. On the rare ocassion, I'll even dance.

Good wine . . . good food . . . good friends . . . interesting people . . . laughter . . . these are the things that make a memorable winery experience.

Shouldn't it be easier to mull wine?

Last night we tried to combine several recipes and mull some wine. We had such wonderful mulled wine at Willowcroft, but we just couldn't duplicate it at home. Still, it wasn't too bad, perfect for a cool evening at home.

It doesn't get much better than this . . .

. . . but we're going to keep trying. The PoLo wine club just completed another 2-day tour of some of the wineries in Northern VA. We can check off #64-73. We started off with a private tasting at Zephaniah -- excellent wine, impressive location (antiques galore), and a warm and welcoming hostess. We also visited Casanel, Willowcroft, Bluemont, Twin Oaks (another spectacular private tasting), and Veramar, where we saw our new old friends, Chatham Street. And that was just day one.

Day 2 started off with a bang. We spent more than an hour enjoying the wine, food, and views at Fox Meadow. The day continued on an upward trajectory with visits to Naked Mountain, Aspen Dale, and Three Fox. Knowing that Chatham Street would be performing at Barrel Oak, we adjusted our plans, and went there for the last visit of the weekend. Great wine. Great music. Great people.

We contemplated spending another night up there but then thought better of it. Best to leave on a high note. The Postmans headed south. The Loquastos headed north. We're now in the warmth and safety of our own homes.

There's much more to say about these visits, but I'm tired and my fingers just want to take the rest of me to bed. Our next trip will probably be to hit a few that we've missed closer to home. Stay tuned.

Capitol Tour, Part II

We're planning our next tour, where we will continue to visit the wineries of the Loudon County. It will be a New Years tour, as we will be going January 2nd and 3rd. We'll probably be a little less ambitious on this next trip.

We've been going through our photos. This process helps us remember who we met, what we drank, what we saw, etc. at each winery. We always get someone, usually the server, to take a picture of the four of us. Our hard drives are getting full!