Bluestone

The server, Diane, was wonderful, despite the fact that she's a Red Sox fan. A nice variety of wines. Although Eric and Mike are not real sweet wine drinkers, we liked their Beau and Crooked and Weedy. It was a fun visit.

Ox Eye Lemberger

Mike and Eric really enjoyed this varietal, unusual in VA. Dark color and peppery. Nice.

Pippin Hill

Last night we started our Hallo-wine tour at Pippin Hill. What a wonderful experience! Great service, large portions, delicious food, top flight wines. Oh, and beautiful view. Our highest recommendation.

Blowing glass

After a delightful tasting at Ox Eye in downtown Staunton, the four of us are blowing glass across the street. And all this in the snow.

Town Point Park Fest 10-16

Went to Town Point Park Wine Fest today (Sun.) Will NEVER go on a Sat. again. Sundays are not a drunk fest - nicer and smaller crowd, most of whom actually care about wine. Enjoyed talking to Bonnie from Veritas. Loved AmRhein's hats, as always. Was served by a man wearing a VT hat. Can't beat that. Was served by a girl wearing a UVA shirt. No, I didn't hurt her. Great music. Beautiful weather. I HATE HATE HATE that they sell cigars at some of these fests. The smell of the cigars keesp you from being able to smell the wine! Luckily there weren't many smokers. I finally got a Peace Frog in a glass shirt from Rockbridge. Wanted one for over a year and they were always out.

Two Recommendations (from Eric)

Diane and I traveled to Blacksburg to see our son who plays in the VA Tech marching band.  (Aside: VT beat App. State 66-13!)  On the way, we decided to make an unofficial winery stop.  We learned of a new winery that's not even on the map yet.  It's called Pippin Hill Farm and Vineyard, near Charlottesville.  We did our tastings sitting outside looking at a beautiful view of the mountains.  The tastings are done waiter-style, at a table.  The wine was wonderful.  The food was delicious.  The service was great. 

After the game, we went to Am Rhein Cellars, about 45 minutes from Blacksburg.  This was a second unofficial visit.  (We went there last summer with our boys.)  Am Rhein was doing an event called a midnight stomp.  They did tastings, had food, took pictures of grape stomping (ala Lucy), and had live music.  Am Rhein may be a little out of the way, but it's worth the trip.  We love their wines.  We had a bottle of their Traminette, perfect for a summer evening.  I also really enjoyed their Melange, a light red wine.  Paula Am Rhein was a wonderful hostess.  Considering that a thunderstorm came through for about an hour and a half, delaying the band and keeping all of us under tents, it was a fantastic event.

What's in a Name?

The first weekend of our VA winery quest was in November, 2008. Mike dubbed it the Long and Winery Road. As an avid Beatles fan, this appealed to me. Ever since, we have given each tour a name. My personal favorite was the Doomsday Tour, which coincided with what was supposed to be the end of the world. When we woke up on day two of that tour, we discovered that the world had indeed survived, and we went on visited wineries 96, 97, 98, 99, and the much anticipated #100. Most of our tour names are based on the experiences we have and reflect something about the weekend. The Winestock tour was the weekend of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. (We even spent the night in Woodstock. The fact that it was Woodstock, VA was beside the point.) The Capitol Short Tour took place close to DC. The Retirement Tour followed the end of Diane’s 31 year career in teaching.

The name for our most recent tour came to us as we were eating (and drinking) lunch at Vitner’s Cellar in Newport News, a winery we had visited before. We had planned to visit several new wineries on the Chesapeake Bay Wine Trail on the Northern Neck, an area we had explored in December of 2008. It occurred to us that we were going over old ground, so the latest tour came to be known as the Sloppy Seconds Tour. The name became increasingly appropriate as we found ourselves doing things and going places we had and done and been to before. I’m writing this early in the morning, the day after our trip. Even with a slight hangover, I have to admit, the Sloppy Seconds Tour was as much fun as all the rest.