October is Virginia Wine Month, and while I’m behind in my month of blogging about Virginia wines, I’m looking forward to focusing on them over the next few weeks. Blogging about VA wines couldn’t be more timely, as Virginia is one of the largest wine producing states in the US, and the quality of VA wines has increased dramatically over the last 10 years, which means there are some yummy wines to share.  In addition, the 2011 Wine Bloggers’ Conference is going to be held in Charlottesville, VA, which means that wine bloggers will be paying a lot more attention to the Commonwealth’s wines before heading out here next summer.  With all of that in mind, blogging about the September Virginia Wine Festival seems like the perfect way to begin Virginia Wine Month.

Back in the middle of September, several friends and I met Dezel (from My Vine Spot) for a fun, relaxing afternoon of wine tasting at Bull Run Regional Park.  Three of us took the Washington Wine Academy’s shuttle from Vienna Metro station.  If you’re thinking about going to this annual wine festival next year, I highly recommend taking the shuttle.  For $25, we had a comfortable, 20-minute minibus ride to Bull Run, and five hours later, when we were ready to leave, we were given a bottle of water as we boarded the bus and were safely dropped off at the metro 20 minutes later.  Not that any of us were drunk, because we weren’t, but it was nice not to have to worry about driving after a very full day of wine tasting.

The three of us who took the shuttle arrived at the festival before everyone else, but we decided to dive right into the tasting.  The first stop for was Rosemont Vineyards and Winery tasting table.  Rosemont is a family-owned winery in Southern Virginia that released its first vintage in 2007.  Unfortunately, the winery doesn’t have a DC distributor, but their wines are for sale on their website.  The 2008 Cabernet Franc and the Meritage were my favorite Rosemont wines, and if you see either (or both), grab a bottle.

Rosemont 2008 Cabernet Franc ($21)—cedar, earth, molasses, vanilla, with some dark berries; medium tannins, good body.
3.5 Corks

 

Rosemont Meritage ($30)—dark berries, cedar, smoke, vanilla, & tealeaves; good tannins with a full body; would be nice with a soy sauce marinated steak.
3.5 Corks

 

2009 Rosemont Pinot Grigio ($16)—Granny smith apples & limes; good acidity.
3 Corks

2008 Rosemont Traminette ($15)—stone fruits with a hint of limes; very dry, but somewhat non-descript.
2.5 Corks

2009 Rosemont Rosé of Chambourcin ($13)—dark pink color; strawberries & something herbaceous.
2.5 Corks

Rosemont Lake Country Red ($15)­—smoke, oakiness, & dark cherries; medium body.
2.5 Corks

 

Rosemont NV Merlot ($19)—dark plums, cherries, & vanilla; medium body and tannins.
2.5 Corks

 

Rosemont Lake Country Sunset ($13)—juicy pears, flowers, & honey; very sweet with little acidity; not my style.
2 Corks

After tasting all of the wines available at the Rosemont table, we headed down a few tents to the Delfosse Vineyards and Winery table.  Delfosse is located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains, about 30 minutes from Charlottesville.  Having opened in 2000, they are relatively new VA winery.  While their wines show potential and they had one of the nicest people we met all day pouring, there weren’t any wines that I fell in love with.

2008 Delfosse Chardonnay ($18)—apples & pears with some vanilla oakiness.
3 Corks

2006 Delfosse Cuvee Laurent ($18)—blackberries & oak; good acidity.
3 Corks

2007 Delfosse Deer Rock White ($15)—pears & pineapples with some residual sweetness.
2.5 Corks

2006 Delfosse Merlot ($18)—plums, cherries, & oak.
2.5 Corks

2007 Delfosse Deer Rock Red ($15)—flowers with a vegetal hint; sweetish.
2 Corks

2007 Delfosse Grand Cru Olivier ($18)—cranberries, vanilla, & twigs.
1.5 Corks

The Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard tasting table was our next stop.  Kluge is located in Charlottesville.  They were one of the only tables that charged an additional fee in order to taste several of the wines, but since the whole purpose of the festival was to taste, we all shelled out the additional money to taste both the 2007 Kluge Estate Blanc de Blanc and the Cru aperitif.  The Blanc de Blanc was well worth the extra fee; Dezel even bought a bottle for us to drink with lunch. My surprise favorite wine, though, was the 2009 Albemarle Rosé.  I actually purchased a bottle to review separately for VA Wine Month.

2007 Kluge Estate SP Blanc de Blanc ($25)—100% Chardonnay; persistent, tiny bubbles; lemons & cream with a touch of toastiness; high acidity.
4 Corks

2009 Albemarle Rosé ($13)—cherries, strawberries, limes, & peaches; slight effervescence; bright acidity.
4 Corks

2005 Kluge Estate New World Red ($25)—blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Malbec; blackberries & black currants; full body with good tannins.
3.5 Corks

2009 Albemarle Sauvignon Blanc ($20)—light, greenish-yellow; citrus galore; good acidity.
3 Corks

 

2004 Albemarle Simply Red ($14)—blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot; blackberries, vanilla, & smoke; medium body and tannins.
3 Corks

Cru ($25)—100% Chardonnay; strong bourbon flavor mixed with sweet peaches, pears, and vanilla; not my style.
2.5 Corks

After tasting everything at the Kluge table, we met up with a few more members of our group and decided to visit a few more tables before breaking for lunch.  The next stop was Tarara Winery.
*See Part 2 for reviews of Tarara Winery, Davis Valley Winery, Wintergreen Winery, and Mountfair Vineyards.
*See Part 3 for reviews of Veritas Vineyard and Winery, Villa Appalaccia Winery, and Unicorn Winery.
*See Part 4 for reviews  of Cooper Vineyards, Cardinal Point Vineyard and Winery, Paradise Springs Winery, and Château Morrisette.