General's Ridge

So on the 5th of this month we went to the Northern Neck in Virginia and tried out some wineries.

Our destination of choice was General's Ridge Vineyard. Originally General's Ridge started out as a B & B with a fabulous view of the vineyards. The grapes were sold to other wineries up until recently.

After driving up through the vineyard you come to the lovely tasting room.

It's warm and inviting. A lovely place to sit while sipping a glass of one of their wines while catching up with friends. They also have a lovely menu of appetizer type snacks. My only regret is that we arrived so late that we didn't get to try the tempting treats listed on the menu.

The staff is helpful and ever so knowledgeable.

Shout out to Gary for the awesome tasting!

We tried eight different wines!

Which really tickled me. Since they just opened this year!

The GRV White, which has a touch of sweetness to it. But I could so see it as a summer wine for many people.

The Chardonnay, which was nice since it was 50% steel and 50% neutral French Oak. Which pleased me because I don't care for oaky Chardonnays, because I always feel like a hamster chewing on a wood chip.

The GRV Viognier, which we both enjoyed. Which is really saying something because we don't really care for Viogniers. We ended up taking 2 bottles of this home. I know you're shocked right?

The GRV Rose, which I felt was a bit too sweet for my taste. But still I can see this as a really nice summer sipping wine.

The GRV Red that was quite nice. It's a beautiful blend of Chambourcin and Merlot. We had to have 2 bottles of this as well.

The Westmoreland Red, which has Cabernet Franc in it. I'm not a big fan of Cabernet Franc, but that's okay as I'm sure other's can truly appreciate it.

The Merlot was truly nice. And I'm not really a Merlot person. And no it's not because of the stupid movie Sideways. Merlot tends to give me a headache for some reason. That didn't stop us from taking home 2 bottles though!

And last but not least was the Pinot Noir. It's quite young, so I'm not sure I can make too much of a judgement about it.

All in all we were very pleased with our experience. And I had to take a close up of the bar. I love how it's made of old doors and wine barrels.

I would DEFINITELY recommend wines from here. And if you're ever in the area, do make sure to stop by and do a tasting. I think you'll be pleased.

Vault Field Vineyards

So on Friday we decided to head to the Northern Neck to hit some of our favorite wineries.

Our first stop was Vault Field Vineyards (as the title implies). At the moment they only have 3 wines to try, but they were all good. It saddens me when there's not more on the tasting list, but it's also a good thing. It means that the wines are selling. So that is good.

They are gearing up for bottling very soon, so I had to get a shot of all the barrels and prep work that was going on.

We were lucky, because while we were there we got to try the Conundrum before it was bottled. I believe we were told that it was going to be filtered one more time before bottling. Both of us agreed that it is quite good and can't wait for it's release.


Of course we got to see our favorite artist, Phil McKenney, because he was pouring the wine. All in all it was a GREAT experience.