Pollak Vineyards

We made it to Pollak Vineyards with time to spare before they closed for the day.

We were greeted after standing at the bar for just a short period of time. We had one employee pour for us, which was nice.

So bring on the wines!

2010 Viognier. This had peach notes. Was light but had a bit of spice on the end. Viognier is another grape that grows well in Virginia, so most wineries will have one. I'm not the biggest fan of this one either.

2010 Pinot Gris. This had a mineral/gravel kind of taste to it. I really didn't get anything in the nose. And it had a bit of a bubbly feel to it. Not at all pleasant.

2010 Durant White. This is 60% Chardonnay, 30% Viognier, and 10% Pinot Gris. They do a post fermentation blend. In other words, they blend it after each varietal has fermented. It had peach notes to it and a clean finish. Not bad.

Bring on the reds!

2009 Durant Red. This was a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. There we go again. It had smokey notes to it. Dry but tasted over oaked and had that bubbly feeling on the tongue. Not good. I'm really not enjoying the Cabernet Franc and Merlot mixes that are out there.

2009 Merlot. This spent 14 months in the barrel and 9 months in the bottle. It still needs to age, which is a sad statement. I did get a black cherry smell to it and it was dry.

2009 Cabernet Franc. This also spent 14 months in the barrel and 9 months in the bottle. I did get a pepper smell and the slight taste of cassis. I still haven't found that Cabernet Franc to wow me.

2008 Cabernet Sauvignon. This one made me smile. It had cherry notes to it and a fruity flare. It also had a very nice finish.

2008 Meritage. This is 44% Cabernet Franc, 43% Merlot and 13% Petit Verdot. They took their best barrels at 12 months, blended them and then rebarreled them. I got black current and black cherry in the nose. A very bold red.

2009 Petit Verdot. This was light in color. Which saddens me since this varietal is normally dark and lovely. I got black berries and plum notes from it. It had an earthy, but charred finish to it.

I noted that many of the wines had unfined and unfiltered. What does unfined mean? I asked. Basically it's a chemical process to 'de-cloud' the wine. I have a feeling that is the reason that some of these tasted off to me.