A Few Hours in Loudoun: North Gate Vineyards & Hiddencroft Vineyards

Being a little stuck inside stir crazy, we headed out for a short trip to Loudoun County to visit two wineries: North Gate Vineyards & Hiddencroft Vineyards. North Gate is owned and operated by Mark and Vicki Fedor, who were working the tasting bar on our arrival. They've been tending fines in Loudoun for almost 15 years and were the initial winemakers at Corcoran Vineyards several years ago. At this point in time, the winery is sold out of some wine (Viognier and Petit Verdot), but we sampled their 2010 Chardonnay, 2010 Petit Mensing, 2009 Cabernet Franc, 2009 Merlot, 2009 Meritage, and NV Apple. All the fruit is sourced from Loudoun County and the resulting wines were rather enjoyable. And affordable - all under $20; which makes their Meritage (Cabernet Franc, (47%), Cabernet Sauvignon (26%), Petit Verdot (21%), and Merlot (6%)) a rather nice deal. The Chardonnay was also a favorite, being both fruit forward and slightly creamy after having been fermented and aged in a combination of older (neutral) and new oak. The Apple and Petit Mensing were also very nice - with any residual sugar equally balanced from the wine's acidity. We plan on getting easier access to their wines, since the winery participates in the Winter Falls Church Farmer's Market.

From North Gate we headed through Hillsboro to Hiddencroft Vineyards after not having visited the winery in a number of years. We did get a chance to sample their Gold winning 2009 Cabernet Franc, which was in the running for last year's Governor's Cup. On arriving at the winery we were briefly disorientated because they have expanded into the adjacent property and moved the tasting facilities into a new building, an 1830’s farmhouse they christened "Dutchman’s Creek Tasting House". Clyde and Terry Housel were also both in the tasting room and Terry guided us through the wines. And we really love these wines, not only their quality but also the range in varietals. As Virginia moves into the Vinifera world, many are replacing hybrids with Bordeaux grape varieties. Not at Hiddencroft. Yes they produce a mighty fine Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Tannat (one of the few 100% varietal Tannats in the state), but there are few places in Loudoun where you can sample a Vidal Blanc, Traminette, and Chambourcin, as well as a range of fruit wines. The Traminette was a real surprise, produced dry with a powerful floral aroma that seizes your attention, then mellows into the spicy Gewurtz flavor. Very nice. And the fruit wines are delicious - made sweet but with enough acidity for balance. The Blackberry was the bomb: it has the fortified raisin flavor of a port - without the alcohol. And the blackberries are grown on the estate. The Raspberry Chambourcin Vitis Rubus is another fruit wine worth savoring. I think Hiddencroft has it all, dry viniferas for the "serious" wine consumer and flavorful and enjoyable hybrids and fruit wines for the casual wino. Cheers.

Corcoran Brewing\Vineyards - My Idea of Disney

I have many beer loving friends whose wives and girlfriends love wine but can never drag them out to visit wine country. Now, there's finally a place that will attract both - Corcoran Brewing and Corcoran Vineyards. The latter has been open for almost a decade now, producing some of our favorite Virginia wines - particularly Viognier and Malbec. But the former is a new establishment, having opened late spring 2011, and producing several beer styles available in growlers.

We returned last weekend after visiting the brewery right before its grand opening. Upon reaching the Corcoran grounds (Waterford VA - Loudoun County), the brewery sits on a small plot adjacent to the winery and hop farm. Head straight ahead to the red barn to sample the beer or continue to the historic tasting room further down the road on the right.

The brewery was our first stop - particularly with a few seasonals "still available" on tap. "Still available" is always a relative term when referring to this nano brewery. Their production is so limited (brewer Kevin Bills brews primarily only on Saturday), they regularly run out of their everyday beers - the P'ville Pale, Catoctin Ale, LoCo IPA. It seems this shortage will soon be alleviated as larger fermenting tanks were resting in the tasting area - ready to install. On this Saturday afternoon, many of the brews had run their course from an early rush before the Hokie game. I was able to taste the P'ville Pale and LoCo IPA; preferring the lower IBU of the pale ale as opposed to the hoppier IPA. On this day, the brewery had three seasonals available: the Padawan Pumpkin, Emmanubräu Ale, and Round Hill Root Ale. The latter two are interesting versions of winter ales (i.e. spicy flavors) - but the Pumpkin was easily my favorite. The beer is brewed using pumpkins from local farms (Wegemeyer and Great Country Farms), local honey, and pumpkin pie spices. The latter spices are very subtle - the pumpkin and honey are more prolific - and this is one easy drinking beer. Perhaps my favorite pumpkin ale tasted this season. They may have some left over the next couple weeks - but hurry.

Afterwards, I was also able to spend a little time in the winery with Jim Corcoran discussing the 2010 vintage. The best news - Viognier is back. The 2009 crop from their estate was lost to a late spring frost; but the 2010 juice is promising, particularly since it was harvested before the early fall rain deluge. This wine has always been one of our favorite Viogniers - so we are looking forward to the wine maturing for an early 2012 (?) release. They are also fermenting Riesling - and its always nice to see this variety , particularly when the fruit comes from Benevino Vineyards. Eventually this wine will be off-dry - but the early juice has that savory Riesling aroma and flavor. Nice. Beside the Chambourcin aging in Bowman Bourbon barrels, we tasted a few fermenting reds - the Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Tannat. The CF is light and fruit forward - winemaker Lori Corcoran's preference - whereas the PV and Tannat are stronger with more acidity. The latter two will be balanced by adding a small qualities of other varietals - most likely Merlot.

It looks like 2012 will be a tremendous year for both Corcoran establishments. I think its time to talk the little boy into another birthday party at Corcoran. With beer now onsite, we will have to expect more positive RSVPs. Cheers.

"Discover Your Local Crush" During Virginia Wine Month

It's that time of year again; the heat and humidity is slowly dissipating, leaves are dying, summer flowers are exerting one last display of life, and the grape harvest is in full gear. And for the 24th year, the Commonwealth is celebrating Virginia Wine Month. This month's theme is "Discover Your Local Crush", acknowledging the state's numerous and diverse wine regions: Northern Virginia, Shenandoah Valley, Central Virginia, Eastern Virginia, Chesapeake Bay, Blue Ridge Highlands, Hampton Roads, Heart of Appalachia, Southern Virginia, Shenandoah Valley AVA, Monticello AVA, Eastern Shore AVA, Washington Birthplace AVA, North Fork AVA, and the Rocky Knob AVA.

Regardless of the region, there will be ample opportunities to sample excellent wines, listen to music, enjoy the scenery, and meet the winemakers. We plan on starting Virginia Wine Month at Chrysalis Vineyards and their 11th Annual Norton Wine & Bluegrass Festival. And why not, pair some of Virginia's native grape with Jackass Flats, Hickory Ridge, and Good Natured Riot. Then our favorite Charlottesville musician; no, not Dave Matthews; but William Walter performs at Delaplane Cellars. Then we will head back to Visit Loudoun to listen to more music and sample some Viognier. That's our "Discover Your Local Crush". What's yours? To help plan your outing visit WineCompass or Virginia Is For Lovers to find an event in your area.

2011 Wine Bloggers Conference Pre-Tour: Loudoun County (DC's Wine Country)

One of the best kept secrets of the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference was the Loudoun County Pre-Tour sponsored by Visit Loudoun. This two day tour was available to the first 25 bloggers who registered and consisted of visits to four wineries: Tarara Vineyard & Winery, Breaux Vineyards, Chrysalis Vineyards, and Boxwood Winery. Each winery rolled out the red carpet with the winemaker greeting the participants and providing tours and tastings of their regular offerings as well as reserve and barrel wines. These were very intimate engagements where the participants were able to discuss Norton or Albarino with Jenni McCloud and Alan Kinne at Chrysalis; Bordeaux with Rachel Martin and Adam McTaggart at Boxwood, Terroir with Jordan Harris at Tarara; and Nebbiolo with the Breaux crew. These wineries may be familiar to the larger group of conference attendees since they participated in many of the WBC11 events in Charlottesville, either as sponsors, the twitter tastings, the Other 46 tasting, and the Monticello dinner.

Check out the video below, which includes audio from Stacey Sheetz of Visit Loudoun discussing the wine region, to see why this area is one of the top wine destinations in Virginia and considered DC's Wine Country. The video also features Tara Nevins (Donna the Buffalo) "Beauty of Days Gone By" from her new solo release: Wood & Stone. And below is a list of blog posts concerning the Loudoun pre-tour and WBC11.

Dallas Wine Chick: Loudoun County Wine Pre-Trip
Tarara Winery: WineBloggers
Wine Biz Radio: X Does WBC ’11
The Wine Hub: Why Terroir Matters – Blog by: Jordan Harris – Tarara Winery Winemaker