#VABreweryChallenge - #7 Old 690 Brewing Company & #8 Mad Horse Brewpub

We continued our #VABreweryChallenge by visiting two Loudoun County breweries Old 690 Brewing Company (Purcellville) and Mad Horse Brewpub (Lovettsville). On January 21st, 2015 Old 690 celebrated the repeal of Prohibition of Loudoun farm breweries as the county's Board of Supervisors approved allowing breweries on farms provided they use crops grown on site in the brewing process. Old 690 satisfies this requirement by growing hops behind the brewery. At the tasting bar, we settled on splitting an eleven beer sampler, reveling in the diversity of their portfolio. Chris and I agreed on their two IPAs (21 Session & Bitter Neighbor) and the Stoner Point Smoked ale whereas I also liked the 690 Beer (Blonde ale) and Happy Neighbor Tripel. With two large screen TVs showing March Madness, GK's BBQTruck, and a fire pit - this is a brewery to camp out.

 

 
Lovettsville is a scenic 15 minute ride from Old 690 and Mad Horse is located in a renovated funeral home near the Community Center.  Brewer, Tom Troxell utilizes a 7bbl mash/tun and brew kettle and several 7bbl fermenters.  Instead of a sampler, Chris continued with an IPA, the Mad Falcon IPA and I settled on the Resurrection Pale Ale.  Both were clean, hoppy, and refreshing. Next time I'll hit the blonde ale, hefeweisen, brown ale. The food at Mad Horse matches Lovettsville's German heritage - so go with the bratwurst and Bavarian pretzel. And for the winos, the brewpub offers a few wines from North Gate Vineyards, ironically located yards from the turnoff to Old 690. Cheers and safe travels.

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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.

Fabbioli Cellars, Leesburg Virginia

If you recall a late spring frost hit the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast in early May. Most vineyards were unaffected; yet others lost a majority of fruit. One of these was Loudoun County's Fabbioli Cellars. For most of the past decade Doug Fabbioli has been the unknown face behind the rise in Loudoun County as a wine region. After education and a career in California, he moved to the Commonwealth and began winemaker first at Tarara Vineyard & Winery and later at Windham Winery - now Doukenie Winery. Eventually he started his own enterprise, yet was the consultant to many successive startups in the region, in particular North Gate Vineyards and Notaviva Vineyards. Over the years we've tasted most of Doug's portfolio - wither at festivals or at some of these newer wineries. Yet, we had never visited the tasting room - and this past Saturday we had the opportunity to see how the frost had affected operations.

And with the size of the crowd in the tasting room, 30 minutes before closing, no noticeable affect. Each tasting area was filled to capacity with newcomers constantly arriving during our stay. Closing hours must only be a suggestion. We decided to grab a bottle and head to the outside firepits and the Tre Sorélle was on my mind - their excellent Bordeaux style blend. However, when viewing the tasting sheet I noticed a single varietal Tannat and since we been touting this grape as suitable to Virginia, we had to splurge for a bottle. Splurge in that the wine is close to $30; that's specially tough after a couple trips to Trader Joe's for Halloween. But its a Virginia Tannat. While talking to new friends outside we found the wine to be young but full of potential. After a little aging this will be a big wine, plenty of tannins but nice acidity and red berry flavors. (I opened the bottle for a second pour a couple days later and the same opinion - young with potential). Let the tannins subside and this is a nice wine.

As for the frost, we didn't have a chance to discuss it. There are still a couple years of red wine aging in the cellar; as for white wines, some favors may be called in soon. We'll head back for another Tannat and actually conduct real research - and not waste the time away socializing.