New Release: 2008 Loudoun Valley Chambourcin

I missed the barrel tasting at Loudoun Valley Vineyards last month so last weekend I stopped by to see if I could sample some of the upcoming releases. Bree was nice enough to accommodate me :).

There are some exciting new wines coming out from Loudoun Valley Vineyards, but the one I was most excited about was the the Chambourcin. It has not been released yet, but it has been bottled, so I imagine the release will be soon.

Loudoun Valley has not produced a Chambourcin since 2005, which is a shame since it is my favorite food wine. The 2008 vintage was barrel-aged for 9 months. The wine is smooth with notes of cherry and cocoa, very little tannins and a medium body. An excellent food wine.

I also really like their redesigned website, a big improvement over the old one and it carries through the bottle designs for a seamless marketing message.

Route 9 Barrel Tasting

If you are looking for something really fun to do today Sunset Hills, Loudoun Valley Vineyards and Doukenie are hosting the annual Route 9 Barrel Tasting.



For $35 you get the opportunity to try some of the upcoming wines from all three wineries. More importantly, you get to meet with the winemakers and talk about their winemaking style and their insights into the vintages. Barrel tastings really give you insight into the winemaker and the types of wines produced at the winery.

Loudoun Valley Vineyards Soup Days

I love wineries that host unique events to attract customers, especially when those events encourage people to savour their wine and spend time together. Loudoun Valley has accomplished this for several years with their Soup Days, which run from November through the end of March.




For a very reasonable price you get a glass of wine and whatever their soup of the day is. Alternatively, you can trade in the glass of wine and split a bottle. It makes for a very nice afternoon, especially this time of the year when everyone is running around. Its great to take a break for a couple of hours.

The soups are always very good, and the tasting room staff can always recommend wines to pair with them.

Weekend Wine Activities

I haven't done a WWA post in a while, but there is so much going on this weekend, I figured you all should know about them:

1. Fabbioli is having an open house this weekend. Lots of good food, good wine and even some barrel tastings.


2. Breaux is also having an open house...and there are some special treats for cellar club members.


3. Loudoun Valley continues with their soup weekends on Saturday.


4. Corcoran Vineyards has two events happening on Saturday. First they are having an open house, then they are doing a Sparkling wine tasting with Mary Watson.


5. Veramar is continuing their Deck the Halls Event...pick up Christmas wreaths ornaments and drink mulled wine!!
   

These are just some of the events, definitely check out your favorite winery to see what is going on!

Hunters Run Wine Tasting Barn

Route 9 is has become one of best wine routes in the area. With wineries like Loudoun Valley, Sunset Hills, Notaviva and, of course, Breaux Route 9 has a lot of unique wineries and good diversity of wines.

The latest addition to this group of wineries is the Hunters Run Wine Tasting Barn (another barn turned into a tasting, it really is a trend here in Loudoun). The Hunters Run Wine Tasting Barn is owned by Geri Nolan, who was on hand to pour for me when I went out for a recent visit.

HRWTB does not serve its own wines, instead they pour wines from Corcoran Vineyards. This is similar to the tasting rooms I've seen in California, Washington and Oregon and I think its a great idea.

The tasting room itself is very warm and inviting, the barn is cozy and the wood-burning stove at one end of the tasting room provided much needed warmth on the cold-rainy day I visited. There is an eclectic collection of chairs and stools on the main floor and a loft overlooking the bar.

Geri is very charming and bubbly and she knows a great deal about the Corcoran wines. She is obviously a big fan not only of the wines, but of Jim and Lori as well. The visit was a lot of fun, and I highly encourage anyone tasting along Route 9 to add HRWTB to their itinerary.

Route 9 Barrel Tasting

It is supposed to be nice out today, so if you are looking for a break from all the holiday shopping, you might want to check out the Route 9 Barrel Tasting. 5 wineries along route 9 are participating: Breaux, Doukenie, Sunset Hills, Loudoun Valley and Corcoran. All really good wineries and barrel tastings are a lot of fun. The cost is $50 per person.

Last week Kris and I went on a winery tour with some friends from work. We hit several of the old standbys, so I thought I would give you all an update:

We started off at Breaux. I've mentioned them enough recently, that I don't havbe anything new, but I do want to thank Jen at Breaux for arranging an area in the bottling room for us to eat lunch -- it was a great way to start the tour.



Next, we jumped over to Doukenie where we got a special treat, we were able to sample the next release of Hope's Legacy (formerly, their Raspberry Merlot). It is scheduled to be bottled on the 11th, and I would recommend picking some up as it is even better than previous vintages.

Our last stop was going to be Hillsborough, where the 2005 Garnet has aged really well and is a nice Brodeaux-style blend.

We finished up around 5:00 and no one was in a hurry to head home, so we stopped at Loudoun Valley Vineyards.



Loudoun Valley Vineyards was recently purchased and we got to meet the new owner/winemaker Bree.



If Bree looks familiar, it is because she was the winemaker at Unicorn Winery. Well, now she is on her own and she has a lot of great ideas going forward. I know Loudoun Valley has a bad reputation in some corners, but it sounds like she is really going to turn it around. And the 2006 Vinera White was an excellent end to the day.