Virginia’s Monticello Wine Trail

We just completed an amazing 2 day tour around the Monticello Trail tasting some really great Virginia wines - most of which you'll be able to sample at the next Virginia Wine Expo -- here is a quick write-up on our favs: Veritas - Harlequin 2012 if you like a dry Chardonnay and Claret 2012 if you like dry red - would decant and serve with beef. Afton was great - highly recommend the Bollicine '10 Brut Sparkling and the Cabernet Sauvignon Est Res '09 ('09 was a great year for reds in VA - steer clear of the '11s). Pollak was a lot of fun - love their 2012 Pinot Gris and crisp/dry 2012 rose - the 2011 Cab Franc is good, but needs to age, if you like peppery/high tanic reds try the 2010 Petit Verdot (would decant this one an hour of so before serving). Pippin Hill was very crowded but they handled our party of 8 quickly and we had a great time - the Chardonnay Reserve 2012 and the Merlot Reserve 2012 topped my tasting list - the food is outstanding here - get the fried oysters for sure! Trump was beautiful and the bubbly was most excellent - think we tried 5 different one - all outstanding. Day2... Keswick - always a good tasting - their 2012 Chardonnay is interesting and can age 5-7 years, their Rose is awesome - crisp and dry, but unless you are a wine club member, you'll have to wait til next year to try this one again. Enjoyed the 2011 Pleasure - nice peppery accent. Barboursville was great as usual - beautiful views and we took the tour which was a fun history lesson too. If you're looking for that dry, crisp Rose - get their 2012 - very nice! Also enjoyed the Pinot Grigio 2012 and Chardonnay Reserve 2012. The Malvaxia Res was interesting - if you want something light for after dinner drink - this is a great one to try. Most of the reds were just a bit too young for our liking. Final vineyard on the tour was Horton Cellars - pick 10 - we like the Rkatsiteli (dry georgian/russion variety) - very interesting white - crisp and full flavored.

Let us know if you have been or plan on going to any of these vineyards and what your top pics would be - CHEERS!!