A tale of four ladies, two wineries and a donkey

 It was a windy but sunny late September morning when four ladies ventured out to the Loudoun County area in search of wine and relaxation. As the Tiny Wine Girl was escorting the ladies through the heart of Loudoun County, the Evil Red Genius made a declaration that set the tone for the entire trip when she exclaimed,
 "The world is like one big winery to me!"

 

The annual Fall Farm Tour was occurring this particular weekend and their first stop was the Zephaniah Farm Vineyards.

 

 

The Hatch family has farmed in Loudoun for 64 years and three generations.  

 Zephaniah Jefferson Hatch (the owner's great grandfather), built and owned the Monticello Steamboat Company in San Francisco, California starting in 1892. The ferry boats of the company ran from San Francisco to Vellejo, California, which leads to Napa Valley (see where I'm going with this?). The company was named for Zephaniah’s birthplace in New York.  William N. Hatch (the owner's father) purchased Mill Road Farm in 1950 with the proceeds from the sale of the company.  That began the journey from a life on the water in California to a life on the land among the fine vineyards of Loudoun County.

 

 

Seated tastings occur in the antique rooms of the 1830 manor house rich with history!

The house was built by the builder of Oak Hill, the home of former President Monroe.
 The humble but beautiful house provides a link into Loudoun’s past.
Even the bricks for the house were made in Loudoun!
 

 

While the farm and the manor house are quite historic, the first phase of the vineyard was just planted in 2002.  The Hatch family tends the grapes by hand and are the ones who care for the vines and the grapes through every season. Harvest is also accomplished by family and friends. 

This wine is truly hand crafted!

 

 

 

As the ladies strolled through the farm to the Manor House, it was quite a sight to behold.

The air was filled with oohs and ahhs.

 

The ladies then entered the manor house to partake of the wine...

 



Because it was the Farm Tour and the main dining room was filled to capacity, the ladies were fortunate enough to have their seated tasting in the manor home's library!
 

 

Such history and antiques surrounded them. Black and white photographs of the Hatch family abounded and the Tiny Wine Girl could actually feel a presence.

 It was magical!

 

 

Wait, or was it the wine?
 

Maybe it was old Zephaniah himself encouraging the ladies to drink up!

They couldn't let grandpa down, could they?

So, drink is what they did!

 

 

2013 Steamship White

52% Chardonel, 23% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Chardonnay and 5% Viognier

Yes, there is 23% Cab in this one. Shocking? A little bit. Could you taste it or see it? Nope.

But it was added it for its boldness. This wine tasted like a Viognier to the Tiny Wine Girl.

 

2013 Rose

Classic French-style Rose-blend of Cab Franc and Chambourcin.

This one neither excited nor disgusted the Tiny Wine Girl. 

A non-entity actually.

 

2012 Cab Franc

With aromas of farm and dirt, this Cab Franc was actually fruiter than most.

Quite pleasant but a tad bit tangy at the end.

 

 

2012 Three Captains Red

Named after the family's three sons, this blend of Chambourcin, Cab Franc and Cab Sav

was the Tiny Wine Girl's favorite from this farm winery.
Much better than the straight Cab Franc; much smoother.

 

2012 Chambourcin

Everyone was surprised when the Tiny Wine Girl said this is wine is a great water substitute when making brownies. In fact, they thought she was making it up. Nope, indeed, it's delicious!
 

That being said, this grape is a good blending grape or used in sangria. On its own, it doesn't do much for the Tiny Wine Girl anymore. In the beginning when she was just starting to try red wines, she favored it though.

 

After the ladies tasted Zephaniah's wines, they ventured outside to partake of the lunch special of the day. The ladies enjoyed farm-raised organic angus burgers and a glass of wine for $12 as the sun shined down upon them.

 "Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."

~Albert Einstein

As the four ladies left the lovely farm with their bellies full and their taste buds smiling, they ventured out to other parts of Loudoun County.
 

 The Tiny Wine Girl was beyond excited when they happened upon two barns.

Especially the dilapidated one..........

 

While she could have stayed in its presence, she knew she had to continue on her journey for there were still two more stops to make before heading home.

 

Next stop....

 

 

Meet the American Mammoth Jackstock donkey!!
 

These donkeys are the height of an average horse and their ears alone shoot 12 inches into the air. They weigh 1,000 pounds or more and can carry one quarter of their body weight

– up to a 250-pound man.
 

 

They are known for their companionship, unconditional love and being calm, peaceful riders.



 

The Tiny Wine Girl fell in love with this guy.

She's met a lot of jackasses but none as sweet and loving as this one!

 

They’re a fight, not flight, animal and hardly ever spook.
 

They love and crave the human's touch!!

 

While the ladies fell in love with the donkeys, they couldn't help but fall in love with the owners' home too.

 

 

Who wouldn't mind waking up to that view every morning and sitting on the porch drinking a glass of wine every evening?

While it was difficult to leave, the ladies had one more stop to make and it was going to be a good one!

 

 

Otium Cellars

Purcellville

 

 

 

 

"Otium" is Latin for peace, tranquility and leisure

 

 Need we say more?

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 Pinot Gris

 

The Grau Burgunder grape is a German clone of Pinot Gris.

 It is a perfect blend of fruity and crisp with aromas of pears and lemons with a salty aftertaste.

 

The Grau Burgunder made the Evil Red Genius do this:

 

In case there's any doubt, it's a good thing.

 

 

2013 Pinot Gris

 

A "Riesling-style" wine but not as crisp as the 2012 and has an undesirable aftertaste.

 

2013 Chardonnay

 

Grown in the Alsace, France way and fermented to create a buttery style, this Chardonnay is an acquired taste.  While the Tiny Wine Girl can drink a California Chardonnay any day of the week and enjoy it, this one was decent but begged for food. It made her want her momma's baked pork chops and scalloped potatoes.

Hmm.. wait, not such a bad thing, actually.

 

2013 Pinot Noir

 

light in taste, a peppery smell, a "pretty pizza wine"

(not a pretty pizza, but a wine that is pretty and will go with pizza)

Knowing how the Tiny Wine Girl is an Oregon Pinot snob, this Virginia Pinot blew her away!

 

 

Otium Cellars is a certified vino-tech meaning they are allowed to import wines from all over the world and use them on their tasting table as comparable wines to those they grow.

Planted in 2007, Otium is home to several German varietals, three of which the ladies were able to do a side-by-side tasting!

 

2013 Blaufrankisch

and

2011 Prieler Blaufrankisch

 

The Austrian Blaufrankisch was dry but tart and "plummy". 

The ladies described it as "very berry" and "alluring".

While Otium refers to it as "seductive", the Tiny Wine Girl thought it wasn't big enough to be seductive but she'd go for "sensual".

 

Otium's Blaufrankisch smelled like "fruity garbage". Make no mistake, this was a delightful wine. Smells don't always predict the taste of a wine.  The Tiny Wine girl remembers the previous year's vintage smelling and tasting of basil and she preferred that vintage though.

 

 

Evidently, Otium's Malbec was so delicious it sold out and the ladies were not able to try it but they were able to try its companion but with unfortunately, with no comparision.

 

2012 Zuccardi Malbec, Argentina

 

The ladies were not too fond of this Malbec and referred to it as a "feisty Malbec" and one exclaimed that she "wasn't jumping up and down about it." The Tiny Wine Girl was upset because the name reminded her of zucchini and while she likes to eat zucchini, she feels adamant about it not belonging in desserts or wine!

 

 

2013 Cabernet Sauvignon

 

Otium's Cab is quite elegant for a Virginia Cab with dense fruit and aromas of chocolate. The more the ladies swirled the more it opened up and it became quite entertaining. (Come on, it was the last winery of the day, give 'em a break). At this point in the adventure, the four ladies became known as the "swirly girls". Oddly enough, when tasting this Cab, it reminded the Tiny Wine Girl

of a candy cane....



 

 

 

2011 Rheinhessen Dornfelder, Germany

and

2012 Dornfelder

 

Rheinhessen is the largest wine region in Germany.

In the 1950s, Dornfelder was the second most popular German grape next to Riesling.

 

The German Dornfelder that the ladies tasted was sweeter than they anticipated and yet reminded them of sewage - "sweet sewage".

"If sewage tasted like this, we might embrace it!"

 

Otium's Dornfelder was a step above sweet sewage. Otium's flagship wine is very easy to drink, with aromas of hay, grass, and an earthy smell with a fruity but spicy kick on the palette.

Instead of sewage, Otium's version is more like a hot day on the Potomac River.

 

"At least once a day you should do something purely for enjoyment, and wine is my way of relaxing."

-Young Uck Kim, Wine Collector

 

 

Sadly enough, the wine adventure for the four ladies was drawing to a close.

 

On the way back to civilization, the ladies were greeted by beautiful scenery......

 

 

... and more barns to make the Tiny Wine Girl happy......

 

 This adventure proved that you don't have to go far to enjoy good wine, great company, beautiful scenery and why not throw in a loving jackass for good measure!

 

 

Thus is the tale of four ladies, two wineries and a donkey.....



A little wine T&A on the river....

What is a simple pleasures way to spend the last of our summer-like Fall days? 

 

 Eating brunch and drinking wine at Madigan's Waterfront Restaurant overlooking the Occoquan River with the Evil Red Genius, of course.

 

 

It was an easy decision to sit out on the waterfront deck.

It was easy to choose the boursin, brie and bleu cheese board with fruit to share.

 

 

 

It was a little more complicated; however, to choose a bottle of wine.

 

The poor young waiter had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he said we could try ANY  of the wines that they had on their list before we chose a bottle.
That poor little boy had no idea what he was up against, now did he?

 

 

First, we tried the William Hill Cabernet Sauvignon.

 

 

Believe it or not, it was too jammy.
It was more like eating fruit instead of drinking wine.
I thought I had bitten into a berry. Bleh.

 

Then we tried the Red Rock Merlot.

 

It was better than the Cab but still not good, and definitely not worth buying a bottle.

 

Mr. Waiter explained to us that one of the best sellers on the menu was the
Alamos Cab from Argentina.
I wasn't feeling optimistic about this one at all but hey, it was worth a try!

 

Or maybe not....
Uh, no thanks.

 

 

Now came the fun part.....
 

The Evil Red Genius was starting to get frustrated and I had a plan.
It was a plan I had from the moment I viewed the wine list.
 I knew she would prefer a red so we'd try them.
 I also knew that we most likely wouldn't enjoy any of the offered reds but I let her go through the ritual.  She is trying to enjoy Chardonnays and has found that she likes the unoaked ones.
Unoaked is basically a marketing ploy and really means that the wine has spent all its time in stainless steel tanks and no time in oak barrels.
I personally find this quite sad but to each his own.
I am just thrilled that I have been able to broaden the Evil Red Genius' horizons in the world of wine. She's such a trooper!

 

As a result, we shared a bottle of the
 

William Hill

2012 Central Coast

Chardonnay!

 

 

I have had this one before and had a hunch she'd enjoy it!

While I like this one, I prefer the William Hill North Coast Chardonnay instead because of its brown spice notes and creaminess. I prefer the Central Coast one with seafood because it balances the minerality, citrus and spring grass notes well.

 

Regardless, William Hill makes an inexpensive (much cheaper at stores than at restaurants, fyi) delicious Chardonnay for even the pickiest of Chard drinkers!

 It also has such a clean and simplistic label which is right up my alley!

 

 

 

While we were sipping our wine alongside the Occoquan River, we also decided to share the french dip sandwich with onion rings and

and the chicken and goat cheese quesadilla.

 

It wasn't the best food I've ever had but certainly not the worst.



 Besides we were outside on the water with wine and each other.

What more did we really need?

 

 

After Madigans, we did a little shopping, stopped at Bottle Stop for a free tasting and then stopped at Tastefully Yours for a free tasting.

They're free and walkable so we couldn't pass up those opportunities!

 

It was interesting at Tastefully Yours because the lady pouring the wines kept staring at me; not in a creepy way but in an adoring sort of way. Come to find out she tells me I have beautiful eyes and that they remind her of her mother's - the hazel with that dot of brown around the center!  As the conversation goes on, I find that her mother has passed and they were very close. Oddly enough and difficult to explain, I felt this connection to her and it actually made us both very emotional but in a comforting way. I felt overjoyed and honored to have brought a piece of her mom to her in such a simple but heartfelt way. Of course I wanted to tell her that this wasn't an accident; that it was her mom's doing and that her mom's spirit was indeed there with us and smiling. I was hesitant because 1) I never know how people will react and 2) I obviously hadn't consumed enough wine or I wouldn't have thought twice about saying it!

 

Our goal for the day was to stop at Mom's Wine Shop to see my good buddy, Keith, and we were definitely going to save the best for last!!

 

 

My friend Don was also there as the guest pourer and I was so excited!!
Both of these wonderful men used to work at my happy place and it did my heart such good to be with them again!

 

 

The Evil Red Genius had only met Keith a few times before but as you can see, it only takes once to fall lin love with Keith!

 

 

 

I honestly don't remember how this came about but I'd be remiss if I didn't put it in this post.

 

The Evil Red Genius and Keith came up with a different wine-friendly description for the

well-known T&A reference....

 

T&A = tannins and ASScidity

 

Don is an Italian Wine Specialist for Vinifera Imports so obviously the tasting table was a plethora of Italian wines. While I admit I don't know much about Italian wines and I am trying my best to learn more about them, I still wasn't too enamoured by them until..... he brought out the good stuff!

(I also fell in love with the Coravin and may have to drop $300 as a Christmas present to myself.)

 

While we were fortunate enough to try numerous delectable special Italian wines, this 1997, yes I said 1997, Barbaresco, was divine!

It smelled and tasted of mushrooms and roasted tomatoes.

My description could not do this wine justice but trust me, it was absolutely scrumptious; like nothing I have ever tried before. I still can't get over the fact that it was a 1997 and don't know what I did to deserve being able to taste it! Thank you so much, Don!

 

 As if this day couldn't get any better, in comes Tommy!!

It was like old home week from my happy place!

It was so wonderful to have them all together again!

 

 

Each time we venture out to Mom's we become more and more comfortable. 

This time, the Evil Red Genius decided to hang out behind the counter.

Good thing, Keith didn't put her to work!

 

Ah, such a great time.....

My face was hurting from smiling so much and my stomach was hurting from laughing so much.

 

Simple pleasures, my friends.

Simple pleasures.

The only way to go!

 

 

 "In Italy, they add work and life on to food and wine."

 - Robin Leach

 

There's nothing better than a Napa Cab

 

... and I don't mean a Napa taxicab!

 

Well, actually, now that I think about it, having someone drive me around in Napa wouldn't be so bad after all. However, I'd rather it not be a taxi cab.

 

One of my go-to varietals is a Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley in California.

 If you have a table full of wine, or you are at a store and don't know which wine to pick, go with the Napa Cab. You can't go wrong...usually. Unless it's the Bust Her Over the Head Red from Napa which was a rare occurence. (See previous post for explanation.)

 

I grabbed a Napa Cab made by Sterling Vineyards at Safeway a few months ago when I needed to replenish my "everyday red wine" stash. I had never tried it or heard of it but the description on the bottle sounded good and after all, it was from Napa.....

 

 

I had tried the a few reds from the Sterling Vineyards Vintner's Collection (white label) but this one was much better! It is actually from the Napa Appellations collection, one of six collections that this winery produces.  Sterling sources its Napa wines from 14 diverse vineyards that span 1,200 acres of prime Napa growing terroir.  Diversity is one of Sterling's key strengths.

 

 

Intense aromas of fruit and spice (cardamom maybe) with a little manure was a nice surprise.

With flavors of dark fruits, what started out a little tangy turned into a very smooth finish.

 After letting it breathe for a little while, its finish became reminicent of dark chocolate

and was quite decadent.

 

While cool temperatures gave this vintage a slight more acidity than usual making it easy to pair with food, I found that ironically enough, it also paired extremely well with the 1979 Dolly Parton hit and oldie-but-goodie-favorite of mine....Here You Come Again.

Here you come again
Just when I'm about to get myself together
You waltz right in the door, just like you've done before
And wrap my heart 'round your little finger

 

Here you come again
Just when I'm about to make it work without you
You look into my eyes and light those dreamy eyes
And pretty soon I'm wonderin' how I came to doubt you

 

All you gotta do is smile that smile
And there go all my defenses
Just leave it up to you and in a little while
You're messin' up my mind an' fillin' up my senses

 

Here you come again
Lookin' better than a body has a right to
An' shakin' me up so, that all I really know
Is here you come again an' here I go.

For those of you who may be too young or not cultured enough to enjoy the amazing world of classic country music, here's the video_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMP4w3ImARc
It's one of those that no matter how old I get I just can't help but sing along!

 

Just like classic country music will never lose its appeal, neither will amazing Napa cabs!

 

 

When it comes to wine, I tell people to throw away the vintage charts and invest in a corkscrew.

The best way to learn about wine is the drinking.

~ Alexis Lichine