Honestly, I wrote my last post at 3:00 a.m. since I  couldn’t sleep and wine was on my mind, ( is that a song title)?  That said, I’ll continue with some of the other vineyards that were worth mentioning! Considering the name of the festival,  The Pick of the Piedmont, I thought I’d share some of our groups’ observations. Our favorite banner by far was the logo for  Wintergreen Winery!  Also, they win for best quotation ala W.C. Fields, ” What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?” Love it!

 The park grounds were really unremarkable, flat and open, while perfect for sports, it lacked in charm for a wine fest.  The few trees did  lend  splashes of fall color and accented the drop zone for the skydivers at the Orange Airport.  All of the wine booths were situated under a large shelter with tastings running the perimeter of the structure.  This did serve well to keep the wines cool and out of direct sunlight. 

 Barboursville and Horton were catching  a  few too many afternoon rays in their location and had to shield their bottles from over heating.  

 Several owners and winemakers could be found pouring glasses and expounding on the virtues of  the grapes they had selected for growing in the Piedmont.

 WindSong from Columbia, VA had quite a broad selection including other less traditional  fruit wines from strawberry to peach to  plum. With broad smiles they enthusiastically filled our glasses and  explained which ones were their personal favorites, we’ll have to visit their winery next time we head towards Richmond. I believe Cooper Vineyards will have to be on that same trip!

A grape that I was not familiar with  was the Traminette grape,  developed at Cornell for it’s hardiness in cooler regions.   Potomac Point Winery  blended it with other grapes  into a fruity white table wine called La Belle Vie. It actually had a lot of character and we took some home to enjoy later  that evening.  Our friends purchased the Richland Heritage,  their signature wine, a blend of bordeaux style varietals with a smooth velvety finish.  After checking out their website and the beautiful Tuscan style tasting room, I think a trip towards Stafford is in order!

One of the nicest advantages to this event was the small venue and the fact that it wasn’t over crowded, just a nice afternoon spent with friends learning about wine and enjoying tasting it!