September 2011 – Charlottesville UnCorked

In case you’ve missed it, the latest “buzz” in wine is crossing the continent as we speak!

11 years ago, our family had decided to move to a beautiful, relatively small town in Virginia with world-wide recognition! Historians will insist that Charlottesville is most notable because of the influence of one man, Thomas Jefferson. However, talk to anyone under a certain age (ahem!) and they’ll have you know it is more well-known as the residence (albeit, part-time) of Dave Matthews and the DMB! Two decades ago at the Earth Day Festival in the City of Charlottesville, the Dave Matthews Band was publicly launched. in 2001 I had no idea who the heck DMB was, but friends of ours in Dallas were envious that we could move to the “birthplace of The Dave Matthews Band“! How exciting! A couple of years after we moved, a family member (name to be withheld) was eating a slice of pizza with us at Christian’s Pizza on the Downtown Mall and literally bit through her plastic fork when she realized Dave Matthews was sitting behind us. We kept the fork for quite some time as a memento and at that point I realized how exciting (wink) it was to live in Charlottesville! Unbeknownst to us, in 2000, Dave Matthews had established Blenheim Vineyards, a family operated winery a scenic 20 minute drive southeast of Charlottesville. Now in 2011, Dave is launching another collaboration in wine making with Steve Reeder of California called The Dreaming Tree Wines, named after the song.

Creative Factor– Dave: “A mutual respect that doesn’t rely on his (Steve’s) knowledge of music or my knowledge of wine” and Steve: “I make wines for people to drink, I don’t make wines for people to put in their cellar”.

Steve Reeder graduated from University of California, Davis and according to Steve, was inspired to make wine at the 1st Middleburg Virginia Festival in the 1970’s! As a youngster, he worked for a while on his uncle’s farm in Indiana pitching in with beer making in the barn. Later he lived in Germany and was introduced to exceptional lager beers and his parents wine cellar 🙂 His resume includes Kendall-Jackson, Fosters Wine Estates and most recently, Simi Winery.

Check out their website, super cool and follow the path on the map! Does this mean the path ends in Virginia with Blenheim Winery making wine for The Dreaming Tree label as well? Could we cross the Great Divide between California wines and Virginia wines? And by the way, I love the Cork! We’ll soon know, perhaps someone can shed more light on this? All I know is that it sounds great, looks like fun and takes the pretentiousness out of wine drinking!

Finally getting a chance to sit down and reflect on the winery trips offered at the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference.

One of the most anticipated events planned by Zephyr Adventures in conjunction with The Virginia Wine Board, the Virginia Tourism Corporation and the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau was the side trips to our local wineries. Adding to the fun and suspense was not knowing our destination until everyone was seated on the bus and the doors had closed!

The exuberant presence of Maureen Kelley, Director of Economic Development & Tourism for Nelson County was a huge tip off for me! Kneeling on the bus seat facing the rear with a mischeivous twinkle, she reminded me of the kid you wanted to sit with on the way home from school! Proud of her county and it’s “fruits”, Maureen brought a crate overflowing with white and yellow peaches from Saunders Brothers Orchard in Nelson County. Secretly, I had been hoping to get on the bus to Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards because I knew the food was going to be over the top, but after meeting Maureen and tour co-host, Danielle Emerson, Public Relations Specialist for Virginia Tourism Corporation, I knew it was going to be a blast! We stopped at Flying Fox, moved on to Cardinal Point and finished with lunch at Afton Mountain Vineyards.

Flying Fox

First stop after driving out 250 and down 151 towards Wintergreen was the quaint tasting room for Flying Fox! My husband and I had previously visited Flying Fox Winery on a stormy summer evening where a local artist was having a wine & cheese party showcasing her work! I was distracted by pleasant company, wine tasting and art and unfortunately never sat down and wrote about the experience.

Lynn Davis and husband Rich Evans named their winery after the running fox weather vane perched on top of the main building at their vineyard. After a hard day working on the vines and a glass of wine, he looks like he is flying above the vineyard! Lynn and Rich are personable and devoted to making your visit a memorable one. Hospitality abounds and you won’t be sorry you popped in on your travels through Nelson County. I really enjoyed their 2009 Viognier which won a Gold medal at the 2010 Virginia State fair. The 2010 Rose is excellent chilled on humid Summer day in Virginia and the 2008 Trio was well received by fellow wine bloggers.It is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. I picked up a bottle of the Rose for my daughter in law to enjoy at a later date….and if Bed and Breakfasts are your cup of tea, an overnight at Le Bleu Ridge B & B next door is perfect. Stroll over to the tasting room for a glass of wine by the fireplace.