Tricia Traugott

Valentine’s is For Virginia Wine Lovers!

Published on January 27, 2011January 27, 2011 by Tricia Traugott2 Comments

Call me Cupid!

Need some ideas for your special sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? Check out some of our local wineries and revel in chocolate and wine, an indulgence for all your senses! Pick out a sentimental card and a rose and you have the ingredients for a very romantic weekend!

DuCard Winery Valentine’s Sunday Brunch
Sunday, February 13 2011 11:30 AM seating
Here’s an elegant idea for you and your special Valentine to enjoy at their Madison County tasting room. Charlottesville personal chef Cindy Shepard will be serving a gourmet brunch featuring local ingredients (click here for menu) and paired with DuCard Wines (of course!). Vicky Lee will set the mood with her harp (victorialeemusic.com) $40 per person. Seating is limited – for reservations contact scott@ducardvineyards.com or call 540.923.4206.

Glass House Winery

Mark your calendars for Sunday Feb 13th, when Glass House welcomes acoustic rock musicians The Lost Souls to Glass House. 2-5pm. No cover.
Also on Sunday Feb 13th, they will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with cheese and chocolate pairings with their wines! For $15, they will pair a cheese or one of Glass House Winery’s delectable chocolates with each of their wines for this tasting. Don’t miss it, as Michelle is dreaming up some new flavors for the occasion. Regular $5 tastings will also be available.

Keswick Vineyards Be Mine With Wine

Feb 12th, 11am – 4pm
Wine, strawberries, and sweets… Spoil yourself or someone you love with Keswick Vineyards’ special wine, 2 different kinds of hand-dipped strawberries and other sweets for a Valentine’s Day indulgence. Discover how these luscious confections complement each wine. After your tasting, enjoy the romantic setting while you savor a glass of wine and take a guess at how many candy hearts are in their Rosé bottle to win a free future tour and tasting for you and your sweetheart.

The cost is $12 for wine club members and $15 for non wine club members. Reservations are recommended.

If you’re unable to break away on the weekend, stop by during the week and pick up a bottle of Norton wine for Kris’s homemade brownies! I borrowed the recipe from the Keswick blog:

Double Norton Brownies

We’ve had a lot of requests for the recipe for Kris’ brownies that we had in the tasting room last weekend, so here it is! It’s really simple!

Just take a regular box of brownie mix (chocolate or fudge) and substitute Norton wine for the water and 1/4 of the amount of vegetable oil that the mix calls for with Norton chocolate sauce. Mix it together and bake as directed.
The chocolate sauce will make a more fudgy texture so you can use less or more depending on how fudgy you want them.

To make an extra special treat, we topped them with strawberries dipped in whipped topping (we used equal parts mascarpone cheese and whipped topping, sugared to taste) and rolled in coconut and then drizzled the whole thing with more Norton chocolate sauce!

King Family Vineyards

February 12, 2011 – February 14, 2011Valentines at the Vineyard

Reserve Now

Celebrate Valentine’s Day weekend with your special someone at King Family Vineyards! Enjoy Gearhart’s chocolates specially selected to pair with their wines. $15/person includes souvenir glass, glass of wine, and 3 handcrafted chocolates. Reservations are recommended. 11am-5pm Saturday and Sunday, 9am-5pm Monday.

P.S. Reflections on Glass House

Published on January 23, 2011 by Tricia Traugott2 Comments

I went to bed and realized I couldn’t leave out some of these photos!

Deep Thoughts

A suggestion for the future, a commercial refrigerator stocked with artisanal cheeses and delicacies. I like the set up they have at King Family, DuCard and Keswick Vineyards where you can help yourself. Of course, a warm baguette like Pollak offers is welcome as well. The winery is off the beaten path enough and visitors would love to linger here. A nice convenience for the impulsive picnicker! Also, a prepared dessert plate for two with a sampling of the chocolates and some dark fruit would be a great touch!

Glass House 015-1 — Too Cute to Dump Here!

: Luscious!

Glass House Winery: A Confection of Chocolate, Wine and the Tropics

Published on January 23, 2011January 23, 2011 by Tricia Traugott4 Comments

Have you ever taken a vacation to a remote destination on a tropical island and returned wanting to tell all your friends, but really thinking it better to keep the secret to yourself? Our experience at Glass House Winery was just that, a treat to savor and enhanced only by the prospect of sharing it with others. Glass House Winery in Free Union, Virginia was only opened a few months ago and word is rapidly spreading.

The winery is strategically sited, embraced by rows of grapevines overlooking a small, geese populated lake with a backdrop of Buck Mountain. The structure of the winery is striking, an eclectic juncture of a copper clad tasting room and a soaring tropical greenhouse, thus the name Glass House. Jeff and Michelle Sanders spent substantial time (five years) on the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras and recreated some of that lush tropical atmosphere in their greenhouse. The greenhouse serves as a conservatory for Kumquats, Banana Trees producing ice cream flavored bananas, a highly prized Royal Hawaiian Pineapple and tables graced by tiny Sago Palms.

21st Meritage — Applauding the 21st Amendment

The floor is a Brazilian wood similar to teak and the climate is carefully controlled with a vented roof and mechanical sun screen. A perfectly delightful spot for a light picnic (self provided) complemented by a bottle of artisan wine. The greenhouse can accommodate 88 guests seated for weddings or events! Invite me, please!

Attention to detail begins in the mosaic studded retaining wall in the parking lot and proceeds to the doorway where, Vina, the wine goddess greets you, grapes in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. Several other clever whimsical touches including a giraffe create a fun and light hearted foyer.

Accents of pineapples adorn niches and shelves, carrying on the logo of Glass House and reinforcing the symbol of Virginia hospitality. The winery puppy, Dogbert, eagerly approached us with a wagging tail, and then stretched out for a nap in the warm sun by the patio door.

Michelle Sanders, owner and Chocolatier Extraordinaire, offered us glasses for tasting and a history of the young winery. We started with a 2009 Pinot Gris followed by a 2009 Viognier. The Pinot Gris was unremarkable and light, but the Viognier had more character and with a creamy texture and nice bouquet. The third wine was the Cvillian, a red blend of Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes grown on the property and on nearby vineyards. We purchased the next wine, the Twenty First, a Meritage blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot grapes and named after the 21^st amendment. Can you recall the significance of that amendment? It also had the most fruit and was quite good.

On our visit to DuCard Winery, in Madison, we were tipped off to the dessert wine. Marty Mitchell, the tasting room manager at DuCard was so delighted with it that she actually is credited with naming the wine, Meglio Del Sesso, her initial observation. In Italian it translates to “Better than …” use your imagination! We sipped this along with a sampling of Michelle’s own hand crafted chocolate Red Wine Cream – a ganache made from Norton wine and dark chocolate, hand enrobed in 72% dark chocolate. An exquisite combination! The chocolates are artistically packaged and sold only at the winery. The gourmet chocolates are Early Grey, Salted Caramel and Espresso and sold by the dozen. A perfect Valentines gift for your sweetheart!

Music is provided in the evening on Fridays. Look for special events at their website or Facebook page! The winery is open Fridays noon-8pm
Saturdays noon-6pm
and Sundays and holiday Mondays noon-5pm

New Winery in Madison! Visit DuCard!

Published on January 10, 2011January 11, 2011 by Tricia Traugott4 Comments

Intrigued by numerous mentions on Twitter about the recently opened winery in the shadow of Old Rag Mountain, we set out on a leisurely Saturday afternoon drive to investigate DuCard Vineyards. Heading north from Charlottesville we turned left from 29 North in Madison onto Rt.231 towards the Town of Etlan. For some strange reason, I thought it was closer to Greene County and thought we had missed the turn to Rt.643. Actually, we really didn’t care! We were enjoying the snow dusted Blue Ridge Mountains and crossing rivers resembling film locations from A River Runs Through It.

The approach to the winery is down Gibson Hollow Lane past impressively large rock outcroppings and on the left a noticeably different vineyard trellis system. Light snow flurries and flirtatious peeks of sunshine created a soft pleasant backdrop to the winery. We were welcomed into the tasting room by a crackling fire in the fireplace surrounded by leather upholstered furniture and a warm smile from Marty Mitchell, the tasting room manager. Marty is very knowledgeable about wines, having completed the certification courses in Oenology and Viticulture offered at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville. Fortunately for us it was a slow January afternoon at DuCard, providing us the undivided attention of Marty and the tasting hostess, Heather Gerry.

My first question regarded the trellis system employed at DuCard. Marty informed us the system is known as a modified Lyre System and it appears very much like rows of football goal posts!

This allows for more sunlight on the grapes and better air flow to discourage diseases. It’s even more than that but I don’t have a degree in viticulture and won’t pretend that I do. Suffice it to say, it is working and the grapes have been used to create award winning wines for other wineries in the past.

The next question was about the history behind DuCard. Having formerly owned the property as a weekend getaway the owners purchased the adjoining old apple orchard to start growing grapes. Several years later, owner Scott Eliff is now involved in the process of winemaking, using the facilities at Rappahannock Cellars. The new label is attractive and minimalistic much like the winery itself. A commitment to sustainability is exhibited in the reclaimed barn wood used in the flooring and wine tasting bar, solar panels for electricity and using wine bottles that are about 20% lighter than average, requiring less fuel for shipping.

An excellent blog post was done this summer by Frank Morgan, Drink What You Like. His interview with Scott was so well done that I would like to include it and won’t attempt to duplicate it.

We tasted the Signature Viognier 2009, the Gibson Hollow Viognier 2009, Popham Run Bordeaux Blend 2008 and the Virginia Native Norton 2008. All were good but the Gibson Hollow Viognier was my favorite of the whites with peach and honeysuckle on the nose. The Bordeaux would be excellent with grilled meats and my husband really liked the Norton which we tasted with local chocolates.

Future events are planned including a Spring festival and cooking classes with Cindy Shepard!

Definitely place this winery/vineyard on your list as a place to visit and one to watch for expansion in the future! We will definitely return and recommend it especially when you’re in the area of Graves Mountain Lodge or Rappahannock Cellars!

2010 in review

Published on January 2, 2011 by Tricia TraugottLeave a comment

Having started late in 2010, actually mid September, I was excited to see the review sent to me from WordPress! Only due to the support of friends was this such a successful blog beginning so I want to Thank You! I’m entertaining ideas for 2011 so would love thoughts, ideas and suggestions from you! There are many new wineries that we look forward to visiting and reviewing this year and so many that we haven’t had the leisure time to visit! We met so many people this year in person and via social networking that our world gets smaller everyday and yet expands exponentially!

New Years Resolution

#1 Controlling and organizing business commitments to achieve balance and enjoy more leisure activities! Literally learning more about the wonderful world we inhabit and actually enjoy it!
#2 More time dedicated to worthwhile charitable concerns
#3 Combine #1 and #2
#4 Creative writing workshop would be humbling and educational-add to list!

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

Healthy blog!

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has 296 steps to reach the top. This blog was viewed about 1,000 times in 2010. If those were steps, it would have climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa 3 times

In 2010, there were 23 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 135 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 177mb. That’s about 3 pictures per week.

The busiest day of the year was October 7th with 60 views. The most popular post that day was Baskets with a Vintage Touch!.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, WordPress Dashboard, twitter.com, en.wordpress.com, and welcomehomecharlottesville.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for cville uncorked, charlottesville uncorked, patriots place charlottesville, monticello wine festival, and gabriele rausse photos.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Baskets with a Vintage Touch! October 2010

“Twelve Days of Christmas at a Virginia Winery” December 2010

Diving into Wine Tasting October 2010
4 comments

Monticello Wine Festival September 2010

CvilleUnCorked Debut September 2010
2 comments and 1 Like on WordPress.com,

Keswick Vineyards Frosted!

Published on December 24, 2010 by Tricia TraugottLeave a comment

Went to Keswick to pick up our wine club selections and found a delightful winter scene! I think all Keswick needs now is to build an outdoor fireplace-unless they have one and I missed it!

: Swans Found Each other Despite the Ice

: Cozy even in the Cold!

: Shades of 2009!

“Twelve Days of Christmas at a Virginia Winery”

Published on December 17, 2010December 17, 2010 by Tricia TraugottLeave a comment

Later on We'll Conspire ....

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to me Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 5th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 6th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Six Cab Francs Swirling, Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 7th day of Christmas my true love gave to me SEVEN port wines snifting, Six Cab Francs swirling, Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 8th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Eight OCTAGONS, SEVEN port wines snifting, Six Cab Francs Swirling, Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 9th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Nine CHOCOLATE NORTONS, Eight OCTAGONS, SEVEN port wines snifting, Six Cab Francs swirling, Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 10th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Ten Magnums sparkling, Nine CHOCOLATE NORTONS, Eight OCTAGONS, SEVEN port wines snifting, Six Cab Francs Swirling, Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 11th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Eleven Viogniers sampling, Ten Magnums sparkling, Nine CHOCOLATE NORTONS, Eight OCTAGONS, SEVEN port wines snifting, Six Cab Francs swirling, Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses drinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

On the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me Twelve vintners vinting, Eleven Viogniers sampling, Ten Magnums sparkling, Nine CHOCOLATE NORTONS, Eight OCTAGONS, SEVEN port wines snifting, Six Cab Francs swirling, Five GOLDEN grapes, Four vines a growing, Three corks a popping, Two glasses clinking and a trip to a Virginia Winery!

Inspiration for this song comes from my daughter, Jillian who encouraged me to post something , anything, prior to Christmas. The original idea was something about twelve wineries relating to the Twelve Days of Christmas. Maybe next year!
King Family Vineyard – Seven, a Port -this port wine is made with 100% Merlot and is fortified with brandy, and was aged in Kentucky bourbon barrels for 2 years. The 2009 Viognier ( I love this one!) self described by the owners as 70% of the volume fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks to highlight the freshness of the wine, and 30% in neutral oak barrels, giving the wine fullness without adding oak flavor. There are cantaloupe, honeysuckle and orange zest on the nose and mouth.
Keswick Vineyards Chocolate Norton sauce is a gourmet chocolate sauce made with Keswick Vineyards Norton wine.
Octagon Barboursville Vineyards is described by the vintner as a proprietary blend driven by Merlot, with elements of Reserve Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Aged 12 to 14 months in new Gamba barriques of the most select French oak, air-dried a minimum of 3 years before coopering, laid down in bottle for an additional six months before release.
The Magnums would be from Kluge, of course!

Merry Christmas from Me and My True Love!

Where Should I Take My Guests over Thanksgiving Weekend?

Published on November 22, 2010 by Tricia TraugottLeave a comment

Grape Friday instead of Black Friday!

Well, now that you asked, may I make some recommendations? North, South, East or West , Central Virginia is the best…for vineyard views and wine tasting with friends and family, that is! Plus, you can get some early Christmas shopping done. Send me a description of the personality of your guests and how much time you have to devote to sight-seeing and I can customize an itinerary for you this holiday season!

Visiting three wineries around Charlottesville is a reasonable number to visit in one day. More can be seen but you really lose in quality time and experiencing the charm of each winery. The vineyards are spread just a little too far apart and you need to make allowances for driving time.

If you have time for only one winery I would suggest Barboursville Winery. Located on the north side of Charlottesville, Barboursville Vineyards is a must do for several reasons. Notable for their award-winning Octagon wine and Palladio, their 5 Star restaurant; Barboursville rates very high on my list as a first class wine tasting and dining experience. They are wonderful at handling a large number of visitors and have an expansive tasting room for groups to spread out.

The price of wine tasting can’t be beat! For 5 dollars you can taste 15 -20 wines and keep the inscribed glass as a souvenir. If you return, bring your glass and the fee is only 3 dollars! Step inside and go to the register on your right to get started. The fireplace separates the tasting area from the gift shop so you can browse while waiting for a spot to slip into at the bar . Take a walk down to the ruins of the estate house, one of only three homes designed for his friends by Thomas Jefferson. It burned Christmas of 1884 and until recently was used as a backdrop for Shakespearian plays!

Barboursville is closed for Thanksgiving Day. From Charlottesville and South: Go East from Charlottesville on Route 250 (bypass), to Route 20 North, “The Constitution Highway,” proceeding 16 miles northeast. Barboursville Vineyards will be visible on your right, turn as directed by the signs into Route 678 to the estate.

Wishing Everyone Safe Travels Next Week!

Published on November 21, 2010November 22, 2010 by Tricia TraugottLeave a comment

This road in front of the Mountfair Tasting Room beckons you towards the vineyard. Hope everyone setting out early for Thanksgiving journeys will have a safe trip and enjoy friends, family and the many blessings we have in this country!

A “Belated” Trip to Mountfair

Published on November 14, 2010November 15, 2010 by Tricia Traugott3 Comments

Can it possibly be any prettier than it was this weekend in Charlottesville?

Everyone has been commenting on the recent surge of red, orange and gold leaves so late in the season. Usually by this time in November the majority of leaves have fallen, backpack blowers are roaring and the wind is blowing. Not this year! Only a hint of a breeze and blue sky made ideal conditions for a perfect hot air balloon flight over the Rivanna Reservoir and rolling acres of spent vineyards.

Chores finished, Saturday afternoon we set off for a country drive to two more wineries (and a promise of homemade chili and live music). Mountfair Winery hosted a special event to announce the release of their 2008 Belated – a velvety smooth blend of 60% Merlot, 30% Cab Franc,and 10% Petit Verdot. They also just completed the tasting room after a few years under construction. The Barrel Room is a rustic 1400 square foot multi purpose event space with a raised stage for live music supported by soaring pine timbers and accented by 100 stacked wine barrels.

The view from the patio overlooks a gravel road, but just beyond it, rows of grapevines underscore a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was sadly disappointed to find out that my quest for the 2008 Wooloomooloo made with 60% Petit Verdot was for naught! Only 150 cases were produced and between wine club members and a live wine tasting via Twitter it was gone! I’ll know next time. The 2008 Belated was very good with a true jammy taste and only I wish we could have stayed until the chili was ready and the music began. For those who have never ventured further north on Browns Gap Turnpike (810) , it is a scenic drive but turning right on Fox Mountain Road lacks curb appeal and one wonders if they might have made a wrong turn. You haven’t, just keep driving up the road and you’ll find the new tasting room on your right. This is definitely a winery and vintner to keep in mind for the future!

Returning toward Free Union, we took a hard right onto Breakheart Road and encountered a picturesque landscape of vineyards and horse farms. When we first moved to Virginia, White Hall had a fantastic Chardonnay and was soon our favorite winery. One of my fondest memories was a picnic that we shared with my Mom and Dad, my Dad loved Soliterre! Charlottesville.

: Spectacular November at White Hall

The White Hall Winery tasting bar was completely surrounded with visitors, and considering how gorgeous the day was, we decided to head home to our firepit in the backyard and have a private wine tasting! White Hall will be there for us to return to another weekend, that’s one of the great advantages to living here in Charlottesville!

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Attractions in 2010

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