Author: Tricia Traugott

Wine is my passion, real estate feeds it! Tricia is a Better Homes & Garden Real Estate III Realtor in Charlottesville, VA, blogging about real estate news, travel and local Virginia wines. Coming to Virginia? Give us a call!

Harvest Moon Rises over Pollak

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Unrivaled Evening Views at Pollak

With careful planning, we managed to arrive early enough to capture a perfect table and an even  more perfect vista for the Sunset Concert at Pollak Vineyards.  Couples as well as children were drawn to the shade trees and the cool pond situated just below the patio and tasting room at the winery.   The band, Mountain Hollow Swingers, was testing, testing, or as they put it, “Check, Check, …Cash, Check or Credit Card! “.

EveryDay Gourmet Muffaletta
Everyday Gourmet was busy cooking up pork and chicken tacos, but in my opinion, the absolutely sumptuous Muffalettas stole the show !  It appeared they had a successful evening serving up fare to accompany the many bottles of wine making their way out the door.
According to Wikipedia, full moons rise around the time of sunset.    As it moves in orbit around Earth, the Harvest Moon and Hunter’s Moon are special because, around the time of these half moons, the time difference between moonrise on successive evenings is shorter than usual.  Thus, there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise around the time following these full moons.  In times past this feature of these autumn moons was said to help farmers working to bring in their crops (or, in the case of the Hunter’s Moon, hunters tracking their prey).  They could continue being productive by moonlight even after the sun had set.  Hence the name Harvest Moon. When The Harvest Moon lands on the same day as the Autumn Equinox, the Harvest Moon is called a Super Harvest Moon.  This year, it fell one day after the equinox! It was definitely super that night!

 

Harvest Moon in the Vineyard

Look for more on Pollak tomorrow!   Too many great pictures to share!

Pollak Sunset Concert

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We are very excited about the second to the last Friday Sunset Concert Series  of 2010 at Pollak Vineyards, Friday September 24th starting at 5 p.m.. Pollak has a tasting room reminiscent of  some California wineries, open with clean lines and very minimalist in style. The wine is really the focus  here!  Nick Dovel is the gracious and accommodating tasting room manager and Casey is my favorite tasting hostess, her witty sense of humor makes the tasting fun!

 

Tasting Room Fireplace at Pollak

 

The Mountain Hollow Swingers will be entertaining the audience with their unique blend of Bluegrass and Swing. The Afton Mountain area is a perfect backdrop for a Bluegrass evening and accentuated by the  lovely surrounding vineyard.

Catering should be delicious and provided by the Everyday Gourmet!

They have catered the last two wine dinners, so everyone is excited to have them cater this event!

The menu will include:

 

My Choice, Fruity but delicious with Chicken!

 

-Muffaletta sandwiches with olive tapanade, salami, ham and provolone cheese on locally made foccacia.

-Roasted vegetables with creamy goat cheese spread… on whole grain bread.
-Chicken tacos with sautéed onions and a chipotle salsa in locally made
tortillas. Served with onions, cilantro, crema and queso fresco.
-Pastor (roast pork) tacos in locally made tortillas with onions, cilantro,
crema and queso fresco. Served with a variety of salsas.
All made to pair perfectly with the fabulous estate-grown wines from Pollak.

Even though we’re having a mild heat wave, the evening should cool down and be very pleasant.  Bring your chairs, a blanket and some snacks in case the line gets a bit too long.  I would also suggest a little bug repellent, I’m ever the Girl Scout!  See you there!

UnCork and ReCork or not to Cork at all?

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Cork may have lost its monopoly on wine bottle closures but the reason has nothing to do with a cork shortage as some would have you believe!  The reason has more to do with contaminating the wine itself with an off-putting odor or moldy taste referred to as “cork taint”.  Winemakers in New Zealand and Australia discovered the problem was increasing and opted for trying a new method (not really new, it appears Switzerland implemented this first) using screw tops.  Apparently you eliminate the cork taint which is a great benefit, however you introduce some new issues including the opposite of oxidation, oxygen reduction where gas formation is limited. This can also result in an aftertaste and altered nose.  Additionally, the whole aluminum screw top method seems a little backwards in our efforts to protect our environment. I guess we can recycle them as well!  The more sustainable option is definitely cork.

Locally in Virginia, Duane Cassis of Carpet Plus has taken the initiative with the ReCork C’ville program. According to Liz Eure, Director of Marketing   Plus, “We are thrilled that after all this time since launching Re-Cork C’Ville (launched December 2009), it continues to grow and be a topic of conversation. We never had imagined it being quite this successful.  With over 55 participating locations, we estimate that we’ve collected over 100,000 corks at this point, and the program shows no sign of slowing down.”  Some 15 billion corks are sold into the market each year!

If you’re interested in making a smaller carbon footprint or just an eternal romantic like myself, keep the corks and wine flowing, but save the corks!  For more information about recycling cork, check out the CarpetPlus website!

I Walk the Vine Apparel

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A future Vintner?

I forgot to mention that I got to wear my fun new T-Shirt yesterday from I Walk the Vine! Check out their website for some great shopping all you wine lovers! They are located in Portland, Oregon, where I recently enjoyed visiting Archery Summit and Soter with my sister, daughter and niece! Had lots of fun and beat the Virginia heat in July! The Willamette Valley was beautiful and we had a blast driving through the countryside in a convertible! The Brut Rose at Soter was a real treat to celebrate my daughter and nieces 21st Birthdays in style!

My Sweet Niece Ashley!!

Keswick Vineyards and author, Ellen Crosby

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Ellen signed The Viognier Vendetta for me!

What fun! Leave it to Keswick Vineyards to make everyone feel at home in what could be an otherwise stuffy environment. Ellen Crosby, was approachable and friendly, signing her new  book, THE VIOGNIER VENDETTA as Keswick  released with anticipation their 2009 Viognier Estate Reserve! Ellen combines history, wine making and our locale to create a suspenseful romantic tale for oenophiles and mystery lovers alike. We purchased a bottle and her book, but, in retrospect should have bought more of her books and more of the Viognier! Her previous novel, The Riesling Retribution was selected as one of 5 finalists for the 7th Annual People’s Choice Awards sponsored by the Library of Virginia. Afterthoughts…we did take home their 2009 Norton and enjoyed it with an appetizer watching our favorite non- home grown team, The Dallas Cowboys.  If we hadn’t taped the game, we might have stayed long enough to adopt one of the adorable schnauzer-beagle mix puppies featured at Yappy Hours!

Monticello Wine Festival

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Tonight on the West Lawn at Monticello!  The Monticello Wine Festival is an opportunity to  sample some of the best wines in our area in a historic setting.  The weather is fabulous today and everyone should have a great time, not sure if tickets are still available at this time, but for  future events, check out the Monticello Wine Trail!  One of my favorites will be represented, Pollak!  Try their Cabernet Franc!Cabernet Franc 2007 Reserve was recognized with gold at the Grand Harvest Awards sponsored by the Vineyard and Management magazine while the 2008 vintage received gold at the Virginia State Fair.

Kluge Estate, Veritas, Keswick, Whitehall, Jefferson,Afton Mountain, Gabriele Rausse and King Family wines will all be available!  Enjoy, I can’t make it but guaranteed I will be there next year! Look for future posts about EACH of these wineries and tips about making the most of your visit to them.

The Barrel Club at Keswick Vineyards

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Your Personal Barrel at Keswick Winery

Be sure to ask about the Barrel Club when you visit the Tasting Room at Keswick Vineyards!

One of several types of Wine Club Memberships offered aiming to satisfy all levels of wine enthusiasts!

CvilleUnCorked Debut

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4 years ago today, my father passed away. Spending the day alone (my husband was at the cemetery with my mother in Texas) didn’t seem like the way my Dad would have wanted me to commemorate his passing. Since I have been planning to launch a blog about one of my passions, wine tasting and visiting vineyards, this turned out to be a perfect day to begin!

He would have enjoyed being outside on a beautiful Indian Summer day in the heart of the Piedmont wine country, watching the swans floating on the pond and the slideshow of cloud formations passing overhead. Today, I felt he was with me.

I am not a wine connoisseur, anything but! I started out tasting a small glass of wine in the Mosel River Valley in Germany as a young child-no minimum age there and I guess I liked it. However, after returning to the United States there wasn’t the same level of appreciation of wine that we are experiencing today. Instead of refining my palate, I deteriorated to (Yes, I’ll admit it!) BOX WINE-ugh! Providence stepped in and we moved from Texas to this beautiful landscape and a burgeoning wine country of Central Virginia!

Keswick Grapes on the Vine

I love everything about wine- from the clusters of grapes on the vine, the shapes of the leaves themselves and the neat rows undulating over the rolling hills to the presentation of the wine itself. The bottles are interesting, the labels are clever and the stemware sparkling. Beer is fun but wine is romantic! This blog is an attempt to give tips and suggestions to people who are not familiar with Virginia or are just starting to become passionate about wine!

My first choice was Keswick Vineyards because they are so friendly and not intimidating, plus the scenery is reminiscent of the English countryside!  The wines are award winning, the tasting room is intimate with generous bar space and is pet friendly to boot! Sunday afternoons is “Yappy Hour”, bring your canine sidekick and a picnic for a laidback event which periodically is a fund raiser for local S.P.C.A’s. There are plenty of shaded picnic tables, so bring your basket or purchase some delectables from the tasting room shop.  More details to come tomorrow about upcoming weekend events and award winning wines!