Emma Randel, owner of Shenandoah Vineyards in Edinburg, gets ready to taste Raspberry Serenade, a Dessert wine.
October is the prime time for picking most wine grapes.
WINE SHOPS OFFER TASTE OF REGION When someone tries a Virginia wine, they become one of two kinds of people, says Bruce Davis, manager of Vintage Wines on University Boulevard. “Either they absolutely love it or they say they’ll never drink it again,” he says. “There’s basically no middle ground.” Davis’ store stocks more than 1,600 kinds of wine, about 50 of them from Virginia. The Virginia wines account for between 10 and 20 percent of the shop’s sales, he said. Vintage Wines doesn’t sell any wines from Valley vineyards, he says, because the vineyards can sell all their wine at premium prices to visitors. His top sellers are wines made by Barboursville Vineyards near Charlottesville and AmRhein Wine Cellars near Roanoke, perennial winner of Virginia’s Governor’s Cup for the best wine in the state. At Harrisonburg’s other wine shop, Downtown Wine & Gourmet on Water Street, Barboursville is also tops among the 24 Virginia wines they carry. Barboursville’s Cabernet Franc is especially good, said clerk Saith Ruark, because the grape grows very well in Virginia. Although popular with tourists from Massanutten and as a gift for people out of state, even the Cabrenet Franc comes in well below wines from California and Australia that rank at the top of their sales charts, Ruark said. Davis said that the wine industry is growing in Virginia. Twenty new wineries have opened in the state during the last five years, bringing the total to more than 100, he said, and last year Virginia wineries sold almost $100 million of wine directly to visitors. “Right now it’s up and it’s steamrolling,” he says. Virginia wines have a loyal following, he said, but since some people don’t like them, he encourages people to try for themselves. “If you like it, that’s what’s important,” he says. “Follow your own taste.”
Where To Taste
Shenandoah Vineyards
3659 South Ox Rd.
Edinburg, VA 22824
(540) 984-8699
North Mountain Vineyard And Winery
4374 Swartz Rd.
Maurertown, VA 22644
(540) 436-9463
Deer Meadow Vineyard
199 Vintage Lane
Winchester, VA 22602
(540) 877-1919
Veramar Vineyard
905 Quarry Rd.
Berryville, VA 22611
(540) 955-5510
Stoney Creek Vineyard
123 Stout Rd.
Edinburg, VA 22824
(540) 984-3306 |
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A sip here, a taste there
New to wine? Try a Virginia Sampler
By MARTIN CIZMAR/ martin@rocktownmail.com
Photography by NIKKI FOX
Hold the glass by the stem. Swirl, then sniff. Keep the wine in your mouth, letting it find its way around to different taste buds.
Emma Randel, owner of Shenandoah Vineyards in Edinburg, has given this speech a few times before.
“Part of our mission is education,” she says. “Of course there’s an ulterior motive: the more they like wine, the more they’ll buy.”
Shenandoah Vineyards, located just off Interstate 81, less than an hour from Harrisonburg, is the Valley’s oldest winery, opened in 1976.
There are three other wineries operating between here and Winchester and three more slated to open in the next two years.
If you’re new to wine, the Valley wineries are a good place to start, says Randel. She and the other women working the tawny tasting room overlooking rows and rows of grapevines are happy to talk to new wine drinkers.
“We know that not everyone likes every wine,” she says. “We have a wine for every different palate. We have something you’ll like.”
Shenandoah makes more than a dozen wines, the most popular is also (ahem) the most modestly priced: Shenandoah Blanc.
The winery has a porch where visitors can eat cheese, sausage and crackers while looking out to the Edinburg Gap.
If you want a peek at the less glamorous side of winemaking, winemaker Rick Burroughs will be happy to talk to you.
“The girls up in the showroom, they play up the romance,” he says. “It’s farming.”
Burroughs, sporting a ponytail and dirty jeans, has had a rough morning. His finger is bandaged, smashed by a cinderblock when he was trying to move a barrel.
October is the busiest time of the year for both him and the women upstairs, said Burroughs.
He’s busy picking 30 acres of grapes and they’re busy pouring for leaf gazers.
“This is what we work for all year long.”
The Flagship Wine
Krista Foster knows all about hard work. She and her husband bought North Mountain Vineyard and Winery in Maurertown from the original owner when they retired.
They laugh about the romantic notion of retiring to run a winery.
“Unless you call 12-hour days retirement,” says Krista. “But you try to keep the romance.”
The winery, located in a European-style farmhouse on more than 12 acres near Toms Brook, has two main attractions, said Brad.
The deck, overlooking the grape fields and North Mountain in the distance, is a big draw.
“The deck is our number 1 attraction,” she says. “People say ‘We need to go out early and get a table or the deck will be full.’ ”
It’s a good place to enjoy a fresh baguette and some locally produced goat cheese, she said, or to enjoy a performance by one of the musical acts they book.
The other big draw is their flagship wine, the Chambourcin, a red that won a Gold Medal at the Virginia Governor’s Cup last year, says Brad.
“It’s not for everyone,” he says. “You have to have a more mature palate to enjoy it.”
People develop that palate by trying lots of wine, he says, and the process can take years.
He’s a prime example.
“I started by drinking ‘cheap and sweet’ on the beaches of Southern California. And now I own a winery.”
The Family Business
The Valley is also home to one of Virginia’s smallest wineries, Deer Meadow Vineyard in Winchester.
Well, the mailing address is Winchester.
The winery is 20 minutes from I-81, in a secluded wooded area down a dirt road that’s off a gravel road that’s off a windy country road.
“This is an area where’d you be more likely to find a still than a winery,” says owner Jennifer Sarle.
Deer Meadow is on 8 acres and can only produce 500-700 cases of wine a year. Everyone who works there is family.
“Dad” is the winemaker, although “Mom” isn’t shy about giving advice, says daughter Holly Sarle.
“If you come here you get to talk to the winemaker, or the person who tells the winemaker what to do,” she says. “We do everything ourselves.”
They don’t have a formal tour, and there’s no room to park a tour bus, but you will get to talk about the wine with the people who make it, says Holly.
And you can’t help but do some touring: as you walk into the tasting room, a homey nook overlooking a lush valley, you pass right by the crushing pads.
Their signature wines are a fruity white, Afternoon of the Fawn and a complex red, Marechal Foch.
Their wines are not for everyone, Holly says, and they are different from year to year.
“We take the grapes from the winery and put them in the bottle,” she says. “Sometimes it’s great and sometimes not.”
The wine you buy at the grocery store is good, they say, but theirs has a more unique character.
“It’s geared toward the mass market and they’re going to sell you a bottle of wine you’ll like,” she says. “Every bottle is the same.”
So how do you know if a bottle of Deer Meadow wine is good?
“If you like it, it’s good. If you don’t, it’s not,” says Holly. |
