Saturday combined three of my favorite things: day-drinking, beautiful Charlottesville scenery, and WINE. Wine gets the all caps treatment, because come on, what is there not to like about wine. It makes everything better. And okay fine I may have woken up today with somewhat of a raging headache, but you know what, totally worth it.
My present to Rob for Valentine's Day this year was a 5 hour wine tour, which I booked through Wish Wish (sort of like a Groupon/Living Social hybrid). The tour basically meant we had a driver pick us up, take us around to wineries for 5 hours, then drop us off tipsy and happy at the end, which is a crucial ingredient for a successful day of wine drinking.
The picture above is from our first stop, Barboursville. Their tasting was definitely the most extensive of the day, and the people who worked there seemed really knowledgable. I nodded and murmured agreement as they went on about oakiness and soft finishes and touches of boisonberry or whatever. But my internal monologue went more along the lines of one consistent "yummy."
After Barboursville we went to Keswick. A really cute and cozy little tasting room and the guy who poured for us was awesome, really friendly and helpful.
From Keswick we went to Blenheim (also known as Mr. Dave Matthews' vineyard).
The tasting was pretty short with only four wines, but the atmosphere here was my favorite of the day. Beautiful view. Cozy, non-pretentious tasting room with a younger vibe than some of the other places. The tasting room was on the second floor of the building, and you could look down into the barrel room on the first floor.
Also they had pita chips, hummus, and Italian salami! Which when you're a little buzzed after three wine tastings and two glasses of wine, really hits the spot.
From Bleheim we went to Trump. And yes I realize how incongruous that name sounds amidst a day of classy, Charlottesville wine tasting. But it was right next to Blenheim and we were curious. It was hard to get past my aversion to all things Trumpy, but really, except for giant gold Ts on everything, the former Klugy winery, was very restrained. I liked it because it was the only tasting with sparkling wine. And by then, let's be honest, you could have poured me Arbor Mist and I probably would have thought it was the height of sophistication.
I've been to wineries in Charlottesville before, but this was the first time I did multiple ones in one day, and it was definitely worth the eventual headache. It was freezing and cloudy on Saturday, which doesn't scream country outing, but it ended up being really nice. Most of the tasting rooms had fireplaces, and it gave the day a very cozy, warm up away from the cold vibe.
There are a million wineries in Charlottesville and I look forward to hopefully trying them all. Because where there is wine, I will go to there.
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