Virginia Wine Festival

Yesterday I drove out to Leesburg and met my friend, her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend at the Virginia Wine Festival. There were four tents with wine vendors. So many wines to try. It was raining lightly much of the morning. But, it cleared up for the afternoon and was nice. I found that about half of the wineries seemed to be in their earlier years of making wine. But, some others were fantastic. I was surprised by how good some of the dessert wines were. Some of the favorites from Virginia are below. And, you can click on the winery name to go directly to their website.


Barboursville Vineyards Phileo. Here is what the winery has to say: "A truly beautiful and friendly dessert wine, the result of a masterful blend of Moscato, Gew?miner and other aromatic varietals. Lively sweetness is balanced by sustained acidity giving a charming clean finish."

Hillsborough Vineyards and Winery Moonstone. The vineyard says: "A late harvest Viognier picked at 34 Brix blended with Chardonnay. With 6% residual sugar, MOONSTONE has a sweet start with a crisp finish and a heady perfume of apricots and tropical fruits." Their Opal is pretty good too. It is a "crisp, medium bodied, dry white wine."

James River Cellars Divino. The winery says: "An eiswein, or ice wine-style dessert wine that offers pear and lychee flavors. Pair it with cheeses, cheesecake or other semi-sweet desserts. Its an excellent after dinner treat."

Kluge Estate Cru. This is what the winery has to say about it: "Best when served very cold or on the rocks, this refreshing and strong chardonnay aperitif can be served before dinner or following the meal with dessert. It is an expected and well-received accompaniment. "

Rockbridge Vineyard Vd'Or. The vineyard says: "This is the signature "icewine" made from late-harvest Vidal Blanc. It has an intense mandarin orange/honey fruit with a rich sweet and balanced palate. Simply superb! "

Disclaimer: The pics were taken from the individual winery websites as were the descriptions. (I could have taken pics of the bottles myself, but figured this would be easier.) However, I wanted you to know what they looked like in case you decided to go looking for them.