This Weekend in Charlottesville, February 5-7, 2010

Well folks it sure does not look good for wine tasting. We had to rebook our wine tours last weekend when we only got 8 inches or so. What happens is the main highways get cleared and plowed, but the wineries are like Arcady - we're almost all on secondary roads.

Here in Charlottesville we don't normally get this kind of weather, so there is not enough equipment to do the back roads which means we all have to wait until the storm is over and the plows reach us.

About the only ones that live close enough to their tasting rooms that they can walk over there to open would be King Family Vineyards and Blue Mountain Brewery. There are possibly more (Keswick - or Afton Mountain maybe?) but those are the only ones that come to mind right now.

If you look at this picture of the last big storm that's Chris walking Sasha right outside Arcady Vineyard B&B here - just out our front door - and while we are only 6.5 miles from town, oneof those miles is a secondary road. Looks more like my hometown in Switzerland than Charlottesville!

So, watch the news but from what I am hearing, we are possibly going to get 10 - 18 inches which will make wine tasting not possible.

If you are in the area on Thursday, Elinor at In Vino Veritas has moved her weekly (free!) tasting from Friday to Thursday because of the potential storm. She'll have wines from Argentina this week from 4:30 to 7:00pm unless the storm starts earlier than predicted. (It's supposed to start Friday morning)

You'll be tasting:

La Yunta Torrontes 2008 ( I love that grape!)
Terra Chardonnay 2008
Finca La Martina Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
Duriguti Malbec 2007
Henry LaGarde Gnarda 2006 (Malbec, Cabernaet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah)
Terra Sparkling Malbec 2008 (this sounds interesting...)

In Vino Veritas is at 3015 Louisa Road, Keswick

Tel: 434-977-6366

Also on Friday (weather permitting, I imagine) Beer Run will have their Wine Tasting from 6pm to 8pm. Brycen downes of Virginia Distributing will be pouring Layer Cake Red Wines. Tastings are also free and you will receive $1 off bottles purchased from the tasting lineup.

Beer Run is at 156 Carlton Road, Suite 203 in Charlottesville's Belmont Area
Tel: 984-BEER

See you in the tasting rooms - after this big one!

Erika

Wine Tasting on Saturday, January 30

For all you wine tasters out there, we are possibly getting anywhere from 2-6 inches of snow Friday Night through Saturday, depending on the forecaster.

We are planning to scape off the tour van and run the scheduled tours but will call the wineries around 10-11 am to see if the roads are clear for driving first.

If they are, everyone will be open. A snowstorm does not usually cause them to close unless it gets bad enough that the employees can't drive out to serve you.

We have run great tours in the snow in the past. It's pretty and the fireplaces will be burning bright!

To check if your winery is ready for business on Saturday, go to www.virginiawine.org and on the left side select, "find a winery". Scroll down and click on the letter - for example Virginia Wineworks is having a special barrel tasting on Saturday and Sunday, so for that click on "V" and scroll down to Virginia Wineworks. Click on "details" for the phone number, website, and directions.

See you in the Tasting Rooms!

Erika

Wine Tasting Friday January 29, 2010

Our favorite wine shop, In Vino Veritas which is located right around the corner from Arcady Vineyard Bed and Breakfast has wine tastings on Fridays. We love to bring our guests there for a free tasting after they check in.

Elinor has sent out the tasting list of two beers and four wines for this Friday, January 29:

Robert Crum from Roanoke Valley Wine Company will be here for the last tasting in January and before another SNOW storm! You'll be sure to enjoy these by the fire and watch the flakes fly.

Duchesse de Bourgogne...a Flemish red ale. St. Bernardus Abbey Brown Ale...one of the best beers in the world. Red Wire 2007, CA - 33% Syrah, 31% Petite Sirah, 18% Cinsault, and 18% Grenache Blanc Hey Mambo Sultry Red 2007, CA - blend of Syrah, Barbera, Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, Malbec & Alicante Bouchet Chasing Lions 2006, CA - 55% Merlot, 25%Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 7%Syrah & 3% Petite Verdot Charles & Charles RED 2007, WA - 50% Cabernet Sauvignon & 50% Syrah Cheese & Crackers, too.

Directions to In Vino Veritas are:

Take 250 West towards Richmond - past Pantops until you come to the Keswick turnoff (Rte 22/Louisa Road). Take the left fork onto Rte 22 and immediately on your right turn into the parking lot of In Vino Veritas. You'll see their sign and they usually have a sign out "Tastings Today". For GPS the address is 3015 Louisa Road, Keswick, VA and the phone is 434-977- 6366

See you in the tasting room!

Erika

Wine Tasting Activities from Arcady

Here in Charlottesville, as January starts winding down there are some great tasting activities planned.

Especially exciting is the 2nd Annual Futures Barrel Tasting and Sale this weekend (Jan 30/31 from 11am to 5pm) at Virginia Wineworks.

You'll be tasting their 2008 reds: Meritage, Petit Verdot, Merlot and Cabernet Franc as they age in their oak barrels. Advance purchases will save you $10 to $15 per bottle.

For those of you that prefer to visit the fancy tasting rooms and cozy up in front of the fire with a bottle, this is not for you. But if you are a Virginia Wine Fanatic and want a chance to meet one of our leading winemakers and find out what a "custom crush" winery is all about, this is a must! Both Michael Shaps, winemaker, and Philip Stafford, his partner, will be there to pour for you.

You'll be walking past the bottling machine and tasting right in the barrel room, as a custom crush winery does not usually have a formal tasting area. This is a winery where smaller vineyards like us and other growers can go to to press our grapes, age them, and get winemaking advice. Besides Michael's wines I believe there are 7 growers using Virginia Wineworks to make their wine.

For more informations about Virginia Wineworks go to http://www.virginiawineworks.com

Directions: Take Rt 20 south for 12 miles from I 64. Turn right at the grape sign for First Colony Winery (Harris Creek Road). Drive past First Colony and continue into the woods onto a dirt road for about 1/4 mile. Virginia Wineworks is at the end of the road, and the building has the name Montdomaine on it - but you're in the right place!

It looks like they will also be pouring some new releases: 2008 Michael Shaps Viognier and 2007 Michael Shaps Meritage.

For those of you who have not read about the surprise results of a recent blind wine tasting in DC last August, experts were shocked to find that they had scored Virginia wines higher than some well known and favored French and California wines.

Michael Shaps' Chardonnay 2007 was ranked as 4th best over all whites with all the judges all figuring it was from Burgundy. His 2007 Cabernet Franc scored fifth best overall for the reds.

You may want to make an afternoon of it by stopping at Feast! or Brix first and purchase a picnic of sandwiches, cheeses, salads, etc. After your barrel tasting at Virginia Wineworks stop and taste at First Colony where you can enjoy your picnic lunch. They have lots of indoor space for lunching comfortably.

On a side note - not so much to do with wine tasting, but if you're in the Charlottesville area this week - January 25 - 31, it's our second "Restaurant Week" so you may want to go online and book a dinner reservation as it's immensely popular and restaurants will be booking up fast. You can see who is participating at this link.

See you in the tasting rooms!

Erika

Wintertime Wine Tasting in Charlottesville, Virginia, Arcady Vineyard Bed and Breakfast

There are folks, who for some reason think that wine tasting is only offered during warmer weather. Here in Charlottesville, we enjoy it year 'round! While there are one or two smaller wineries who close until Spring, most simply shift to a winter schedule.

Pictured here is Pollak Vineyards, whose winter hours last until March: Wedesday through Sunday from 11am - 5pm. They are part of a great tasting route open in winter: King Family, Pollak, Cardinal Point and Veritas

During these slower times wineries have a chance to offer specials like barrel tastings.

It's a great idea to call in advance to reserve one and find out the cost. Ask if there are any events such as the Blending Class scheduled at Jefferson Vineyards in February.

Blenheim, open daily 11 am to 5:30pm, can be contacted to reserve a barrel tasting at $25 per person.

For this price you enjoy a tour with winemaker Kirsty, tasting from the barrels, and then taste the line of bottled wines.

In the wintertime check which wineries allow snacks indoors as it's waaaay too cold to enjoy them outside. For this and information you may need, like directions, go to the Virginia Wine website where you can look up your specific winery.

Also, don't forget our brewery trail here just west of Charlottesville - they are located in the same general area as the wineries in Crozet/Afton.
Should you need a bite to eat during touring, consider Blue Mountain, open every day but Monday, from 11:30 - 10pm, where lunch can be ordered along with your beer tasting.

If your group are not all beer drinkers Blue Mountain also offer local wines.



Another local favorite Starr Hill, located in Crozet, where the tasting bar is smack dab in the middle of the brewery.

Open on Saturday and Sunday from 1pm to 5pm with tastings and tours (on the hour), which is sure to please your avid beer drinker!

Salut! Santé! Zum Wohl!

Erika
Arcady Vineyard Wine Tours &
Bed and Breakfast

Wine Country's Winter Farmers Market in Charlottesville

Arcady Vineyard B&B and Wine Tours is a dedicated "shop local" company.











We were excited to see that the Farmers Market extended to December 19th with hours of 8am to 2pm this year. Arcady Vineyard B&B shops here in-season for eggs, veggies, and other produce we use for our inn.

Besides Christmas goodies and decorations, the Farmers Market continues to be a place where guests and locals alike can enjoy a walking gourmet breakfast or lunch as they shop!

The market is up from around 8am until noon - the day we were there was last Saturday when we had a snowstorm - and of course the next day was blue skies and sunny! But we still had fun.

There were gourmet coffees, freshly made bagels, cheese, and delicious Mexican soft tacos that smelled heavenly! We were out there to find Babes in the Woods, our local pork vendor as we needed more for the B&B breakfasts, and we found him, all bundled up and selling delicious pork breakfast sandwiches.

Other wonderful local vendors we use at Arcady Vineyard are:

Gearhart's Chocolates - We use them for our bed and breakfast turn down in the evening with port, and for the cheese/ fruit/ chocolate platter on our tours!

Feast! - Where we can count on a wonderful selection of cheeses, local and imported, as well as many other gourmet goodies perfect for cheese plates, parties, meals, snacks or gifts.

Simply Cheddar - A positively ADDICTING cheese we use at the B&B and on our cheese plate for the tours.

Albemarle Baking Company - The bed and breakfast and wine tours uses this baker for birthday cakes - the princess cake with marzipan frosting is out of this world! And they make great crostini for our cheese plates, dessert tarts for our wine tour lunches, and breads for our breakfast toast.

The Organic Butcher - We use this local vendor for our bacon. Once you breakfast on this you'll never go back to the store-bought stuff with all the preservatives!!

Brix Terrace Cafe - When we serve the picnic lunch on our tours this is our go-to place for sandwiches. They have a wonderful selection of everything from salad to sandwiches to desserts in a beautiful Italian-inspired decorated café.

When you stay at Arcady Vineyard B&B or tour with us, you'll see first-hand the quality of all of these wonderful vendors that help us create a first class experience for our guests!

And don't forget while you're Christmas shopping, we have several different gift certificates available for the wine lover in your family or circle of friends! Look and see what we have this year at Arcady Vineyard Wine Tours and Bed and Breakfast!

The Wineries were Busy this October!

We were ready for Virginia Wine Month - this is always one of the busiest times of year, and was even more so this past October. I think because of the economic situation and poor service and reliablity of the airlines, more people drove for getaways then flew and the tasting rooms were slammed!

Out running a tour the other day at Pollak Chris got some action shots of the winery standing up a new steel tank. I like to think that they rushed right out and bought it when I was so dismayed at the end of their Pinot Gris, to fill it up for me, but Chris doesn't think so..he says they need it for their popular red blend, which ran out even earlier. Either way, we love to see them expand since we are great fans of their wine!

I know it's Fall when my favorite local restaurants bring out their fantastic squash soup! The weather is slightly cooler, especially in the morning now, and wine tasting is great fun with all the fireplaces burning brightly!

For visitors and locals alike, there is a great tasting deal right now which will run until the end of December, so think of this also for stocking stuffers. For $10 you can purchase a "Passport" card which gives you a tasting at Keswick Vineyards, Jefferson Vineyards, and Kluge Farm Shop.

The tasting at Kluge is the still selection which consists of one sparkling wine, a Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, two Albemarle Red blends and the Cru dessert wine if I recall correctly. It does not cover the sparkling wine selection which is three sparklers, two New World Reds and the Cru cocktail.

Another thing when tasting at Kluge - we recommend when you pick up your tasting to ask them for a wine glass. We find that tasting the wines in a glass rather than from the pointy holders (pictured) allows us to swirl and get a sense of the nose!

This passport is a great deal as the tastings together would cost somewhere around $23.00 normally, and you don't have to use it up all at once. They simply punch the card when the tasting is used. This program runs until December 31, 2009.

Lastly, we were thrilled to find out that this winter Blenheim Vineyards, owned by musician Dave Matthews, is now open on a daily basis. There are a handful of wineries here that close on Monday and Tuesday during the winter, so it was great news to find a winery that is expanding it's hours. We love the wines presented this year by winemaker Kirsty Harmon! They also showed us the new wine label designed by Dave Matthews for a soon-to-be- released red.

As always, if you need any info, hours of operations or directions to a Virginia winery, just go to http://www.virginiawine.org/ where you'll find everything you'll need!