Varietal: Viognier (53%); Chardonnay (43%)
Region: Virginia – USA
Cost: $20

Tropical fruit and pineapple on the nose with  citrus and floral notes in the mouth.  Pairs well with appetizers before dinner or with seafood, grilled white meat, or spicy food.

Recommendations: The more Viognier I drink, the more I like it, especially when blended with Chardonnay.  Because of that, when my wife and I visited several Virginia vineyards back in March, our stop at the King Family Vineyards offered up a great combination of just those two wines.

The Roseland offers up just enough floral notes from the Viognier to make it a nice sipping wine for a hot day, but has enough body from the Chardonnay to make it a great wine to pair with dinner.  It short, it’s a very versatile white wine. We paired ours with a dinner of salmon and parmesan risotto and the acid of the Chardonnay cut the fat of the fish nicely, while the floral flavors of the Viognier helped to balance the heavily seasoned salmon.

I can’t say with any certainty that this is the best Viognier/Chardonnay blend out there, but I can say that it’s one that I enjoyed and certainly one that I would recommend you try if you pay a visit to King Family Vineyards (which I highly recommend).

Varietal: Chardonnay
Region: Virginia – USA
Cost: $16

Light gold in the glass with aromas of citrus, lemon, lime, green apple, quince, and white peach.  A hint of melon on the palate and just a touch of minerality lead into a slightly floral finish.  Pairs well with grilled or roasted chicken.

Recommendations: Back in March when my wife and I spent a few days in Virginia Wine Country near Charlottesville, one of the places we stopped on our second day of tastings was Veritas Vineyards.  We had been there before as her brother was actually married there a few years earlier, but we hadn’t tasted their wines in some time (having missed them at the 2010 Virginia Wine Expo the month before), and wanted to stop in for a visit.

While several of their wines were enjoyable, our hands down favorite of the whites was the Estate Bottled Chardonnay.  Produced solely in steel tanks, it’s crisp with a nice acidity and flavors of melon.  What I like most about it is that there’s just a bit of Viognier added to help balance out the finish and add that floral note on the finish that’s indicative of the Viognier grape.

When paired with a dinner of oven-cooked chicken topped with a cajun seasoning, the crispness of the wine did a great job of cutting the slight heat of the food, creating a nice pairing.  What I like most about this wine is that it pairs the food versatility of Chardonnay with the ease of drinking a Viognier.

If you’re looking for a white that will go well with just about any meal or out on the deck, the Veritas Estate Bottled Chardonnay is a good one to go for.  The mix of Chardonnay and Viognier is a winner and one I hope they continue to produce.

Our second day of tasting began when we arrived King Family Vineyards.  A beautiful estate that is almost hidden (GPS makes it easy to find) off several small roads, we spent some time tasting their wines – the Roseland 2008, a blend of Chardonnay and Viognier offers the best of both wines, and their Crose 2009, a Provence style dry Rose’ made from Merlot grapes, were both especially enjoyable – and looking around the small shop within their tasting room.  While this was April and my first stop, this would have been an ideal spot to stop for lunch, as King Family Vineyards has several items available for purchase that, when paired with wine, would make an excellent picnic lunch.

Our second stop on the day was Pollak Vineyards, with their new tasting room with a patio perfect for relaxing with a bottle of wine.  A dry Rose’ stood out amongst the lighter wines, but their 2008 Durant Red, a 50/50 blend of their Merlot and Cabernet Franc, made me regret not getting to taste their Merlot (they were sold out) as the flavors I got that weren’t Cab Franc were quite enjoyable, with a bright flavor that still showed a bit of earthiness at the same time.

After relaxing for a bit, you have to pace yourself when wine tasting after all, April and I got back into the car and headed on to our next stop, Veritas Vineyards.  Now, this was not my first trip to Veritas, as April’s brother (that’s my brother-in-law for those following along) had been married there coming up on 3 years ago.

However, on my last trip we weren’t wine tasting, and so I hadn’t had the opportunity to sample all of their wines.  Veritas offers both a red and a white tasting, and being the good couple that April and I are, we decided to get both and share them.  Ain’t love grand?

From the white tasting several wines stand out.  The first thing we sampled was their Scintilla, a sparkling brut that was excellent, with a mineral flavor that was both dry and crisp and quite refreshing.  Next up was their Sauvignon Blanc, a varietal that you don’t see much of in Virginia.  Light and refreshing I liked it, but found myself craving the bolder flavors of South American Sauvignon Blanc.  That said, this was still an excellent wine and one worth buying.

The other white to truly stand out was the 2008 “Estate Bottled” Chardonnay.  The addition of some Viognier to this wine adds a floral nose and flavor that both April and I found very nice.  We actually purchased a bottle of this to go home after having a bottle opened to enjoy with our lunch on the stunning grounds of Veritas.

From the reds, the 2008 Merlot was dry and earthy with flavors of black cherry and it was at this point that I think April officially became a fan of Virginia Merlot.  The bottle that came home with us, however, was their 2008 Claret with it’s pepper nose (thanks to the 35% Cab Franc) and smooth finish (thanks to the 5% Petit Verdot).  It’s a great wine for pasta, hamburgers, or just because.

Our final stop of the day was in part thanks to the suggestion of our pourer at King Family Vineyards.  When asking about our day we told her what we had on our list and she suggested Afton Mountain Vineyards over our other choice (which I will not name) because of the wine selection and what she perceived to be our palates.  It also helps that Afton Mountain is just down the road from Veritas, while the other place is not.

At Afton Mountains they also offer two different tastings (a House and a Reserve), and as at Veritas, April and I decided to get both and share.  From the House Tasting, the Gewurztraminer was so impressive, with its dry, mineral flavors, that we actually bought a bottle of it to take home.  The Cabernet Sauvignon from this tasting was also very nice with a good earthy flavor.

From the Reserve Tasting the Tete de Cuvee brut we started with had a nice mineral (which seemed to be a theme for the weekend) and their Festa di Bacco is nothing if not a great pasta wine.

Like all good things, this weekend came to an end.  While this will not be my last trip to Virginia Wine Country, or several of these vineyards to be honest, I do hope that anybody that is in Virginia and reading this (and my previous post) that hasn’t gone out and spent some time in Virginia Wine Country will do so.

Thanks to all of the vineyards across both days for being your hospitality and your wine.

Varietal: Table Wine (Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay)
Region: California – Napa – USA
Cost: $22

Dark pink coloring with a bit of cranberry and floral on the nose.  Fresh ripe fruit and strawberry on the palate.  Pair with spicy food, BBQ, dishes that could pair with either a red or white.

Recommendations: Anybody that knows me knows that I have an aversion to pink wines.  Because of this, my wife was very surprised when on our recent vacation to California I actually very much enjoyed the Peju Provence.  A very dark pink wine that should be served chilled, the blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay works to create a refreshing wine that is more tart than anything, even with 1.4% residual sugar.

Paired with a meal of Potato Lasagna (which is delicious and everybody should ask me for the recipe.  Go ahead and ask), it was a perfect compliment to the mix of red potatoes, spicy sausage, spinach, and mozzarella and ricotta cheeses, and was enjoyable well before and after the meal was completed.

Whether you order it online, visit them in person, or find it in a store, I can honestly recommend picking up a bottle of this table wine.  While I can’t promise that this will be the only time I recommend a pink wine, it’s a safe bet that it won’t happen any time again soon, so mark this date down.

Check out Peju at:  http://www.peju.com .

Varietal:  White Table Wine (Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Moscato)
Region:  California
Cost:  $9.99

A light white with bright flavors and a soft, subtle, floral finish to it that will pair well with most any white meat.

Recommendations:  My father gave me this wine as my mother and he have become fans of both this and the red partially due to the price, and also because of the versatility of the wines.  I’d seen it in stores before, and even talked it over with my boss (whom blushes at even the thought of ordering it), but had yet to order it myself.

My wife and I paired this light white with a meal of honey-lime pork cutlets and bacon-cheddar risotto.  The sweetness of the honey on the pork was a nice compliment to the floral finish to the Menage a Trois, as was the richness of the risotto.

I’m not going to claim that the Menage a Trois white is an amazing wine that everybody should rush out and buy a case of, but as white table wines go, it’s actually very functional and versatile, which is what you want from your table wine.  If you’re looking to be blown away, you won’t be.  If you’re looking for a light wine that will pair with a Thursday evening dinner or out on the deck, you can’t miss with this inexpensive white.

The Spanish Quarter Chardonnay/Albarino

Varietal: Chardonnay (60%) / Albarino (40%)

Region: Spain

Cost: $9.99 – $14.99

Floral aromas pair well with the citrus flavors of this Spanish white.  Flavors of peach and tropical fruit offer a clean citrus finish with a hint of residual sugar.  This wine will pair well with chicken, fish, light appetizers, and spicy foods.

Recommendations:  This wine will go great with spicier foods, but you may want to pass on it for use as an everyday white wine.