More of Virginia’s Wineries

Iron Bridge Wine Company

Syd is still in Ohio visiting her grandparents, so we decided to take another opportunity to check out a few wineries we haven’t visited before.  Well, one that we’ve been to before…but it’s been a really long time.  We actually started our day with lunch in Warrenton at a very hip place called Iron Bridge Wine Company.  It’s located on a corner in the downtown area, and it’s really part wine store and part restaurant.  We were on the early side for lunch, so ended up being the first ones in.  The waiter/host told us just to sit anywhere so we chose the elevated window table (clearly the space had previously been some kind of shop that displayed things in the window….).  So now we were on display, and it served to bring more people in because by the time we left the two waiters really couldn’t keep up with all the patrons.  SQ and I split a glass of Vignerons Rose, then I ordered the Ahi Tuna Club.  The tuna was seared perfectly rare, and was dressed with lettuce, heirloom tomato, applewood smoked bacon and lemon aioli.  They could really re-think the bread choice as it got a little soggy from the aioli, but otherwise was excellent.  The sandwich was served with a choice of mixed green salad, potato salad or herbed fries – I chose the green salad and wasn’t disappointed.  The dinner menu seems to consist of soups, salads, seafood and small plates to share….would make for a fun evening out with a group.  The upside to this place is that since they sell wines as a wine store, you can order a bottle, which is much cheaper than what most restaurants charge, and pay a small corkage fee to enjoy it with your food.  The service was a bit slow since they were understaffed that day, but it was very friendly, and the atmosphere inside is kind of upscale feeling without being pretentious, and prices aren’t ridiculous either.  We would definitely go back.

After lunch we took off for Philip Carter Winery, which apparently used to be Stillhouse Vineyards, located in Hume.  I hadn’t heard much about them so I didn’t really know what to expect, but the drive to get there was stunning…more gorgeous Virginia horse country.  We went into the tasting room and it just went downhill.  They were very disorganized, and the person pouring the wine for us didn’t seem to know anything about it.  She kept describing everything as ‘a really good wine’ and had nothing more to add.  I can’t really comment positively about anything that we tried.  Overall, this winery has a lot of work to do.

Linden Vineyards was our next destination, and though we’d been before it has been a few years.  Linden is actually the second winery we visited in Virginia, and we thought highly of it but have since been to others that we felt were better.  We were really pleasantly surprised at how much better the wine here has become.   We were also surprised that they weren’t very busy, but found out why after talking to some of the employees.  Laurie told us that it was starting to get overrun with groups out touring in limos, so they no longer accept groups larger than six.  They also now limit their food and deck area (with fabulous views of the vineyard and mountains) to club members.  Today they were tasting a 2007 Seyval (crisp, acidic, would be great with grilled fish or seafood), a 2006 Chardonnay (steel-barrel aged which gave it a bright, clean taste of citrus and vanilla), a 2004 Claret (medium-bodied, flavor of raspberry and plum), and 2005 Petit Verdot (very European tasting, earthy, finished with gripping tannins).  All of them were worthy of purchasing, but we opted for the Seyval today.

We weren’t really sure where we were going to go next, but Laurie suggested Chester Gap Cellars, located right outside Front Royal.  The tasting room is still somewhat under construction, but this winery has what is probably the most stunning view of any that we’ve been to.  It sits on the side of a mountain, and is completely surrounded by mountain views…really breathtaking.  If I wasn’t so dizzy at this point I think I could have just sat on one of their picnic tables for the rest of the afternoon staring at the trees.  So, the wines – the standouts here were the 2006 Sauvignon Blanc (grassy Loire-style wine, crisp and dry) and the 2006 Viognier (floral, peach, fermented in stainless steel).  They also produce a Viognier Reserve which is aged in French Oak, and normally I like that oak-y flavor, especially in Chardonnay, but here I preferred the Viognier aged in steel.  We took home a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc…SQ tried to talk me into pan-searing some scallops for dinner, but I really just needed a nap after all the wine drinking.