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Please join us for a tasting of the finest Viogniers of the world here at Rappahannock Cellars. A “production” tasting is one in which your own wines are put up against benchmark wines for the purpose refining your house style. This year I have selected four foreign wines that I will pit against my 2007 and 2008 Rappahannock Cellars Viognier. These are no ordinary wines, these Viogniers come from the most highly regarded producers in the world. Here’s the lineup:

1. Château Grillet 2006 – France / Côtes du Rhône / Appellation Château-Grillet Contrôlée
2. Andre Perret Condrieu Coteau du Chery 2007 – France / Côtes du Rhône / Appellation Condrieu Contrôlée / Chery
3. E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane 2007 – France / Côtes du Rhône / Appellation Condrieu Contrôlée
4. Yalumba Viognier Eden Valley 2008 – Australia / Eden Valley
5. Rappahannock Cellars Viognier 2007 - Virginia
6. Rappahannock Cellars Viognier 2008 – Virginia

This will be a blind tasting with the producers revealed after the wines are tasted.  Two ounce (59 mL) pours per wine.  Water and crackers served.

Date: Saturday June 12
Time: 1:00 pm
Where: Rappahannock Cellars
Cost: $40.97 per person
Limited to 10 people

Click here to reserve and pay for your seat!

Or, contact Brian Delaney, brian@slowfoodvastwine.org, (540) 636-8035.

- Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

A Production Tasting is one in which your own wine is put up against other producers’ wines. The scale can be as limited or grand as you want. But the idea is to see how your wine stacks up against others. Wineries do this for several reasons. The first is to prevent what is called “house” palate – meaning that your palate is so used to tasting only your own wines that you forget what else it out there. The second reason is to better position your wine and style with a benchmark wine, a wine that is widely considered to be superior to everything else.

I will be pouring 6 wines:

1. 2005 Le Macchiole Paleo (100% Cabernet Franc) from Italy – Tuscany
2. 2006 Paradigm Cabernet Franc from California – Napa Valley
3. 2007 Catherine & Pierre Breton, Franc De Pied, France-Loire-Bourgueil
4. 2007 Charles Joguet, Les Petites Roches, from France – Loire – Chinon
5. 2007 Rappahannock Cellars Cabernet Franc, Virginia
6. 2008 Rappahannock Cellars Cabernet Franc, Virginia

This will be a blind tasting with 2 ounce pours of each wine. The producer will be revealed after discussion of each wine. These are some of the most respected producers for Cabernet Franc. How will Rappahannock Cellars show?

Date: Sunday March 7
Time: 1:00 pm
Where: Rappahannock Cellars
Cost: $45.00/person
Limited to 10 people

Contact Jason directly to RSVP. This is a pre-paid event, we will charge your credit card about 6 days before the event.

- Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

I started a series of “production tastings” in 2009 that was met with great success. We taste the world’s best wines, regardless of price or origin, and compare it with our Rappahannock Cellars wines. We tend to find that the most expensive wines are not our favorites, and that our own RC wines compare favorably. We will continue these tastings in 2010, starting in February.

- Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

-Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

Viognier Production Tasting
Saturday, June 27 at 3:00 p.m. here at the winery

Viognier is a variety that almost fell into extinction only 40 years ago. Its native home is France, at the northern end of the Rhone Valley called Condrieu. It began to be planted in other areas of the world in the 1980s, particularly in California, but also in Virginia at Horton Vineyards. While its native climate is hot and dry, its loose cluster and thick skin make this variety suitable to Virginia’s summer humidity. While Viognier is fast becoming “Virginia’s white wine,” it is only the state’s 3rd most-planted white-grape variety, behind Chardonnay and Vidal Blanc.

Jancis Robinson, the famous UK wine writer, has written a very thorough review of this variety on her website, which you can view by clicking here.

Here’s the lineup:

1. 2007 Du Mol, Lia (California / Sonoma / Russian River Valley)
2. 2007 Alban Vineyards (California / Central Coast)
3. 2007 Alban Vineyards (California / Central Coast / Edna Valley)
4. 2007 Novy Family Wines (California / Sonoma / Russian River Valley)
5. 2005 Chateau Grillet (France / Rhone / Condrieu / Chateau-Grillet)
6. 2007 E. Guigal Condrieu La Doriane (France / Rhone / Condrieu)
7. 2008 Le Paradou (France / Vin de Pays Vignobles de France)
8. 2008 Cinquante Cinq (France / Vin de Pays D’oc (Languedoc)
9. 2007 Rappahannock Cellars (Virginia)
10. 2008 Rappahannock Cellars (Virginia) not yet released

Limited to 10 people. Cost is $55.00 per person and is charged to your credit card prior to the event. Two-ounce pour per wine. This is a blind tasting and the producers will be announced after all the wines have been tasted. Chateau-Grillet is both the name of the producer and the name of the appellation, a condition known as “monopole” in the French appellation system.

RSVP to me (Jason) directly at jburrus@rappahannockcellars.com

-Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

1. 1970 Taylor’s Vintage Port (Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman) PORTUGAL
2. 1977 Taylor’s Vintage Port (Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman) PORTUGAL
3. 1994 Taylor’s Vintage Port (Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman) PORTUGAL
4. 2003 Taylor’s Vintage Port (Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman) PORTUGAL
5. 2006 Rappahannock Cellars Red Dessert Wine (Norton) VIRGINIA
6. 2007 Rappahannock Cellars Red Dessert Wine (Norton – barrel sample) VIRGINIA

Port is a wine that many consider more a reflection of the winemaking than the grape from which it is made. It is a fortified wine, meaning that its alcohol comes from both natural alcoholic fermentation and added grape spirits (distilled wine – brandy). The tradition surrounding the origins of Port explains that brandy was added to preserve the finished wine for its long voyage from Portugal to England, though why/when it was added to fermenting wine, to arrest the fermentation and maintain its sweetness, is lost in history.

The ’70, ’77, ’94, and ’03 represent four of the best six vintages of the last 33 rated vintages in Portugal. Taylor’s is considered one of the best “shipping houses”in Portugal. Red Port is a sweet and alcoholic (~20%) wine made from the varieties:

• Touriga Nacional
• Tinta Roriz
• Touriga Franca
• Tinta Barroca
• Tinto Cao
• Tinta Amarela

These wines will be paired up against our Virginia Red Dessert Wines made entirely of the Norton grape, but also made by adding grape spirit. In Virginia, wineries are prohibited from producing any wine greater than 18.0% alcohol. Thus our Virginia Red Dessert Wine is 17.9% alcohol.

The cost is $75.00 per person and the event is limited to 11 people. Each wine is a two-ounce serving and the tasting will be conducted blind, meaning we will not know the producer or vintage of the wine until all the wines have been tasted.

Contact me (Jason) directly at jburrus@rappahannockcellars.com to RSVP. Please do not call the winery as e-mail is the best way to contact me.

-Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

There was only one dud for me, and the others were all at least very nice wines. Before I unveiled the producers, I took a vote of everyone’s first and second place wines. Surprisingly, the $300 Chateau Pavie did not get a single 1st place vote, though it was the second place wine for two of us (including me). The big winners were the 2005 Chateau Pape Clement ($179) from Graves in Bordeaux and the 2005 Ornellaia ($165) from Tuscany, each receiveing four first place votes and three second place votes. The two Rappahannock Cellars wines combined garnered one first place vote and two second place votes – not bad considering the competition!

This month on the 27th, the theme will be Viognier. Details to come shortly.

-Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

1. Chateau Pape Clement 2005 (France / Bordeaux / Graves / Pessac Leognan)
2. Chateau Pavie 2005 (France / Bordeaux / Saint Emilion)
3. Ornellaia 2005 (Italy / Toscana / Bolgheri)
4. Montes Alpha M 2005 (Chile / Santa Cruz Valley / Apalta)
5. Flora Springs Trilogy 2005 (California / Napa Valley)
6. Conn Valley Vineyards Right Bank 2006 (California / Napa Valley)
7. Rappahannock Cellars Meritage 2006 (Virginia)
8. Rappahannock Cellars “R” (Super Meritage) 2006 (Virginia)

Conspicuously absent from this lineup are the more famous Napa Valley red “blends.” These wines are often more than 90% Cabernet Sauvignon, which qualifies for a “Cabernet Sauvignon” label. The purpose of these tastings is to compare wines that are made of similar varieties to our Rappahannock Cellars wines, and Cabernet Sauvignon does not constitute a majority variety in our Meritage blend. Three of these wines are a majority of Cabernet Sauvignon, but only one (the Alpha) contains over 75%, and was chosen to include Chile in the lineup.

Price is $94.37/person. Limited to ten people. Direct inquiries to me (Jason) at jburrus@rappahannockcellars.com.

-Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars

-Jason

Vintner of Rappahannock Cellars