Wine tasting.

This weekend I conducted a 12-person winetasting for some friends, as a belated wedding present. They asked for “Virginia wines” with some additional limitations (not many Central Virginia wineries, as they’d done a lot of weekend wine touring this summer and wanted to try wines from other parts of the state).

The lineup I chose was:

Whites
Breaux Vineyards 2002 Madeleine Chardonnay
Chrysalis Vineyards 2002 Viognier
Jefferson Vineyards 2003 Johannesburg Riesling

Reds
Burnley Vineyards 2002 Rivanna Red
Am Rhein 2001 Cabernet Franc
Rappahannock Cellars 2002 Meritage

The hosts suggested to the other guests that they could bring their favorite Virginia wines, so we had four more wines, including a couple of head-to-head comparisons of the same varietal from different wineries.

Horton Viognier
Horton Cabernet Franc
Ingleside Chesapeake Claret (apparently a 100% Cabernet Sauvignon)
Horton Pear Port

The Jefferson Riesling and Rappahannock Meritage were the crowd favorites.