New Kent Vineyards

Today Chen and I hit up New Kent Vineyards for two reasons:

1. It is very close to Richmond

2. I have been wanting to go for a while.

As I am about most Virginia vineyards, I was a bit skeptical about this place because it is new AND because it is in Virginia. (I am not hating on Virginia wines but let's be honest, they are fairly hit or miss at this point)

However, I was pleasantly surprised. They have only been open for about 7 months now and this shows in many ways, except in the wine. The staff is friendly and helpful. The building itself is built to look old and rustic but has still maintained its fresh wood smell.

Here were my top two picks at New Kent:

1. New Kent Vidal Blanc
2. New Kent Norton White

Both of these are sweeter wines, but not overly so. The Vidal Blanc tastes almost like a semi-sweet Riesling and seems like a great sipping wine.

The Norton White has some interesting qualities. It is a red grape and kind of a rose but not an annoyingly sweet cheap tasting rose like Beringer or Sutter Home. It almost has tastes of cinnamon or cloves in it. In fact, at the vineyard they were mulling this wine with mulling spices and serving it as the encore after the tasting.

The more I am around people who know a lot about wine the more I realize that I cannot just discout a whole kind of grape or a while kind of wine because I have had a few bad tastes of it.

For example, until recently I was convinced that I did not like Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs or Merlots. Although the latter two remain on that list, I must admit that I am finding more and more that I DO like Chardonnays, I just don't like ALL Chardonnays.

New Kent had a 2004 Reserve Chardonnay that was quite nice. They had fermented it in Oak for 4 years but it surprisingly did not taste like wood chips, as I find many oaky Chardonnays do. It was almost buttery.

Well, that's enough from this peanut gallery for one day. Until next time, hasta la pasta :)

d