James River Cellars - (December 2015) While we were on our way home from Williamsburg, we decided to stop here (also because we saw their trailers at Saude Creek) and try the wines. They are located next to a driving range and although there are high nets, you are warned to park at your own risk. All percentages from their tasting sheet.
We were carded here, which I'm beginning to think is a good idea (and be fair to all patrons). As part of the tasting, we were able to taste all their available 2014 white wines. We started off with their reserve chardonnay, which is aged in all three types of oak barrels; I enjoyed the oak flavor and smooth buttery finish (I could not tell all three were used, but I could pull out the American). Next was the 2014 chardonnay, aged in stainless steel, was crisp. When comparing the two side by side, I preferred the reserve. For the last of the dry whites, we had a gewurztraminer, not as floral as others we have had, its one we'd have with a meal.
The semi-dry whites started off with the petit manseng; I tasted lemon while my wife got hints of honey. The vidal blanc was released prior to the holidays; it starts off sweet but has that tart finish that we could sit on the porch and drink it. The chardonel, another new release, finished the whites; this version was similar to a Niagara.
Moving to the dry reds, we started off with their 2013 Rad Red, a blend of 43% cabernet franc, 30% petit verdot, 20% chancellor and 7% sangiovese, which honors one of their dear friends and some of the proceeds goes to cancer research. It's a good blend, has amazing color, and with hints of berries, their description of "for casual drinking . . . flavors aid relaxation as you shout at children in the cul-de-sac, from the porch" are true, especially if my wife says she could see herself doing that with this wine in hand. Up next was the 2012 Monitor versus CSS Virginia, a blend of 47% cabernet franc, 44% merlot and 9% tannat. This was drier on the palette and had hints of spices. We then tried the 2012 meritage, which, starting in 2013 will be bottled under the Monitor label, a blend of 45% merlot, 33% cabernet sauvignon, 11% cabernet franc and 11% petit verdot. I got an aroma of orange marmalade, but a taste of lemon peel and black pepper; quite interesting. The semi-dry 2104 Hanover red, a blend of 48% chancellor, 28% pinot noir, 16% chambourcin and 8% cabernet franc, which was stainless steel aged, completed the red portion. There was a hint of sweet church wine to this one, which I found surprisingly enjoyable.
The sweet wines completed our tasting. We started off with the 2014 Montpelier, a blend of 63% pinot gris, 20% chardonel and 17% chambourcin, a blush wine. I got some tartness with hints of strawberry. The 2014 Hanover white, a blend of 45% chardonel, 45% pinot gris, 5% petit manseng and 5% muscat. I found the fruit flavor of peach and the sweetness to be similar to a diamond wine; I could drink this with my wife. The 2013 chambourcin, with berry flavors, was good, but it was the 2014 Real Santa red, a blend of 45% chambourcin, 35% cabernet franc, 10% petit verdot, 5% merlot and 5% pinot noir that stole the entire show of these wines. It's a spiced wine that hit it just right, with nutmeg and cinnamon and to compliment the wine, I see a gentle glazed gingerbread cookie.
While we were tasting, we met a couple who were also traveling home, to New Hampshire, and we enjoyed their takes on these wines too. We learned that the only grapes on this property are the ones as you come in the drive. To be called a winery in Virginia, there must be at least one acre of grapes grown on the property or they would be considered a bar. The remainder of their grape production is in Montpelier, not far from the winery; all their grapes come from Virginia. What I liked about this winery is they gave you the vintage, as long as it had one, and how many cases of it they produced. When you are in an area that you do not frequent, it helps me decide what to buy, if I'm going to do a quantity. Unfortunately, the wines are in screw capped bottles so they won't be on my shelf long.
Unfortunately, the star of the tasting did not age well. When we opened it a year later to use as a marinade and a warmed wine, the spices were too overpowering. We had to tone it down with another red wine.
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