Virginia - New Kent - New Kent Winery

New Kent Winery - (December 2015) We arrived prior to the tasting room opened so I walked around the fenced in vineyards.When the winery opened, we went in to do a tasting; we were the only one in the building other than the staff. We were able to sample all the available wines.

We started off with the 2012 chardonnay and compared that to the 2013 reserve chardonnay. Although both are aged in stainless steel, neither was extraordinary. We then sampled the meritage, made from merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot, harvested over three seasons, and the 2013 merlot. My wife didn’t like either, but I enjoyed the meritage over the merlot, it was full-bodied and smooth. While tasting, I asked about the grapes in the vineyards overlooking the tasting room; most of the grapes are estate, but not all are at this location.

The tasting concluded with the white merlot, 2014 vidal blanc and the sweet Virginia. We both enjoyed the white merlot. My wife especially liked the sweet Virginia. We decided to purchase a meritage and a white merlot.

The hosting staff was not knowledgeable in the wines, but maybe the winemaker hasn't given them enough information about the wine.