Royal Rabbit Vineyards - (December 2018) It had been awhile since I visit Roy and Linda and wanted to see what I was missing. On the tasting sheet that day were the 2017 Duchess, made from the Albarino grape, is growing on me, with mineral aromas and flavors of lemon and pear; the 2016 Chatelaine, a blend of traminette and Kerner (Riesling hybrid), with typical floral notes and the flavor and smoothness of honey; Courtly Love, a rose blend of red and white wines, there was a light strawberry flavor and the tartness of cranberry. The 2015 Count, cabernet sauvignon, has mild tannins and the chocolate chip cake we were eating brought out the fruit flavors; 2015 Viscount, petit verdot, was deep purple in color with plum flavors but a short finish; and the Royal Frost Viscount, dark cherry flavor heightened when eating chocolate.
(December 2016) I had been wanting to get back to Royal Rabbit and I'm glad I made the trip. I had talked about it to a few friends and we decided to make their holiday open house a reason to go to the area. Stop by and visit Roy and Linda and get treated like royalty. Between all of us, we tried everything on the menu. I tried the Marquise and remembered the soft feel. The Comtesse, their chardonnay, was fruity, refreshing and balanced. The Baroness, made from vidal blanc, was semi-sweet, but did not excite my palate. Les Jongliers, a vignoles and petit manseng blend, had hints of lemon (grass). The acidity balanced the sweetness better than the Baroness. I tried the Chamberlain, made from chambourcin, but there is something about the grape that I have yet to overcome; maybe one day.
(March 2016) We were on the Mason-Dixon wine trail and made this the last stop of our Maryland portion of the trail. As part of the trail weekend, we got to sample a selected group of wines. I'm glad we did. The Marquise is a viognier and marsanne blend which could be used as an alternative to chardonnay with a dry but soft feel. Their Sir Isaac is a semi-sweet apple wine which reminded me of a fruity gewurtztraimer. The Abbess is an apple honey wine which immediately made me think of pork and sauerkraut. Chatelaine's Blush is a rose of seven of their red varieties and some vidal.
The Duke is a blend of cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot; fruity and mildly oaked. The Chevalier is their dessert wine made from chambourcin, petit verdot, merlot and cabernet franc. While we were tasting this one, we tried some gouda and dark chocolate; fabulous.
While speaking to Roy about his reds, I asked him about the Viscount, their petit verdot wine. I have seen this more of a blending grape and not too often as its own wine. He poured me a sample; needless to say, it was worth asking about; part of our purchases included two bottles.
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