Everything in Excess

whoever coined the phrase "less is more" must have died an uptight, penniless virgin because there are some things in life where, well, more is more. chocolate, shoes, fried food, sex ... of course fine wine is no exception. This past weekend in northern Virginia where wineries are found with the same frequency as public restrooms we quickly realized that, like pringles, we bet you can't eat (or go to) just one.
a few weeks ago we noticed a comment on one of our blogs about something called the loudon county wine passport. here's the deal: visit any 9 of loudon county's 21 wineries and you are entered to win fun, wine-themed prizes. what's not to love about receiving prizes for boozing your way through northern virginia? as a sweet surprise brett had mapped out a route for the weekend, little did we know we would hit many more than the 3 wineries we had originally planned.
we started the day out at dry mill winery in leesburg va. nestled in the quiant hunt country, dry mill is actually one of the newest wineries in va. the tasting room is located in a tastfully renovated horse stable and while the wine was decent and the hospitality fantastic, the views unfortunately were not. ironically we had our first taste of minor stardom when the group from reston limousine wine tours arrived and recognized us from our blog! chatting with other winos and getting great recommendations for food, wine, shopping and everything in between really was the highlight of the afternoon.
they say that there are two types of winemakers: those in a hurry, and those with the patience of angels. unfortunately , as a new winery i think dry mill is in the former category. we completed a tasting of 6 wines and did find a few we liked:

2007 Rose
This is the first rose that brett actually has enjoyed. it was light, flavorful and easy to drink.
2008 Traminette
I really enjoyed this floral white. slightly spicy but still clean and enjoyable

we also enjoyed a nice lunch here of proscuitto, brie, and baguettes and the owners gave us free glasses of wine to celebrate brett's service in the marine corps. after we got our passports "stamped" we decided to head down to brett's second planned stop for the day, chrysalis.
we'd both recently been hearing a lot about chrysalis, their wines have been the subject of national and internation acclaim as of late so we were eager to check it out.
the weather wasn't really cooperating but the drive over was still absolutely gorgeous. back roads through rolling hills lush with greenery, it really could not have been more beautiful. chrysalis was absolutely packed when we arrived and we headed to the main building for a tasting. chrysalis offers two types of tastings, a traditional and a reserve. the tastings on saturday were actually taking place down on the crush pad. chrysalis is extremely organized and offer tastings not first come-first serve but on a timed basis, necessitated, i'm sure, by their increasing popularity. as we waited we chatted with the lady administering the tasting and she told us about a fun weekend of wine and blues music chyrsalis is sponsering in september which sounds like something brett and myself may definitely check out. even though it was packed and our tasting included about 25 people, it was still extremely informative and i loved hearing the history of each of the wines. chrysalis is very focused on restoring the notoriety of the Norton grape, one of the only varietals america can truly call its own. we really enjoyed most of the wines but especially liked a few:

Sarah's Patio Red
all i can say is WOW! this 100% norton red is meant to be served chilled. suggested as a base for sangria but too delicious not too drink alone as well!

Petit Manseng
This is a delicious fruity, light, semi- sweet dessert wine.

Norton
Chrysalis offers an 03, 04 and 05 of this smooth, full bodied and full flavored red.

http://www.chrysaliswine.com/begin.htm

while the atmosphere certainly could not be considered quaint, the views are beautiful, the tasting informative, and wines delicious. chrysalis hopes to establish a creamery and restaurant in the coming year. brett and i managed to experience (albeit sometimes wobbily) 9 different wineries so stay tuned for reports on the other exploits and adventures of the weekend.