Sunday Excursions With Dad #2

Perhaps this will become its own category on the blog, taking dad to wineries on Sunday.  It’s a fun time.  We shoot the breeze on the long drive, I express all my angst about parenting, and then we drink wine.  Sometimes there are oysters.

Today there were crabcakes.

Thank you Talk of the Mountain seafood for the awesome crabcakes and mac and cheese.  I do wish y’all had some hushpuppies, but your crabcakes rock, so we’re good.  The mac and cheese was solid too.

We started at Winery at La Grange for their member exclusive White Meritage release (and crabcakes!).  They also released the Sauvignon Blanc from Blue Valley, which was good, but they added oak to it, so I was less of a fan – I really prefer bright and crisp sauvignon blanc.  But the White Meritage.  Ooooommph.  This is a sauvignon blanc/semillon blend – they source the semillon from Washington state and blend the two grapes 50/50. It gets aged in oak, but whereas in the sauvignon blanc the oak inserted itself into the fruit, in the meritage the oak subdued the usually sweet semillon (at leasat that is the only way I can recall ever having it) and brought it in line, and the blend is simply fantastic.  This 2016 edition is as good as I recall the 2015 being.  Amazing Alex also got us a sip of the Barbera, which I have a bottle of in the dining room, awaiting its time.  We liked the spicy hints on the Barbera, and it’s just different from everything else we drink, so dad and I enjoyed that.

So dad and I enjoyed a bottle of the white meritage and our crabcake sandwiches at a picnic table.  We got there as the “Puppies and Planks” event was ending with a dog rescue group scooping all the puppies up to take home.  This is unfortunate, as this blog entry would feature many puppies, and Husband would have found two new ones at home this evening.

Of course we weren’t done there.  We bought three more white meritage to bring home.  Then it was off to Arterra, because I don’t share well and dad had not yet had any of the new releases there.  Wonderful Jason greeted us and set us up at the bar, trying the four new releases and our old friend the 2016 Cab Franc.  Interestingly, dad most loved the 2018 Roussanne.  So he grabbed a glass of that and I grabbed a glass of Chenin Blanc, my beloved friend.  We sat outside in the amazing breeze and enjoyed our wine.  While dad appreciated the chenin, he found the complexities of the Roussanne more to his liking.  Jason, ever the incredible host, shared a lot about process and why Roussanne is so well suited to Virginia, and why he planted even more to increase production.

Dad ended up getting a bottle each of chenin and roussanne, while I did a little restocking along the way.  Arterra now has the world’s best reward program, so husband better get ready for more time at Arterra….

All in all, for a hot and sunny day, the wine and breezes in the shade made it a fantastic day in nature.  Today was just the right mix of delicious and relaxing for the weekend.  What’s your wine this weekend?