Dad and I hung out today, getting him out and about and enjoying pizza and blanc de noirs at Stone Tower, kinda like a re-do of last week. We really enjoyed it and today’s extra taste was a 2014 estate Petit Verdot. They use a lot of oak, and that dominated this tasting, but the PV flavors were pleasant. Dad and I enjoyed the blanc de noirs bottle and the pepperoni and garlic pizza. This was really fun since it wasn’t terribly crowded and we had some space with golf on TV.
Afterwards it was off to Willowcroft, a mere 1.7 miles away, mostly of unpaved road. Willowcroft bills itself as the “8th oldest winery in VA” and oldest in Loudoun. It’s not an imposing place, rather it’s the opposite of Stone Tower.
The tasting room is in the back of the barn. In a way, it reminded me of Aspen Dale, and I was hoping the wine was better.
So, on into the tasting room. It was eight wines for $12, which is a very decent price.
Here is the rundown:
- 2017 Chardonnay – aged in steel, so unpretentious and pleasant. A decent, if unremarkable VA chardonnay.
- 2018 Harmony – a Vidal Blanc 58%/Traminette 42% blend. Traminette scares me – sweet icky wine. Not this one – dry. This was nice and made us think of hot summer nights/
- 2016 Riesling/Muscat-Ottonel – this wine was 0.7% Residual sugar, and I felt it – it tasted a little sweeter – dad liked it but I poured it out.
- 2018 Rose of Sharon – all the 2018 reds into rosé. The story of Northern Virginia. Mostly Cab Franc – this was the better of the two rosés. In a year like 2018, where there are rosés everywhere, make your rosé stand out – this was decent, but unremarkable. I’m spoiled.
- 2018 Martingale Rosé – cab sauv dominant rosé – not as nice as the sharon, but passable, again, unremarkable.
- 2015 Merlot – I felt every bit of the chambourcin in this and poured it. No. Chambourcin. Ever.
- 2016 Cab Franc – the PV in this canceled out the chambourcin, so I drank it – some little spiciness, fun. Not a GREAT cab franc, but not bad.
- 2015 Assemblage Select – their flagship left bank Bordeaux blend. Nice wine, heavy oak. It was good, and I’d enjoy drinking it – at $42/bottle, I think I can get better wine though with less oak covering the grapes.
- Tasting bar dude let us on on the 2016 Petit Verdot. It was nice – oak smoothed it out, but PV came through on it. This was nice and I brought a bottle home for the theoretical Petit Verdot taste off on the patio in September. Not sure which weekend yet, but it will be one that is cooler so we can light the firebowl and make smores and drink wine. Stay tuned and comment if you’re coming.
Dad and I enjoyed a glass of the harmony at a picnic table that had this view:
That view is literally everything. The harmony was quite good on the hot afternoon, and we were lightly shaded during this time. Because it’s a quieter venue, this could be a great spot to spend your afternoon with wine and picnic.
Willowcroft was nice, but I’m not sure they’re really to my taste at the end of the day. By and large their price points are reasonable, but I didn’t fall in love with any wines there. Worth a stop with a picnic basket for sure, though!
Have you been? What did you think?
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