I first checked out Stinson based on the advice of that wine blogger who has been to ALL the Va Wineries, about a year and a half ago, for my 51st birthday. Wonderful Husband actually even accompanied me on a surprisingly warm and sunny October day. I started a post and never posted nor finished it.
But it gave me all that time to be ready for today’s visit and the yummy goodness we got to taste.
When we arrived there were only a handful of people there. There were some ominous clouds and even rain on the far hillsides. We took a look at the flight options (no traditional tasting at the bar here right now) -my sister chose to have a glass of the 2018 Meritage, Favorite Brother-in-law (FBI) chose the red flight that had an orange-style wine and the cab franc and petit verdot, and I went for the meritage flight. Noting the far off rain we sat on the covered patio.
We had brought amazing sandwiches from Feast for lunch and ate them quickly. The cold chicken cheddar fig went amazingly with the white meritage actually – it’s a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. I normally avoid Semillon because I do not care for sweet wine. It did very well in this blend and it’s a gorgeous wine.
Next was the 2019 Meritage. I LOVED this. The bright fruit was wonderful and playing very nicely together in this blend. This won the day for me for sure.
Finally my flight had the 2018 Meritage. As we expect, the 2018 rain-soaked vintage produced a soft, muted, quiet wine — simple and pleasant with a little bit of tannic bite at the end of it. I liked it, and my sister really enjoyed it, and felt it opened up in her glass over time.
FBI had some mixed reviews on his flight, drinking the orange wine fairly quickly and moving to the 2022 Cab Franc. He felt this was very young and would need a good bit more time to get ready for drinking. The Petit Verdot was the winner in his flight overall for him – as it often is!
We went back for another round of the white flight – with the Sauvignon Blanc, Rose of Tannat, and the 2019 Chardonnay. We split this flight amongst the three of us. We truly loved the Sauvignon Blanc – it was presented very floral, both by smell and taste – and had an interesting herbacious finish.
The rosé of tannat is lovely. I had a bottle of this that I gave to friends for a housewarming gift and they enjoyed it. This is very acidic but that tannat flavors are wonderful.
The Chardonnay was winner of award for “most interesting take on the varietal” for this tasting. We found it smoky with a nice sense of toast on it. Sister liked it so much she is taking a bottle home!
We completely enjoyed our tasting at Stinson. The atmosphere is lovely – calm and quiet and perfect for good wine. They are well into budbreak with their nearby plantings.
This is a winery that I need to spend more time at – it’s relatively close to home (under 30 minutes away!) and the wine is wonderful! Their notoriety is picking up, which will likely drive traffic there too. Go for an afternoon, and be sure to pack a Feast sandwich or two too!
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