How I’ve Celebrated Virginia Wine Month (So Far…)

It’s the most… wonderful time… of the year……

Actually I really do love the winter holiday stretch from Thanksgiving through Christmas into New Year’s too. But Virginia Wine Month is just awesome and with everyone posting about it, I need to join in. It’s good to pause and recognize, while they’re finishing harvest, the incredible back-breaking work our favorite growers and makers put in to bring us our favorite glasses of wine. I raise a glass to you, winemakers.

My September ended with a week at the beach that honestly included an inordinate amount of wine intake. I started posting about it, but got distracted by my wine bottles and, well, re-binging Ted Lasso (but hey, we shared it with friends who’ve never seen it!).

That first week of October really was a detox week for me, resetting my body to normal workouts, work, and adulthood. But since then, I have raised a few glasses to recognize the month.

This was a good evening, and with the chill in the air, F8 was wonderful to savor with my nightly Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. (I’m old, and as an aside, I’m getting older since my birthday is this week). While I do like to pair this with beef to bring out the richness of the tannat in it, it was also great after dinner to just unwind and be mindless. I don’t know how much is left, but get to a Jake Busching event or to Hark, and grab this while it’s still around. Or hope you have good friends who can share it with you.

Over a couple of days I savored these two bottles too.

Hark’s 2019 Merlot is just wonderful – I’ve had this for a while and I really enjoy it again – it’s very drinkable, again with or without food. Last year I sat on the front porch and handed out Halloween candy while pouring for myself (and a few adults shepherding the little ones about) as an adult Halloween treat. 🙂 This is another of Jake’s little masterpieces available at Hark.

There is also the 2020 Bethany Ridge Cabernet Franc from Walsh. I raved recently about this wine. Bethany Ridge, you know, is magic. Sauvignon Blanc, Tannat, and Cab Franc do incredible things there. This wine presents beautifully. I have a nice-sized stash of this that I look forward to savoring through the fall, as it’s just rich enough that it warms you on a cool evening.

So yeah, it was so good that I opened another and savored that over a Sunday and Monday. Then we went for the big guns, the Glen Manor 2016 Hodder Hill. I love this blend. It’s more dark and mysterious, deeper and along the lines of the F8. That depth is what I truly savor in wine. I don’t recall the blend proportions on this, but we had this with a dinner of salad, chicken, and macaroni and cheese. Don’t invite me to stage your wine pairings, that’s not my forté. But when I have wine with simple weeknight dinners, I often don’t sip much wine during dinner but rather have it after dinner while watching old people game shows on tv. This was a good wine for exactly that. As I remember it, 2016 wines were the softer prelude to the incredible 2017 vintages that knocked all our socks off (come on 2023, we’re looking to you to be a repeat). And this wine reflects that soft, gorgeous and lush experience – not overpowering, but definitely present.

And that brings us to today, Glen Manor’s beloved cousin Linden.

This wine was on the top shelf at our bar, kind of hiding from me. No doubt that’s why I still had it! I remember when Linden released their 2017 red blends. While everyone was raving about the Hardscrabble Red as their absolute favorite and the best wine they’d ever had, I sat in my corner being a Shari FanBoy. This was my favorite of Linden’s three red blends they typically release (from their three main fields). There is a juicy quality with lighter fruit, not a punch, not a ton of tannin. But there is complexity and depth in this glass. While I’m sad this is my last of the 2017s from Linden, I’m thrilled to enjoy it during Virginia Wine Month.

So take a moment and celebrate Virginia growers and producers and thank them for taking all the risks and making something beautiful in a tough place to do it. Get to a winery, open a great bottle, explore something new.

And don’t forget, order your shirt asap. Orders are live through November 3, and then they get produced and shipped. I promise, if I see you in one at a winery, you get a glass on me!