Winter Wonderland Wine

There is a forecast calling for either rain or heavy snow on Saturday, or maybe in the middle, who knows? I feel like that’s how things roll these days – we get a news report that there is a slight possibility of snow, and then there is news hype about the snowstorm of the century (which sends Virginians in droves to the grocery stores to remove all bread, milk, and toilet paper as quickly as possible) (this suggests that Virginians have issues with both lactose and gluten, but I figure that is a topic for a different type of blog).

So this weekend is one of those weekends. I’m a bit sad, because I was hoping to plan some winery time to launch 2024 and get some visits under the belt. Alas, not this Saturday.

While things are shifting more toward freezing rain and ice, if we do get heavy snow and it locks us in the house for the day, I at least have bottles to accommodate that. We’re likely, in the event of being snowed in, to put a fire in the fireplace and binge watch something (we have a few recommendations and are open to more!) and I’d start off with a nice chilled white wine to start the day. I know, cold wine when it’s snowing and freezing outside is just plain weird. I’m the guy who (at least I used to be the guy who, before Starbucks got into Union Busting and such) bought iced lattes throughout the winter. So started with cold wine, as long as I am by the fire, makes sense in my weird brain. Remember, I was born and raised in Vermont, so it all tracks. This weekend I’ll chill and open one of Walsh’s Paeonia White blends – although I won’t be able to have it outside, it will be great.

Once I’ve chilled enough though, it will be time to open up a red wine and my weekend pick is probably going to be one of the Arterra 2020 Nortons I got at their red release a year ago. I’ve been really looking forward to sampling this one since the taste was sooooo good way back then. It’s a dark and rich Norton – and unlike any other I’ve had. To be honest, this is a grape I’ve never really believed in, but this bottle changed my mind. I hope to find others out there that will shift my thinking on this grape.

What Virginia Wine are you prepping in case of you get snowed or iced in this weekend?