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Showing results for tags 'Delaplane'.
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I have been chauvinistic to Virginia wineries for a long time yet only recently have I found reds that I like (i.e. Hillsborough Onyx, Glen Manor Hodder Hill). I have not tried Chateau O'Brien's $80 tannat although we've been to the winery. RdV seems to be another level though. Rutger de Vink is something like Virginia's version of Washington state's passionate Charles Smith (Parker 99 points for several of his wines.) He has an absolutely incredible setting for his wine. This may be as impressive of a winery as I have been to anywhere; certainly sitting at the top of the steep hillside vineyard with its thirty plus mile view is breathtaking. I'm not so sure that anywhere in Greve or Panzano is more beautiful. The tasting room itself sits in front of an almost cathedral like silo that tops the caves underneath. This is a setting that could be worthy of a last taste ever. Forgive my hyperbole but the setting is indeed spectacular. This is also a totally unique winery in a number of ways: it is not easy to buy a bottle of wine. You have to either go to it or be on its mailing list. And it's not easy to get in. You cannot just walk in the door and ask for a taste. Tours and tastings are by appointment only and they are booked up on weekends into December. They also cost $40 per person (personal tour, tasting and reception). My guess is that you may not be able to find it either: there is no sign and it is on a scenic Virginia byway. The land wasn't purchased for Interstate convenience, rather for its rocky soil. The drive to RdV is also special. Out route 50 to Upperville and then a left to Delaplane through countryside that will confirm how beautiful this area is. There are rewards for planning the trip and the $40 is a real investment. Rutger de Vink spent an hour with us today; anyone who visits is escorted around the winery and the vineyards by either him or his winemaker. Rutger is truly an impassioned ambassador-and a believer-who has accepted the challenge of attempting to gain national (if not international) recognition for Virginia wine. For him it was not just a matter of building a winery in Santa Barbara or Napa. Rather he picked Virginia in large part for the rocks in the land underneath his vineyards. He also welcomed the opportunity to make a great Red...in Virginia. This is not easy. So far I believe only two restaurants serve his wine: The Inn at Little Washington and the Ashby Inn. He is going to find resistance. Virginia does not have the image of Napa or Bordeaux or even Walla Walla. It's a hard sell for a $30 wine let alone an $88 bottle of red. (RdV is his signature 85% cabernet based wine aged for two years in French oak. He also makes a $55 merlot blend, Rendezvous.) I'll save details about his winemaking or the consultants to others. I should note that he couriers samples weekly to France for tasting and confirmation. Certainly most important is what the wine is like. Is it worth $88 a bottle? Is this a wine that Mark Slater should feature at Ray's the Steaks or Vincent Ferraud at his tastings? Is this the red that would break through onto the menu at Trotter's or even, incredibly at San Francisco's Danko's? I didn't buy a bottle. I bought a case. I loved it. There may be a number of dinners that we'll postpone for this extravagance but we reasoned that we'll have twelve evenings to recapture the memory and the taste of today. His approach may be risky. Yet it might also be necessary to separate his wine and Virginia's image to take it to the next level. People are going to have to make an effort to taste this-they are going to have to want to try it. (Weekday appointments are available.) This is not a casual sip nor was it a casual effort to make it. It's a world class effort. In Delaplane. Virginia. _______________ Jancis Robinson on RdV with a video: http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201109122.html Website: www.rdvvineyards.com -
Any recommendations for restaurants in Rappahannock County? We will be doing one dinner at the Inn at Little Washington next weekend, but don't have dinner plans for the other night.
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We visited Delaplane Cellars for the first time yesterday. Perhaps along with Bluemont, HIllsborough and RDV one of the most beautiful vineyard settings in Virginia. Five hundred feet up the steep side of "Lost Mountain" the tasting room looks over a valley and a distant range of the Shenandoah. Almost breathtaking to stand in their tasting room, sip and look outside through the floor to ceiling windows. They don't have a 150 space parking lot, nor does their business model depend on weddings or a carnival on summer weekends. It focuses on wine. We met the passionate owner. At some point we started talking about syrah and he mentioned that he was proud of his, the 2010 Shirland syrah. I apologetically mentioned Charles Smith's Royal City, Cayuse Bionic Frog, Sheridan Singularity-even Reynvaan Stonessence. He didn't flinch. He just asked us to taste his a day after it had opened. He opened a bottle for us. I slushed the wine around the glass, inhaled, slushed some more and after a minute or so, sipped. It was good. For $42 it should have been good. And was. But Jim Dolphin insisted: give it a day. It will be better. Much better. We stayed for over an hour and felt that he, his wife and staff could not have been friendlier nor more caring. And they were proud. I should mention that Delaplane Cellars is where Tarver King, chef of the Ashby Inn, had his rehearsal dinner. At Jim's winery. I'm guessing drinking Shirland syrah that was opened the day before. (There is an excellent $49 Left Bank Reserve blend that may even be better on the first day.) Tonight I pulled the cork out of the day old syrah and tasted it. Actually, I drank a glass of it. Well, to be honest two glasses were left and I have now drank both. Wow!!! Just, wow! We return to Delaplane in a week and a half with friends. We are going to open his syrah alongside of Royal City, Singularity and Stoneessence. I have no hesitation in saying that Jim Dolphin's 2010 Shirland syrah, opened a day, will show well alongside of them. @$42 a bottle. Royal City is $140-if you can find it. I passionately believe that Virginia wine is ready for the world stage. RDV's Lost Mountain was the first to carry the state's flag. Delaplane Cellars' 2010 Shirland syrah, opened a day, will be there alongside of it. Enthusiastic, prolonged applause to Jim Dolphin for a great wine. Not a great Virginia wine...but a great wine. His 2010 Shirland syrah, opened a day.
