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The Winery at La Grange


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Well, so much for my credibility but La Grange Meritage 2005 is actually quite good. Very full bodied, jammy and mouth coating with a vague "tinniness" that many VA reds have but overall a very good bottle of wine for $20. It's actually $25 a bottle but they give a 20% case discount. It's also sold by the glass for $6 at the winery which is literally only 35 minutes from the Beltway. (I 66 to Haymarket exit, left at exit, right at first light and another right a mile or so up the road where there is a sign.) Nice winery, too.

www.wineryatlagrange.com

Three Foxes winery, about 15 miles further out, may be the single most idyllic/storybook winery that I have ever been to anywhere. A "gingerbread house" type of setting that makes it an absolute must for any tour of VA wine country. As soon as you see this place you'll understand exactly what I mean. Unfortunately, the wine is amateurish but the setting puts this way over the top and well worth the destination. The tasting room (which is at the very top of a hill) is shown in the bottom photo on this page:

www.threefoxvineyards.com

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Interestingly, the '05 La Grange was not made at La Grange, whose vineyards were only planted in '06. Instead, winemaker Chris Pearmund has been bringing in stock from his existing cellars in Fauquier, for sale under the La Grange label.

Which raises the question of how the La Grange compares to his Pearmund Ameritage. On a tangential note, curiously neither La Grange nor Pearmund are listed as members on the Meritage Association website.

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Which raises the question of how the La Grange compares to his Pearmund Ameritage. On a tangential note, curiously neither La Grange nor Pearmund are listed as members on the Meritage Association website.

For them to be members of the Meritage Association (and for the record, "Meritage" rhymes with "heritage", not with "Hermitage", I get this all the time and it hurts the ear) they would likely have to pay lots of money annually for that privilege, and they might not consider it to be worth their while. Cain Cellars, for one, doesn't.

The one and only time I tried Pearmund "Ameritage" I thought that it was ghastly, as were all of their reds at the time. The whites were clearly superior and worthwhile. I hope that things have improved. I've always liked Chris Pearmund, he's a good guy.

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We are working close together with Chris and Pearmund Cellars/La Grange. Our Pate de Fruit are made with all Pearmund Cellar wines ...

Personally I prefer Pearmund Cellar's wines, the Ameritage Reserve (PC) being my favorite red. The whites are delicious as well, especially the Riesling has been very successful.

You can certainly taste a difference in the wines between both wineries, fermentation techniques and oaks used differ from each other, although Chris has his hands in all operations to some degree ;)

It is really not that far away from the Beltway and 66 - just avoid rush hours - especially on the last stretch on 66 it gets a little congested at times ... oh, and when you are there, ask for some chocolate samples of ours - they usually hide them somewhere - if they are not gone that is.

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Hi All,

I'm new to the blog world, been spending too much time making wine in Virginia. Barrels don't have computers, yet.

I have heard some good things about this site, and looking forward to reading about your thoughts on making the Virginia wine industry better.

Welcome, Chris!

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Chris happened to wander into the store recently, and he had a bottle of his Petit Verdot with him (open, not certain for how long).

I liked it. This was pretty wine, and I'll happily recommend it. I don't remember the price, but I remember a general impression of it being reasonable.

It sounds as though Chris is a "grape whisperer" ("vine whisperer"? Gotta be a term there somewhere...) who is helping to make Virginia wines better. Great to hear!

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