I have been trying to think of a good weekly post to do, so I occasionally have something focused to write about, and it occurred to me last week, I could do a regular winery post. [Husband] and I have been to quite a few Virginia wineries over the last couple of years, so I feel like I'm in a good position to review a number of them. I don't have photographs of them all, but that's just a good excuse to get out there and visit some of our favorites again this fall!
So for the inaugural post, I'm going to start with
Chateau O'Brien at Northpoint, which is a family favorite of the [husband's family] clan. CO'B, owned by the O'Brien family (surprise!), has a tasting room, about 15 acres of grapes on premise, and 25 additional acres elsewhere in Virginia. The first vintage was produced in 2005 and the tasting room opened in late 2006. the atmosphere is very friendly and welcoming. In fact, all three times I'm visited the owners have been in the tasting room pouring wine.
View Chateau O'Brien At North Point in a larger map
In my opinion, CO'B has two great things going for it: 1) The wine (which is excellent) and 2) the accessibility from DC. It's only about 50 minutes away, straight out 66 and then a quick turn to cross a set of railroad tracks, and then up the drive to the "chateau." The view makes you feel like you're a million miles away!
The tasting room is housed in this amazing Mediterranean structure. It looks like it belongs on a hill side in the Italian Piedmont somewhere, not in Virginia! If you didn't know better you'd think the winery owners built it trying to emulate the look and feel of Italian wine country. Personally, I don't really care for that. There are a few wineries in Virginia that try to look or pretend like they're in Europe. If I'm in Virginia, drinking Virginia wine, I want to
feel like I'm in Virginia! So CO'B earned a few points with me when I found out the building predates the winery! The owners found the property in 2003 and thought the incredibly unique building would be perfect for their winery. Now that I can respect.
The owners did build on a fabulous deck, which they recently covered and added heaters to make it more of a year-round space. The deck is equipped with lots of tables and chairs and the owners don't mind if you bring your own food in and hang around for while. It's a great place to wine taste and then lounge around all afternoon eating and drinking. There is also a fire pit built into the deck, which I'm sure will be wonderful on gorgeous fall days. The only downside is that since it was installed, the owners no longer allow anyone under 21 on the premises. Like, not just your 14 year old whose trying to sneak a drink, but also your sleeping infant in a carrier. Liability ruins everyone's fun...sigh.
On to the important stuff, the wine! I don't know who's making the wine, if it's the owner or a winemaker they employ, but they're doing a damn good job. There are two tastings (and two tastig bars) at CO'B--the "Cellar Collection" tasting for $10 and the "Classic" tasting for $5. I must admit that I have not done the Cellar Collection, but the Classic tasting is just fine, and for $5 a good deal. They don't include the wine glass in the cost, which in my opinion is fine since I have GoodWill'd more VA winery glasses than I care to tell you, but you may feel differently about what you are entitled to for your $5.
There are two highlights in the Classic tasting--Buddy's Bistro Red and the Rose. Buddy is the CO'B mascot and a very sweet, yet rough and ready looking, French Bulldog. His Bistro Red is in the fact the Cabernet Franc produced by C'OB rather than a red table wine as the name suggests. Full disclosure, Cab Franc is probably my FAVORITE varietal of wine. I love Virginia Cab Francs for their earthiness and body. To me, the aroma always evokes the feeling of being outside--to be a big wine snob: the terroir is extremely evident and I do so enjoy a delicious terroir.
The Northpoint Rose (2007) is all things a Rose should be and nothing it should not. It's refreshing, but not overly sweet, it's also not a bad deal at $20 (more on that later).
They also have an apple wine that is just incredible. My experience is that fruit are usually Grade A TERRIBLE. However, the CO'B Virginia Apple Wine is a fantastic exception. It is a dessert wine, so the texture is a bit syrupy, but instead of a sickly sweet flavor, the wine is warm and cinnamon-ee. Just like drinking warm apple pie.
The wines mentioned above are the highlights for me, but the CO'B cellar also includes a Tannat, Chardonnay, a white table wine, and a few other reds that are different blends of the traditional Bordeaux grapes. All are across the board quite good (I will event refrain from inserting my usual caveat "for Virginia wine.")
Price-wise, I would describe CO'B as slightly above average. The wine is solid quality and the prices run $20 to $24 a bottle for the non-reserve wines. Wineries in Virginia are producing so little wine and have been in business for so few years, not to mention that there are fairly large obstacles to distribution and marketing, so prices are often quite steep for the caliber of the wine. I believe this is called "economy of scale" (thanks W&M econ dept....). The quality is there in the Chateau O'Brien wines though, so I think the bang for your buck is pretty good (again, non-reserve). I usually end up with 2-3 bottles to take home every time we're there. But I'm kind of a sucker after tasting 6 different kinds of wine.
So in closing here are a few photos...
The tasting room is housed in this amazing Mediterranean structure. It looks like it belongs on a hill side in the Italian Piedmont somewhere, not in Virginia! If you didn't know better you'd think the winery owners built it trying to emulate the look and feel of Italian wine country. Personally, I don't really care for that. There are a few wineries in Virginia that try to look or pretend like they're in Europe. If I'm in Virginia, drinking Virginia wine, I want to feel like I'm in Virginia! So CO'B earned a few points with me when I found out the building predates the winery! The owners found the property in 2003 and thought the incredibly unique building would be perfect for their winery. Now that I can respect.
The owners did build on a fabulous deck, which they recently covered and added heaters to make it more of a year-round space. The deck is equipped with lots of tables and chairs and the owners don't mind if you bring your own food in and hang around for while. It's a great place to wine taste and then lounge around all afternoon eating and drinking. There is also a fire pit built into the deck, which I'm sure will be wonderful on gorgeous fall days. The only downside is that since it was installed, the owners no longer allow anyone under 21 on the premises. Like, not just your 14 year old whose trying to sneak a drink, but also your sleeping infant in a carrier. Liability ruins everyone's fun...sigh.
On to the important stuff, the wine! I don't know who's making the wine, if it's the owner or a winemaker they employ, but they're doing a damn good job. There are two tastings (and two tastig bars) at CO'B--the "Cellar Collection" tasting for $10 and the "Classic" tasting for $5. I must admit that I have not done the Cellar Collection, but the Classic tasting is just fine, and for $5 a good deal. They don't include the wine glass in the cost, which in my opinion is fine since I have GoodWill'd more VA winery glasses than I care to tell you, but you may feel differently about what you are entitled to for your $5.
There are two highlights in the Classic tasting--Buddy's Bistro Red and the Rose. Buddy is the CO'B mascot and a very sweet, yet rough and ready looking, French Bulldog. His Bistro Red is in the fact the Cabernet Franc produced by C'OB rather than a red table wine as the name suggests. Full disclosure, Cab Franc is probably my FAVORITE varietal of wine. I love Virginia Cab Francs for their earthiness and body. To me, the aroma always evokes the feeling of being outside--to be a big wine snob: the terroir is extremely evident and I do so enjoy a delicious terroir.
The Northpoint Rose (2007) is all things a Rose should be and nothing it should not. It's refreshing, but not overly sweet, it's also not a bad deal at $20 (more on that later).
They also have an apple wine that is just incredible. My experience is that fruit are usually Grade A TERRIBLE. However, the CO'B Virginia Apple Wine is a fantastic exception. It is a dessert wine, so the texture is a bit syrupy, but instead of a sickly sweet flavor, the wine is warm and cinnamon-ee. Just like drinking warm apple pie.
The wines mentioned above are the highlights for me, but the CO'B cellar also includes a Tannat, Chardonnay, a white table wine, and a few other reds that are different blends of the traditional Bordeaux grapes. All are across the board quite good (I will event refrain from inserting my usual caveat "for Virginia wine.")
Price-wise, I would describe CO'B as slightly above average. The wine is solid quality and the prices run $20 to $24 a bottle for the non-reserve wines. Wineries in Virginia are producing so little wine and have been in business for so few years, not to mention that there are fairly large obstacles to distribution and marketing, so prices are often quite steep for the caliber of the wine. I believe this is called "economy of scale" (thanks W&M econ dept....). The quality is there in the Chateau O'Brien wines though, so I think the bang for your buck is pretty good (again, non-reserve). I usually end up with 2-3 bottles to take home every time we're there. But I'm kind of a sucker after tasting 6 different kinds of wine.
So in closing here are a few photos...
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