For Valentines Day weekend, Lucas and I took a mini-vacation to Charlottesville, VA. We stayed at the most WONDERFUL and RELAXING Inn, just a few miles off of Route 29 near downtown (UVA). Cedar Spring Inn & Spa has contemporary styled rooms, with luxurious tubs, fire places, and other accommodations. The owners are absolutely fabulous and are EXTREMELY helpful when it comes to recommendations of restaurants, things to do, and of course, wineries. I just couldn't say enough about this place, you should visit and love it too!
A little background/side note on our experience with Prince Michel Winery - I graduated from Liberty University, and spent many years traveling from home in DC to Lynchburg, VA. I always passed Prince Michel and always swore that I would visit when I turned 21. We actually visited Prince Michel's Old Town Alexandria store (before it was closed) for a tasting in the summer of 2009 before ever venturing out to Leon, VA.
Prince Michel produces both Prince Michel and Rapidan River Wines (all Virginia wines). They have one numerous awards for their wines, some I will highlight below.
Petit Verdot: This wine is usually a blending wine (exactly as it sounds, it is meant for blending, not necessarily sipping). 2007 happened to be a great year for this wine and produced a deep, rich red wine, full-bodied in character with a very smooth finish. It has a full palate of berries. With this wine, however, once it's gone, it's gone.
Merlot: This is a classic merlot with about 3% shiraz. It is made with over 1 year of Oak Aging. It has a soft, silky texture. You can really taste the ripe berry flavors that linger on your palate and you can smell the berry aromas. Again, this wine is an award winning wine and very easy to drink.
Okay so fruit wines at Prince Michel. They have raspberry, peach, and blackberry fruit wines here. Our favorite by far was the blackberry. The blackberry actually won the Best of Class, Best of Bridal AND the Platinum award for 2011 at the New World International Wine Competition. This is a dark, rich wine and actually tastes as though you are drinking blackberries. Best served chilled, it is composed of cab franc, cab sauvignon, and merlot.
And the deliciousness does not stop there. I would encourage you (for those of you close enough), visit the winery or you can visit/buy online! I have found a few of their wines at the Total Wine in Fairfax, VA, but am not sure if you are not local if you will find it there.
No comments:
Post a Comment