Yesterday and today I’m sharing NEW wine discoveries from The 5th Annual Virginia Wine Expo which featured 76 of Virginia’s now 210 wineries sampling over 400 wines.

Glen Manor Vineyards 2011 Sauvignon Blanc

In Tasting Virginia’s Gold, I shared the BIG 2010 Governor’s Cup Winner, Glen Manor Vineyards 2009 Hodder Hill Meritage. What a fabulous wine! Glen Manor was a new discovery for me at the Expo. Located about 70 miles west of Washington, DC, Glen Manor is Jeff White and his family’s farm. The family has been farming the land since 1901…his mother was born here.

They established the vineyards in 1995, first vintage was in 2007 and the winery opened in 2008. Jeff has been a vineyard and winemaker since 1993 when he worked with Jim Linden of Linden Vineyards and then provided grapes for Linden wine. Jeff focuses on Sauvignon Blanc and red Bordeaux blends and varietals. His wines reflect the vineyard soils and the vintage from which the grapes are matured and harvested.

  • Varietal: 100% Sauvignon Blanc
  • Aroma: Very aromatic…herbal, grassy, lime
  • Taste:  Tropical fruit and minerality, as Jeff said “this is a sassy little wine”
  • Price: $23
  • My thoughts: I love Sauvignon Blanc and I loved this wine and brought a bottle home! As I said in the Gold article, Jeff is doing fabulous work and you can taste it. He’s such a nice guy and when I asked him how it felt to be THE winner, he said, “It feels great. And I’m ready to go back home and be a farmer.” :)

Little Washington Winery George

Virginia’s 211th winery opened on 11/11/11 at 11:11. In Little Washington, on what owner Carl says is a beautiful spot with amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they are producing small-batch artisan wines with their grapes as well as some sourced from other Virginia vineyards. They have three wines in their line-up to start.

  • Varietal: 50% Cabernet Sauvginon, 50% Merlot
  • Aroma: Big red fruit
  • Taste:  Red currant and black cherry (from the Merlot) with leathery tobacco (from the Cab)
  • My thoughts: This wine is a nice showing for one of their first wines…soft and easy drinking. It’s named after George Washington himself. I had a great chat with Carl and look forward to getting out to visit them.

Ingleside Vineyards 2008 Sangiovese

Located near the Chesapeak Bay on Virginia’s Northern Neck, the winery looks like it’s in an idyllic spot. As our taster at the Expo said, “they are the only winery with a boat that comes to it.”

  • Varietal: 85% Sangiovese, 11% Charbono, 4% Graciano
  • Aroma: Dried red fruits like dark cherry
  • Taste:  Soft, medium bodied red fruit
  • Price: $19.95
  • My thoughts: I haven’t had many Sangiovese’s from Virginia, and its a favorite varietal of mine when from Tuscany and a few in Sonoma. This was a nice showing and my favorite wine in their line up. It won Bronze in this year’s Virginia Governor’s Cup.

Tomorrow and Friday, wines from some of my old favorite Virginia wineries.