Winery Visit - Doukenie Vineyard, Purcellville, Virginia

I went to the Doukenie Winery in Purcellville, Virginia with my mom, family friend, and her daughter again. I literally had so much fun exploring and looking around! It was actually the first vineyard I've really been to! We went kind of later in the day so we didn't get to really see as much as I would have liked, so I would like to go again! Also it wasn't as nice of a day out, so I would like to go to another vineyard once it gets nicer out!

So our visit!
It started out as a beautiful day, it was very sunny, but it was windier than we thought and we went at about 4:30!

Silo at the very front of the vineyard

 When you come up to the vineyard you see this gorgeous old silo and little gazebo! My mom said there was a wedding here when her and my dad came last fall and it was absolutely beautiful!

Pond at the vineyard with benches

Vines right in the parking lot!

 The coolest thing I thought they had was vines right in the parking lot! There wasn't much to look at since they had pretty much nothing on them, but it was really cool because I got to get a really good look at them!

Excited to be at the vineyard

Front of the barn

Other pasture

 They had basically a farm on this vineyard as well! As you could see above they have a big red barn that's like their dining room and where they serve all the wines and have a bunch of other dining rooms and sitting rooms! I didn't go through them all because they said reserved and I didn't want to be rude taking pictures, but there were a lot of old time-y looking tables and set ups in their back rooms, it looked like a really cool place to have events!

Pasture

 We then went inside!

Looking out into their pastures

Their small DJ area

 They even had a small area to have a DJ set up!

Wine list for Doukenie

Wines and their medals

 They had this BEAUTIFUL fireplace with a great sign and their wines that had won medals!

Viognier

We bought a bottle of their 2011 Viognier and it was absolutely delicious! It was the darkest colored white wine I had ever seen! 
They had a beautiful little patio and some flowers out there I couldn't resist taking a picture of. 

Patio

Flowers

 So then we dove into the wine! We found out they also served food like bread, crackers and cheese, grapes, and other things. We ordered their bread because it was home made and she made it fresh right then and there! The bread was absolutely delicious as well as the wine!

Bread and Viognier

Sam loved the bread!

Before we destroyed it...

Bread and Viognier

This Viognier we tried was the darkest/brightest color white wine I had ever seen and I couldn't believe it! It had such a beautiful color and great taste, I loved it!

My mom and I

Mom and I with wine!

More Mom and I with wine...

 We then finished their bottle of Viognier and decided to get another bottle! We first thought we might try their Riesling next because our family friend really likes Rieslings. But the vineyard owner was very nice and honest and said "It's a veeery dry Riesling, how about you try it first then decide?" I loved that she said this! It seemed like such a surprise to me that someone would do this, but it made sense because then we tried their 2011 Mandolin, which is a mixture of Traminette and Vidal. It was SO much better than the Riesling. We decided to get a bottle of the Mandolin! And it was delicious!

Glass of Mandolin

2011 Doukenie Mandolin

 After we finished our two bottles of wine, bread, cheese, and crackers, we finally decided to venture outside to see the rest of the vineyard! The little girl we brought with us really wanted to see the horses they had, and they were beautiful and amazing! They had a lot of other animals as well, and we couldn't see all of the grounds so I'm not sure if they had more!

Pond

Horses

These horses were actually so friendly when they saw us they came up to the fences like this and let us pet them! Later on in the evening someone was actually riding the horses, so I'm not sure if they do anything with horses at their vineyard as well!

Back view of the barn

Last but not least, the vines! I looked through all the vines I could see and for the most part there were no buds or fruits or anything! They were all pretty scarce but it was cool to see how they have them wired up and this part in the process as well. 

Vines

Close up vines

Line of vines

Pasture of vines

One more close up of vines

Doukenie Vineyard was great! I loved their wines, they were really nice people and had great good as well, and their grounds were just absolutely beautiful! I would love to take another trip there, whether it be earlier in the day, for a longer time, for an event, for a tasting, or for anything! I really enjoyed going to this!

Wine Dinner - Parallel, Ashburn, Virginia

Parallel menu

I went to Parallel, a wine bar, bistro in Ashburn, Virginia with my mom, a family friend, the little girl I babysit and another family friend. Here's me and my mom and our favorite French Kiss wine!

Me and my mom with French Kiss bottle

 It was so fun, I love this place. It's brand new in my hometown and I've been there once before and they have a great selection of wines and AMAZING appetizers!We basically just ordered white wines!

The Wine List

Parallel is separated into a little bar sitting area where we sat, and there's a restaurant area where you can sit down and eat dinner or lunch! You can order food as well where we sat in the bar area.

Parallel's sign

I was the hefty one of the group who tried three different wines, the French Kiss, the Ca'Lunghetta Pinot Gringio, and the Kiona Riesling. My mom and her friend had the French Kiss twice, and our other friend was the only one who got red wine and she got the Pinot Noir! I didn't try it, but its scent was veeeery alcohol-y smelling to me, so I had assumed it'd have a very hot finish so I neglected to try it because red wines are not my favorite (and I was really enjoying/was very occupied with my other 3 glasses!) We ordered steak sliders, arancini, which is fried rice and cheese balls, and tomato and olive bruschetta with our wines!

Our food!

Here is our beautiful bountiful spread! It was absolutely delicious, and we ended up ordering actually 4 more sliders! (The kids cups are chocolate milk not wine I promise.) I have initial notes on everything and then further notes on how it tasted and smelled with the food!

I had the French Kiss first!

French Kiss glass

French Kiss bottle

French Kiss
smells: honey sweet apple
tastes: apple crisp refreshing honey....pears?
with arancini: sweeter smoother more apples
I loved this wine, I've had it before and I will continue to drink it! It's a really light sweet wine especially for girlier wine drinkers who don't want that really "wine-y" taste and are looking for a lighter juicier flavor!

Pinot Grigio

Pinot Grigio
smells: melon, honey
tastes: melon and pears, so crisp and light
with steak sliders: extra melon-y, I can really tell it's melon and it had a great smooth finish
I also really liked this wine, considering how cheap it was I thought it wouldn't be as good but it was great! It had a really nice fruity bouquet, with a hint of honey. Upon tasting, I really liked how you could tell that it was melon, as I always say I think everything is apples, and this time I didn't think there was any chance of apples in it, it had such a distinct melon taste! I loved it with the food!

Riesling

Riesling
smells: slightly peppery with a fruity finish (pears?)
tastes: slightly sweet with an acidic peppery finish, pears and melons? maybe honey?
with bruschetta: olives over take palette a little, but finish was nicer
This wine was a great Riesling in that I usually don't like how dry Rieslings can be and for how dry this one was I really liked it! It was slightly peppery and it made my nose tingle a little bit but I liked that! Like I said in my original notes, the olives in the bruschetta over took my palette a little for the wine but it did make the finish a little nicer and a little less peppery and more smooth! I still liked this wine a lot!


I loved doing this and it was a lot of fun! I hope to be able to go back again and maybe do a more serious pairing where they give you food with the wines you try, we more so just tried wines and then picked whatever appetizers we wanted to try with the wines! But it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed trying these new wines and being able to try them with my mom as well!

Tasting - Ca'Lunghetta Pinot Grigio

Name: Ca'Lunghetta Pinot Grigio
Variety: Pinot Grigio
Region: Pinot Gris
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: 5 glass/20 bottle (happy hour 3 dollar glass!)
Shop review: Refreshing, vibrant citrus with melon, pear, and crisp finish
My review: I also loved this white wine! Upon smelling it was very melon-y with a fruity bouquet. Upon tasting, it had a very pear-citrus taste, but I swear I tasted apples like I usually do in a lot of white wines! It was very refreshing and little bubbly, kind of like a sparkling wine would be but not quite like that. I also tasted this wine with my mom, and I tried it with arancini, which are little fried rice balls and cheese! It didn't change it too much, maybe masked the flavors a little bit since it was a very over powering food of flavors, but I could still taste a very melon-y finish every time with it! I loved this wine, especially for the price!

Tasting - French Kiss

 Name: French Kiss
Variety: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Bordeaux
Country: France
Year: 2012
Price: 7 glass/25 bottle (I got it for $5 glass during happy hour!)
Shop review: Wine is crisp with delightful minerality, apple, lemon and honey.

My review: I love love love this wine, I've had it many times before and will continue to have it! It's sweet, crisp, light and has just the right mixture of apple, lemon, and honey it really is so good you can really taste those three flavors so distinctly. It's smell is really sweet with a lot of apple and honey on the nose of it. Upon tasting its very sweet and refreshing, almost making you think its carbonated or a little bubbly. I also tried this wine with my mom, and with steak sliders. I would say that it didn't make much of a difference on the taste of the wine.

Tasting - Doukenie 2011 Mandolin

Name: Mandolin
Variety: Traminette and Vidal
Region: Purcellville, VA
Country: United States
Year: 2011
Price: 21/bottle (nonmember)
Winery review: This very fruity blend of Traminette and Vidal has citrus, orange, and litchi flavors. It is an exotic blend that is not only a success on the table but also a pleasure to share with friends on a hot summer day. The low residual sugar gives a very nice round feeling. It has a long fruity finish.
My review: I LOVED THIS WINE! It was soooo good. I tried it first on its own then with crackers and provolone cheese and it was amazing with both! I also tried this wine at a vineyard with my mom!

It had a very fruity scent and a bunch of other scents I couldn't exactly place but I assume it's the litchi but I just really genuinely liked the smell, I smelled it a lot before I tasted it! Upon tasting on its own it was very light and had a great mix of fruitiness and had a long sweet finish. With the bread, crackers, and cheese it was even more fruity, and I almost thought I could taste a little bit of apple! It was very good and I would love to try it again!

Tasting - Doukenie 2011 Viognier

Name: Viognier
Variety: 100% Viognier
Region: Purcellville, VA
Country: United States
Year: 2011
Price: 25/bottle (nonmember price)
Winery review: A delicate golden wine, creamy, yet light and refreshing and bright in color. The aromas of apricot, apple, honey, and exotic flavor create a very fruit bouquet. The long smooth finish ends with a touch of light acid and citrus. Try this fine wine with curry dishes, gazpacho, or spinach and artichoke dip. 
My review: I tried this wine with my mom at the vineyard!

 My mom loves wine....
 I tried this wine on its own first and then with bread. The description said that it was bright in color so I expected it to be clear, but then I realized they meant actual color, because it was the most opaque white wine I've ever seen! It almost looked yellow really. Its smell was very sweet, with a lot of apple and honey scent. Upon tasting first without the bread, it was very apple-y and juice with an acidic finish. With bread, it was a little more acidic at first but the after taste was much sweeter than before. I liked this wine, but it was not of my favorites that we tried at the vineyard.

 this is the best picture I got with the really bright color of the wine! And their home made bread that I tried the wine with.

Tasting - R. Collection Chardonnay

 

Name: R. Collection Chardonnay
Variety: 100% Chardonnay
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2011
Price: 7 glass/26 bottle

Shop review: The Chardonnay has melon, guava, and creamy notes followed by bright fruit flavors of pineapple, lemon and lime. A rich smooth feel with a light oak finish, this wine has nicely balanced acidity and a smooth finish.

My review: I tasted this with chicken, potatoes, and green beans and I drank this bottle with my parents!

My dad picked just about every wine we drank this break, but my mom really doesn't like red wine so majority of everything I tasted was white wine! This was a Chardonnay I really liked because it wasn't too dry on the finish and I could actually taste the oak! Upon smelling it was very fruity and melon-y, but I've never smelled a guava so I'm not quite sure what that was like. With the chicken it was very smooth and a lot of the lemon flavor came out for me. I really liked this wine and had two glasses and would love to try it again! I had this wine at a new place by my house in Ashburn, Virginia, called The V and they have wines and beers from wineries and breweries all around Virginia! It's really cool and I would love to go there again.