SECOND tasting with food - Dom de Mirail Cabernet/Merlot Rose

Name: Dom de Mirail Cabernet/Merlot Rose
Variety: Cabernet and Merlot
Region: Cotes de Gascogne
Country: France
Year: 2011
Price: $5.95
Winery review: There is a fresh, crisp character to this light rosé. It is eye-watering in its refreshing character, with balancing acidity, smoothing out the edges with a touch of caramel.
my FIRST review: It had just a slight smell, not very pungent just slightly sweet with maybe a hint of what I thought was maybe a little fruity, not too strong at all though enough to distinguish anything specific. It had a little after taste which I thought to be the caramel, and I didn't really like the after taste. I didn't hate this wine, but I probably wouldn't have it again.
I did not have this with food, I had it on its own.
I tried this first the week of 2/17 at the Vintage Cellar

my SECOND review: I tried this in a completely different setting and liked it a lot better but a lot of other stuff was different so I just really wanted to post this!
Last night I tried this wine in my own glass, which is a hand held large bottomed glass with a large opening as well. I also tried this with colby jack cheese.
I basically couldn't smell ANYTHING when I tried to smell it, which I attested to the fact that this glass has a very large bottom and the opening is very large. But, upon tasting, I liked it SO much better than I did when I tried it at the Vintage Cellar. It was slightly sweet, which I tasted some lemony-citrusy flavors, and on the finish there was a nice balance of acidity but caramelly, and I kind of tasted almond, finish. The cheese I feel like really helped to balance it out by cutting a lot of the original acidity I tasted without the cheese. I liked it a lot better, and I see in my original post I planned to not get this wine again, but I'm glad I did because it was much better with food!

Tasting - Potluck Sweet Malbec

Name: Potluck Sweet Malbec
Variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2010
Price: $7.95
Shop review: Deep red brilliant with violet hints. Complex, fruity, and predominant red fruits. Easy to drink, round with persistent sweetness, very well balanced with sweet tannins.
My review: It had a strong smell of a lot of fruits, I'd place as strawberries, raspberries, and maybe boysenberry? It did have an alcoholy kind of smell so I expected it to have a slightly hot finish. Upon tasting it was dry at first, but had a nice sweet finish that I liked and wasn't as hot as I thought it would be. I tasted a little cherry on the end as well. I liked this wine and would maybe try it again. I tried this wine without food on its own.

Tasting - Domaine de Grange de Payan

Name: Domaine de Grange de Payan
Variety: Grenache
Region: Cotes du Rhone
Country: France
Year: 2011
Price: $8.95
Shop review: Intensely spicy and precise, with lively red berry flavors and a hint of black pepper. The Grenache, which makes up the majority of the wine, is deeper and more powerful, offering cherry and black raspberry qualities lifted by zesty minerality.
My review: Upon smelling it was very berry like, maybe raspberries or blackberries? But on the end of the smell I got a strong smell of spice or pepper. This wine also reminded me a little of jam on the smell, but it's spice and pepper smell were very over powering of the fruity smells and I wasn't really looking forward to trying it. Upon tasting, it was much spicier and peppery than I thought and I didn't like it. It had a weird aftertaste, almost sticky. I did not like this wine. I tried it without food on its own.

Tasting - Tinto Figaro

Name: Tinto Figargo
Variety: 100% Garnacha
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain
Year: 2009
Price: $6.95
Shop review: Figaro is 100% Garnacha, made from a selection of the best grapes grown in the oldest vineyards. While not truly an "oaked wine", a short stay in oak barrels provides a nice spicy flavor boost. Bright violet. Dark berry and cherry aromas show a jammy aspect. Supple and gently sweet, with good lift to its black raspberry and boysenberry flavors. Smooth and broad on the finish, leaving behind a hint of spiciness. Extremely easy to drink and an excellent value.
My review: I LOVED this wine. I don't usually like red wines so this was a great surprise and a good find! It smelled very fruity, almost like a raspberry jam. Upon tasting, it was sweet with darker fruity flavors and a slightly spicy finish that I really liked. I hate when red wines have a really dry finish so the spice on the end of this was perfect. I tried this wine on its own without food. I would like to get it again and try it with food!

Tasting - Maipe Malbec Rose

Name: Maipe Malbec Rose
Variety: Malbec
Region: Mendoza
Country: Argentina
Year: 2011
Price: $7.95
Shop review: Intense pink color with violet hints. Fresh red fruit bouquet, strawberry and cherry flavors, balanced acidity, dry and lingering finish. Excellent with tuna or green salad, pasta, spicy Asian dishes.
My review: I loved how pink this wine was, which appealed to my love of sweet wines so I was excited to try this one. It smelled like strawberries and just really fruity so I expected it to be a very sweet wine. Upon tasting, it was very sweet and fruity, but had a nice finish that was slightly acidic and left a slightly dry aftertaste, which I like a lot better than a sticky sweet after taste some pink wines leave. I really liked the strawberries in it as well. I tasted this wine without food on its own. I would try this wine again!

Tasting - Cortenova Pinot Grigio

Name: Cortenova Pinot Grigio
Variety: 100% Pinot Grigio
Region: Veneto
Country: Italy

Year: 2012
Price: $7.95
Shop review: Brilliant straw color with emerald reflections. Fresh and floral bouquet with a hint of pears, apricots and bananas. Fresh and inviting with bright fruit and an easy drinking style with a pleasing hint of almonds in the aftertaste. Pairs well with seafood dishes, risottos with scampi, spaghetti with clams, sole in white wine Perfect also as an aperitif.
My review: This was the most banana smelling wine I've ever smelled! I like bananas, but this was a little over powering for me. On the end of the smell I got a little bit of pears and a slight nutty smell. Upon tasting, it was much more dry than I expected with an almond, nutty finish/aftertaste I wasn't too fond of. I liked this wine but it had too strong of flavors I don't really like so I don't think I would get it again. I tried this wine on its own without food. I did see that it paired well with seafood dishes, so I may actually try this with one.

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!