A few weekends ago, I planned a day out in the farmland of Montgomery County and I really wanted to include a wine tasting at Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards. Alex had never been to a real wine tasting before because he was medically not allowed to drink every time we went to vineyards over the past two years. I was a little disappointed to find out that the vineyard was hosting their annual Grape Stomp event that weekend. I prefer more intimate and in depth tastings where they don't have to rush you because of the line of people waiting. However, we decided to go anyways. I wanted to try the wine!
We had lunch beforehand at the Comus Inn restaurant right around the corner from Sugarloaf Mountain. The lunch menu at the Inn is very small and I LOVE that. Everything is done well. You don't need a lot of choices because you won't go wrong. A simple soup and grilled cheese combo was just what I was looking for, although I ended up taking half the sandwich with me. Don't get me wrong, it might just be grilled cheese and butternut squash soup, but it's special. You know they put more than just a little thought into it. I've been to the Inn a few times and I'm pretty sure I've ordered the same meal every time.
From there we headed to the vineyard and were surprised by a booth that engraved your wineglass! I've never seen that before and I thought it was pretty cool. I thought long and hard, and came up with something really creative to write on mine.
Yeah baby, that was all me. Except the grapes... that was the engraver's idea.
We did a few tastings of the red wines and I was more impressed by their offerings than I was by the Virginia wines I tasted at the Vintage Virginia Wine fest earlier this year. Maybe I chose the wrong wines at that time, but I felt like they all had too much residual sugar. If a red wine is sweet enough to chill, there is a problem. I don't enjoy sweet wine which is why I don't really drink white wine. The majority of the wines I tasted at Sugarloaf were not sweet so I was happy! We spent the rest of our tasting tickets on a glass of Evo, their premier (most expensive) red wine.
I ended up buying two bottles to take with me. The Comus, a Bordeaux mix, and the Cabernet Sauvignon. I'm definitely a cab sav person, the more flavorful the better. I think I've been a little spoiled by cabs from Napa Valley but this one is pretty drinkable at a decent price. Besides, you can't go to a vineyard without buying some bottles, right?
We finished up the afternoon with a hayride tour of the vineyard. I missed harvest season again (grr!) but there were still a few grapes left on some vines that out tour guide let us taste. I would love to do a wine tasting where they also let you taste the grape that the wine was made from. I should probably actually find out when those kinds of tastings are offered so I don't miss them next year. Do they even do them in this area?
If you look closely at that last picture, you'll see that there are some grapes on that vine!
Now we're all geared up for our trip to California in a few weeks. You can bet that we'll be visiting Napa again. Alex hasn't been there yet and it's always a must-do. If you're ever in the area, you really should do a tasting at Duckhorn up in St. Helena if you want a really long and personalized tasting. It's a bit out of the way but it's the best tasting I've ever been to. You get your own table, snacks, and perhaps a 20% discount on any purchased bottles (if your umm... wine tasting person... happens to be from Maryland as well.) They don't skimp on filling your glass and my tasting there was easily 7-8 glasses. Keep them in mind!
Now, back to what I was originally talking about. As we left the vineyard, we had to grab a cupcake! We chose the red velvet one that was dipped in the vineyard's own STOMP red wine (it's a sweet one.) It was delicious!
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