Unlike previous years, only red wines were tasted at the Jan. 23 competition; Virginia white wines will be judged later this year and announced in conjunction with October Virginia Wine Month.

The following wineries on Reston Limousine’s public wine tour schedule were judged among more than 200 entries from 61 wineries from around  the Commonwealth.

Silver

• Pearmund Cellars 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
• Sunset Hills Vineyard 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
• Notaviva Vineyard LLC 2008 Celtico (Chambourcin)
• Veramar Vineyard 2008 Ameritage
• Dry Mill Vineyards & Winery 2008 Merlot
• Pearmund Cellars 2007 Petit Verdot
• Pearmund Cellars 2007 Amentage (Red Table Wine)

Bronze

• Notaviva Vineyard LLC 2008 Cantabile (Cabernet Franc)
• Veramar Vineyard 2008 Cabernet Franc Free Run and 2008 Cabernet Franc
• Fabbioli Cellars 2008 Cabernet Franc Reserve and 2008 Cabernet Franc
• Veramar Vineyard 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon
• Casanel Vineyards 2007 Chegada Cabernet Sauvignon
• Dry Mill Vineyards & Winery 2008 Chambourcin
• Fabbioli Cellars 2008 Tre Sorelle (Meritage Red)
• Veramar Vineyard 2008 Merlot Free Run
• Casanel Vineyards 2007 Chegada Merlot
• Casanel Vineyards 2008 Batucada Norton (Rose)

Sunset Hills Vineyard

Pearmund Cellars

Dry Mill Vineyard & Winery

Casanel Vineyards

To visit these wineries and sample their award-winning wines, book a seat on one of our upcoming public wine tours every Saturday Sunday. To view a schedule of wineries and reserve your seat online, please visit our online Calendar at our Web site at www.restonlimo.com.

October is Virginia Wine Month, and you can celebrate locally along Loudoun’s Wine Trail and beyond with Reston Limousine’s public and private wine tours.

Sunset Hills Vineyard

Oct. 17:  Fabbioli Cellars & Lost Creek Winery
Oct. 18: Notaviva Vineyards & Sunset Hills Vineyard
Oct. 24: Loudoun Valley Vineyards & Corcoran Vineyard
Oct. 25: Willowcroft Vineyards & Casanel Vineyards
Oct. 31: Pearmund Cellars & Winery at La Grange

Choose your closest pick up location (West Falls Metro Station, Dulles Town Center and Lansdowne Resort) and relax on your way to two of Virginia’s fabulous wineries. Cost is $35 per person, inclusive of transportation and complimentary water throughout the 7-hour tour.

Pearmund Cellars

Catered boxed lunches are available to purchase for $15. Your lunch will contain a choice of sandwich or salad listed below served with chips, a pickle spear and a fresh-baked cookie. All sandwiches come with lettuce, tomato, red onion and provolone cheese.

Price does not include winery tasting fees or driver gratuity. Tasting fees vary based on each winery and group size. Wineries subject to change without notice.

To book your tour now, please click here to visit Reston Limousine’s new Online Checkout!

The results are in from the 5th Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition, and Reston Limousine’s Public Wine Tour friends have collected their fair share of medals!

The competition, sponsored by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association, took place July 18th and 19th at the Regency Country Club at Dominion Valley in Haymarket. More than 100 wineries in 11 states entered their best products, and here are some of our northern Virginia winners:

Chrysalis Vineyards
Best Of: 2005 Reserve Norton Locksley
Gold: 2005 Reserve Norton Locksley
Silver: 2008 Albarino, 2008 Barrel Select Norton , 2005 Estate Bottled Norton, 2008 Viognier

Fabbioli Cellars
Best Of: 2007 Chambourcin
Silver: 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007 Chambourcin, 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc
Bronze: 2007 Tre Sorelle

Hillsborough Vineyards
Silver: 2005 Bloodstone
Bronze: 2006 Garnet, 2005 Ruby

Pearmund Cellars
Best Of: 2007 Petit Verdot
Gold: 2007 Petit Verdot
Silver: 2007 Cabernet Franc
Bronze: 2007 Ameritage

Sunset Hills Vineyard
Best Of: 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
Gold: 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc, 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon
Silver: 2007 Petit Verdot

Veramar Vineyard
Silver: 2007 Estate Club Merlot, 2007 Norton
Bronze: 2008 Seyval Blanc

Veritas Winery (on Reston Limousine’s Charlottesville Day Trip)
Gold: 2006 Kenmar Dessert Wine
Silver: 2006 Othello, 2007 Reserve Cabernet Franc, 2008 Reserve Sauvignon Blanc, 2008 White Star
Bronze: 2008 Harlequin Chardonnay, 2007 Petit Verdot, 2008 Viognier

Willowcroft Farm Winery
Silver: 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon

If you’d like a visit these award-winning wineries, visit www.restonlimo.com for a schedule of our upcoming Public Wine Tours !

Unique Winery Opens

Vint Hill Craft Winery, the latest project by Chris Pearmund of Pearmund Cellars and Winery at La Grange, recently celebrated the first weekend of its month-long Grand Opening with educational wine tastings and tours.

“This is all about you through a customized experience specifically tailored to your interests” Chris says. “Taste wine with us and we’ll show you how the professionals do it and what they look for. Choose to make wine with us and it will be crafted to your specifications, in your style with your name, a label of your design and of course, your story behind it.”

At Vint Hill Craft Winery, individuals or groups will work with expert winemakers from grape to bottle to create a barrel of their own of their choosing. After a year of “hands-on education,” the new winemakers will be rewarded with the juice of their labors – about 25 cases of wine.

Baltimore Wine Travel Examiner Terry Sullivan recently posted that he’ll be making a barrel of Cabernet Sauvignon; read his behind-the-scenes tour of the winery on his site, The Wine Trail Traveler.

Vote for your favorite Virginia winery!

It’s time for fans to head over to VirginiaWineEvents.com and cast your vote for your favorite local winery! The poll ends Aug. 17 and accepts only one vote per computer network, fyi!

At the 2009 State Fair of Virginia Wine Competition, for example, Chrysalis Vineyards, Pearmund Cellars, Sunset Hills Vineyard, and the Winery at La Grange took gold and silver ribbons in a blind tasting of 239 wines from 48 Virginia wineries.

Gold Ribbon
Pearmund Cellars – Ameritage 2007
Sunset Hills Vineyard – Reserve Cabernet Franc 2007
Sunset Hills Vineyard – Petit Verdot 2006
The Winery at La Grange – “Fletcher’s” Chardonnay 2007

Silver Ribbon
Chrysalis Vineyards – Mariposa 2008
Chrysalis Vineyards – Viognier 2008
Pearmund Cellars – Old Vine Chardonnay 2007

Other wineries on our Public Wine Tour also won in the label competition: Hillsborough Vineyards took 1st place for its Bloodstone label, and Notaviva Vineyards and Fabbioli Cellars took 1st and 2nd, respectively, in overall winery presentation. Sunset Hills Vineyard received an honorable mention in that category as well.

The competition, which took place in Montepelier, featured wine varietals of Chardonnay, Viognier, Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot.

“We had the most wines entered this year than ever before, and it is nice to see the industry grow and really go forward even from just five years ago,” senior judge George Davis says. “National industry trends reflect lighter, less tannic wines and less use of oak. We saw more un-oaked wines this year and the submissions of un-oaked Chardonnay is a perfect example. Among the reds, the Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot wines had less oak exposure as well. They all were well-made wines.”

The State Fair of Virginia will announce the top winning wine – “Best in Show” – on Sept. 23. The winning wines will be displayed at the 2009 State Fair of Virginia, which returns September 24 through October 4 at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia.

Ready for your own tastings of these and other award-winning  wines? Visit www.restonlimo.com for a schedule of the wineries on our upcoming Public Wine Tours !

The first winery on the tour, Fabbioli Cellars, is a boutique winery owned and operated by Doug Fabbioli and Colleen Berg. Located in the southern Lucketts area, the winery produces high quality reds including a Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin, Tre Sorelle (a Bordeaux style blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot), Cabernet Sauvignon, and the lauded Raspberry Merlot.

Your next stop 2 ½ miles north is Lost Creek Winery and Vineyard, owned and operated by Bob and Carol Hauck. Lost Creek grows a diverse collection of varietals, including Niagra, Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Zinfandel. You’ll get the chance to sample their wide variety of reds, whites and specialties, but pay particular attention to their signature wines a Vidal Blanc and Merlot.

Cost: $35 per person (does not include tasting fees or gratuity)

Lunch options: A catered box lunch from Atlanta Bread. Co. is available for purchase for $15

To book this tour and to request more information, please call Reston Limousine at 703-478-0500 Option 1.