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.

Recent blog posts have covered:
* Wine Enthusiast magazine’s recent listing of Veramar Vineyards’ 2007 Cabernet Franc with “one of the highest scores ever awarded a Virginia wine” — an 87. Here’s the Wine Enthusiast review, dated Nov. 12, 2009:

This seductive Cabernet Franc opens up with aromas of cherry, vanilla and spice leading into layers of blackberry, plum, cinnamon and cedar on the palate. Fruit and spice are balanced here, and medium tannins means the wine can age. Paired with roasted duck or beef, the wine is a sure hit.

Kluge Estate

* Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard sweeping the Inaugural Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Wine & Spirit Competition, with six awards for its 2004 SP Rose, 2004 SP Blanc de Blanc, 2004 SP Reserve, and 2004 SP Blanc de Noir

Three Fox Vineyards

* Virginia wineries’ awards in the San Francisco Wine Competition, including  Three Fox Vineyards’ 2008 Piemontese Nebbiolo; Veramar Vineyard’s 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2008 Cabernet Franc; and Kluge Estate’s 2005 Red

Other blogs that offer news and reviews of Northern Virginia wineries:
CellarBlog
My Vine Spot
Virginia Wine Time
Wine Trail Traveler

Enjoy some of these award-winning wines on stress-free public wine tours offered by Reston Limousine every Saturday and Sunday. Please check our online Calendar for a schedule of the upcoming tours.

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!

This year’s results were announced at The London International Wine Fair, which took place May 12-14. A total of 10,285 wines and 2,240 companies submitted their products in this year’s Decanter competition, according to the monthly wine magazine’s Web site.

Following are our wine tour winners:

Pearmund Cellars’ Petit Verdot 2007 (red still)
Pearmund Cellars’ Viognier 2007 (white still)
Veramar Vineyard’s Chardonnay Reserve 2007 (white still)
Veritas Vineyard’s Kenmar 2006 (white sweet)
Veritas Vineyard’s Viognier 2007 (white still)

Want to taste award-winning wines from the 2009 Decanter winners? It’s as easy as booking a reservation on one of Reston Limousine’s wine tours!
Pearmund: Public Wine Tours on June 20, July 12
Veramar: Public Wine Tours on June 28, July 25
Veritas: Charlottesville Wine Tour June 20, July 19, August 15

You can book a Reston Limousine Private Wine Tour to be the first to explore the new route that takes you through 10 wineries from Bluemont to Linden!

“These are all family wineries with high quality, handcrafted wines,” Jim Bogaty, owner and CEO of Veramar Vineyard and president of The General’s Wine & History Trail. He notes that while other wine trails are confined within county lines, the wineries along the new are located in seven different counties.

He also offered suggestions for visitors in approaching a complete circuit of the trail:

Part 1: Veramar Vineyard, Bluemont Vineyard, Sunset Hills Vineyard and Lost Creek Vineyard & Winery
Part 2: Three Fox Vineyards, Swedenburg Estate Vineyard and Winery at La Grange
Part 3: Philip Carter Winery, Fox Meadow Winery and Gadino Cellars.

“We have the beauty of Virginia scenery, great wines, and all of our 10 wineries have a unique history,” Mr. Bogaty says. Those Civil History notes are included in a distinctive wine trail passport (they call it the Campaign Journal) that you can pick up at any of the wineries or download at www.thegeneralswinetrail.com.

Visitors earn stars at each winery they visit and can return the journal at the end of the year. Winners will be randomly drawn for a grand prize of a night’s stay at the celebrated L’Auberge Provencale in Boyce, as well as a second prize of a $75 gift certificate from The General’s Wine & History Trail.

Ready to book your Reston Limousine chauffeured tour of The General’s Wine & History? Please call 1-800-LIMO-141 (1-800-546-6141) or book with us online.

After pickups starting at 10 a.m., you’ll arrive at Loudoun Valley Vineyards in Waterford, a 20-acre estate winery that Cameron and BreeAnn Moore took over in February 2008.

BreeAnn serves as winemaker and is no stranger to the industry, having worked at Beringer Vineyards in California and closer to home, Rappahanock Cellars and Unicorn Winery. This season visitors will enjoy a wine portfolio that’s entirely her own, including a new viognier that’s “tasting very well right now,” Cameron says.

While it’s early yet to enjoy the winery’s planned concert series and pit barbecue that will start around June, you’ll still get to enjoy Bree’s artisan wines and picnic fare including fresh breads, salami and cheeses from the estate’s kitchen. Coupled with a view form the wraparound deck overlooking the vineyard, it’s a wine country experience you won’t soon forget.

Following Loudoun Valley Vineyards, you’ll take a trip over the mountain to reach the Bogaty family’s Veramar Vineyard in Berryville.

The boutique winery, which produces about 4,000 cases per year, recently medaled at the 2009 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its 2007 Chardonnay and 2007 Cabernet Franc. The Cab Franc will be hitting international palates in May, when  the family will be showcasing and selling the elegant red at a London trade show.

Now’s your chance to taste these award-winning wines before they’re taken off the tasting menu and sold only as a library wine — a tip graciously provided to Reston Limousine blog by family matriarch Della Bogaty.

If you’ve saved room for food, the winery has a special Wino and Spud Bar event that day: get a baked potato with your favorite toppings for $3 to pair with your choice of Veramar wines from 1-4 p.m.

Cost: $35 per person (does not include tasting fees or gratuity)
Lunch options: A catered box lunch from Atlanta Bread Co. are available for purchase for $15.
Tasting Fees:

Loudoun Valley: $5 for groups of less than eight; $10 for groups of eight or more and includes souvenir glass
Veramar: $5

Schedule:

10 a.m. pickup West Falls Church Metro Kiss & Ride
10:30 a.m. pickup Dulles Town Center
10:45 a.m. pickup Lansdowne Resort
~ 11:15-11:30 a.m. Arrive at Loudoun Valley Vineyards
~ 1:30 p.m. Arrive at Veramar Vineyard
~ 3-3:15 p.m. Depart Veramar Vineyard

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