The name might be fun, but the wine is no joke

We’ve spent way too much time lately stuck in our house because of the Snoverkill we’ve been experiencing in Virginia.  Because of this, we haven’t been able to visit VA wineries.  This has not kept us from drinking local, however.  We’ve just turned our attention to our wine racks and have actually taken some notes on what we’ve been drinking so we can share our experiences with you.

One of the recent storms resulted in our winery assault vehicle being hidden by snow, and made me think about all the snow we were getting in December.  This made me think about Well Hung Vineyard since it was on a rare Saturday with no snow in December when I met two of the three women who make up this venture at the Holiday Market in Charlottesville.  They were a lot of fun to chat with as we braced ourselves against the cold, and I really enjoyed the dace that they didn’t take themselves too seriously but really cared about their wine.  They currently offer two wines, although their line will expand to 3 during 2010, and I was able to try both at the market.  Both impressed me as fun, fruity wines that had a balanced oak influence and would be fun to drink.  I bought a bottle of each so that Grape Envy Guy and I could try them together at some point in the future.  Stormy weather gave us this opportunity.

The first wine we tasted was the ’08 chardonnay.  On the nose I got light oak, green apple and yeast – I love a yeasty white wine, so I was really excited.  When I got around to tasting the wine – I mean I had to savor that yeasty nose for a while – it struck me as a bright, fruity wine with hints of oak and a balanced acidity.  All in all, it was a good, all purpose white that very drinkable.  It’s not my favorite chardonnay (currently that’s the Linden Hardscrabble chard), but this wine would generally make people happy.

A day or two later, we cracked open the ”08 cabernet franc.  I was immediately struck by how dark the wine was.  I’m used to cab francs having a bit lighter color, but I love a dark wine, so I started to get excited for this one as well.  The wine had a lot of complexity on the nose.  I got dark cherry/plum, spice, caramel/oak, and a bit of leather and chocolate.  In the mouth it was a mellower wine.  There were definitely dark fruit elements and there were hints of oak/toastyness/caramel.  The wine had a very short finish and a lighter mouthfeel than I would have expected, but it was another enjoyable wine.

This is a really small operation; they are part of the custom crush operation at Virgina Wineworks, and they work with Michael Shaps to craft their wines.  They’ve also worked really hard to get their wines out into the world so you can discover them.  They have an online shop where you can buy their wines ($17 for the chard and $19 for the cab franc) along with a lot of really fun gear such as aprons with a carefully placed “well hung” logo. You can also find their wines at a number of local wine shops through the c-ville area and beyond as well as on some restaurant wine lists.

Keep an eye on these women and try their wines if you get the chance.  I’m sure glad I did.

The The name might be fun, but the wine is no joke by Swirl, Sip, Snark, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.