Dreaming of Marterella Winery on a Lazy Summer Afternoon

Marterella Winery is a relaxing place to spend a summer afternoon. They are located off of Route 17 in Warrenton, just a short drive from Washington, DC.  The parking lot is small, so if you arrive at a peak time on the weekend be prepared to park your vehicle in the grass.

The first thing I noticed about the tasting room was the bright, sunny colored paint on the walls and the sleek black granite wine bar. It has the feel of being in the well-kept kitchen of a good friend’s home — very welcoming! Kate Marterella, the vineyard owner and winemaker, was there to greet us with her warm smile, hearty laugh, and amusing stories. Kate studied viticulture and winemaking in France, and she has been growing grapes on the property since 2004. 

The Marterella Winery boasts four wine dogs: Precious, Godiva, Lover Boy, and Carly. I observed all of them lazily sleeping in the tasting room. Kate assured me that the dogs earn their keep by chasing deer and raccoons out of the vineyard.

With some mentoring from winemaker, Brad Hansen, at Prince Michel, the Marterellas produce nearly 2,000 cases a year. All of their wines are made from grapes grown in their vineyard, except for her Chardonnay which is from Mount Juliet in the Charlottesville area. Marterella Winery offers two types of wine tastings: “guests choice”, which is any four for $5 or the “entire wine portfolio” for $8. She offers four wines which  have won the Virginia Governor’s Cup, including: a 2006  Vidal Blanc, a 2007 Chardonnay, and a Merlot and a Cabernet Franc (both mixed vintages). She also makes a two tasty Merlot-based roses, one is semi-sweet and the other is dry. My favorite was an Italian style Pinot Grigio — a great warm weather wine when it’s served well chilled.

The wines all sell for $22 to $24, except for her port style wine, which is priced at $55. She offers a 10 percent discount off of a 3-bottle purchase and a 15 percent discount off of a case purchase. The 3-bottle discount is a really good deal, so go for it! Marterella’s also has a wine club by mail, which gets you free tastings whenever you like plus extended hours on the patio on the weekends.

Speaking of the patio….it overlooks the vineyard! It is a lovely covered patio area with plenty of seating; some tables offer umbrellas to shade you from the sun and other tables have ceiling fans above them to keep you cool. If you’re hungry for a snack to go with your wine, Marterella’s offers brick oven pizzas for $14. I know, you’re thinking of a freshly made Italian pizza just like you could get in Rome…well, it’s actually California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizza, but it’s fun to watch it cook in the brick oven and the crust is nice and crispy. Personally, I suggest that you bring your own picnic and skip the frozen pizza…I think $14 is too much to pay for something less than fresh.

To plan your visit to Marterella’s visit www.marterellawines.com. To learn more about the Marterella’s Virginia Supreme Court Case over the rights of farm wineries check out www.thepetitionsite.com/135/please-help-save-marterella-winery-in-fauquier-county

Mediterranean Cellars Leaves You Longing for a Greek Vacation

Mediterranean Cellars, located in Warrenton off of Route 17, is a short drive from Washington, DC.  The Papadopoulos family, originally from Athens, Greece, started the vineyard in 1961. At that time, Louis Papadopoulos, primarily crafted wines for family and friends. The vineyard opened as a public winery in 2003 and has been wow-ing wine enthusiasts ever since.

Mediterranean cellars charms patrons with its pastoral setting with views of gently rolling hills and horses frolicking in the field below. There is plenty of outdoor seating, either at shady tables under a grape trellis or under sunny umbrella covered tables near a gentle babbling fountain. My friend and I chatted with some of the other customers, which included baby boomers with children who have flown the coop, bikers (as in motorcycles), and a group of young women celebrating a bridal shower. What I really liked about Mediterranean was the quaintness and lack of crowds. Don’t get me wrong, the place was busy, but not overflowing with mobs of people – and everyone was moving at a slower pace, almost as if we were all on vacation on one of the Greek islands. This is definitely a place you will want to stay and linger a while. However, I suggest bringing your own picnic if you can since the only food available is cheese, Ritz style butter crackers, and salami that you can find in a refrigerator in the back of the tasting room.

Although the tasting room was on the small side, I found our tasting room attendant to be engaging and quite knowledgable. She was experienced enough to handle 8 to 10 customers on her own (which is not always the case at vineyards with inexperienced staff) while telling us stories about the wines and suggesting food pairings. While many wine tasting rooms offer patrons complimentary oyster crackers, Mediterranean provides a small plate of crackers and cheese bites. I found this to be a nice touch. Although I must admit I was secretly dreaming of some tasty stuffed grape leaves and fresh olives!

For $6 our wine tasting included 6 whites, 1 rose, and 6 reds. For an additional $4 you can try 6 reserve wines from the 2007 vintage. My favorites wines were the 2006 Chardonnay which had a lovely honey apple nose, a 2005 Belleview Blanc with a  light rosemary aroma, the 2007 Viognier Reserve with a lush fruity nose (it won a 2010 Fingerlakes International Silver Medal!), and the 2006 Matina’s Dry Rose which would be very refreshing served well chilled on a hot summer day. The reds were all complex and spicy, but being 2005 vintages which had aged a bit, they had too much spice for my palette.  The one red I did like was a dessert wine called Sweet Romance Reserve. Indeed it tasted like love in a bottle and would undoubtedly pair well with a nice dark chocolate tort. 

All wines sell for $16 to $39, with the most expensive being a Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon from 2005. I think these reds are overpriced, but everything else seemed reasonable. Mediterranean does offer generous discounts, including 10 percent off 3 bottles, 15 percent off 8 bottles, and 20 percent off 12 bottles. For more information and to plan your visit check out www.mediterraneancellars.com.

Three Fox Vineyards Delightful

Three Fox Vineyards, located in Delaplane, is easily accessible from Route 66 or Route 50. The vineyard sits on 15 acres and produces about 3,000 cases of wine a year. The vineyard boasts beautiful rolling hills, flower gardens, a brick patio with tables, a creek-side picnic area, hammocks, and bocce ball. It is a lovely place to have a summer picnic!

Three Fox Vineyards specializes in Italian varietals. They opened in 2005 and have current plantings of Viognier, Pinot Grigio, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. Grapes they must purchase from other Virginia vineyards include Chardonnay, Vidal, and Chambourcin. My favorite wines were the Signor Sangiovese Reserve and the Alouette Cabernet Franc. However,  their late harvest Gatto Bianco, which won a Bronze Medal, is also worth mentioning – it’s a sassy white with a cute cat label! A purr-fect picnic wine (sorry, couldn’t resist that one!). All wines sell for $21 to $29 a bottle. I think this is a bit on the pricey side, but I also believe the wines are of very high quality. The tasting fee is $5 and membership in the Vintner’s Circle provides you with a 20 percent discount on all purchases. 

The tasting room is somewhat small and is accented with fox knickknacks. On busy days they have overflow tasting tables set up outside. I found the tasting room staff to be extremely knowledgable and very personable. Our server, Michelle, who was born in the Bordeaux region of France, had a delightful personality.  Michelle shared several interesting stories with us, such as how she owned a restaurant for nearly 20 years in New York City before moving to Virginia. Needless to say, she had a number of food pairing recommendations. Michelle spent considerable time dialoguing with us about the wines we were tasting, and she was genuinely curious about our likes and dislikes. Three Fox Vineyards is tops on my list — high quality wine, great tasting room staff, and a beautiful setting in the Virginia foothills! For more information visit www.threefoxvineyards.com.

Barrel Oak Winery is for the Dogs…this is a Good Thing!

Barrel Oak Winery caters to dogs who like to chill out at the vineyard and their fun-loving owners.  The tasting room is a beautiful mountain lodge with a huge state-of-the art wine bar–which has free doggie biscuits by the way! The tasting room was quite busy on a Sunday afternoon, and we had to wait 5 or 10 minutes to be recognized by a tasting room attendant. She was not particularly friendly or knowledgable, however. Lucky for us, the owner recognized someone in our group who was a barrel owner and he finished our tasting. He was quite charming and thoroughly answered all of my questions.

A husband and wife team own the winery. The husband is a builder and designed the tasting room; the wife is a self-taught wine maker. She doesn’t like the crowds so you probably won’t see her in the tasting room on the weekends. Last year was their first harvest so they have to use other grapes from Virginia to produce their wines. The only exception is their Norton, which uses grapes imported from Missouri (yes, Missouri produces wine).

If you want to taste both reds and whites it will set you back $10, but you can taste just one or the other for $5. The whites were a total disappointment (and I’m a big fan of white wine), so I recommend sticking with the flight of reds. The reds include a Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Norton, a Bordeaux Blend called Bow Joy Red, and a Port style Chambourcin infused with cocoa nibs called Chocolate Lab. Note that they make generous pours (at least 4 or 5 sips) so if you drink the full flight (no dumping that is!) you’ll end up consuming a full glass of wine. The wines are priced from $24 to $31, which is on the expensive side given the quality. Barrel Oak offers a 5% discount on half cases and a 10% discount on full cases. Barrel Oak Winery (BOW) members and barrel owners receive special discounts as well.

Barrel Oak had plenty of parking (even on a busy day) and several open tables on the patio so that we could enjoy a picnic with our wine. They also had live music which made our winery visit even more enjoyable. Patrons are welcome to bring their own picnic items or purchase light fare such as a cheese and sausage platter. The day we visited, they also had a special vendor selling locally raised Angus beef burgers for $10. I’m not a beef-eater myself, but my friends reported that they were quite tasty and worth the money.

Bring your picnic and your pooch and you’ll enjoy a lovely afternoon at Barrel Oak Winery! For more information visit www.barreloak.com

Winery at La Grange Boasts Friendly Staff and Fun Ghost Stories

The Winery at La Grange in Haymarket is a just a couple of miles off of Route 66 and is easy to find. The tasting room is in a lovely restored manor house from the 1780s. The large, rectangular wine bar is made of tile and is set against a fireplace mantle which always has a glass of Norton sitting on top of it. Why you ask? Well, the tasting room team, Kristi and Chris, told me that the manor house is haunted by nearly 60 ghosts (most likely from the civil war era) and one of them is particularly fond of Norton wine. The ghosts are usually noticed on the stairways and sometimes glasses have toppled over in the tasting room for unexplained reasons. Things that make you go hmmmm!

I found everyone working at La Grange, from the tasting room team to the cashiers, to be very friendly and helpful. Everyone who tastes receives a color-coded tasting sheet. Red wines noted in pink and white wines noted in yellow. The tasting sheet includes tasting notes such as what area of Virginia the grapes are from, type of grape used, aging process, alcohol content, residual sugar, and winemaker’s tasting notes. A classic tasting is $5 and a complete wine tasting, which includes some reserve reds, will set you back an additional $3. They do not have a wine case club, but they do offer case discounts.

After you taste the wines you’re provided with an order form on heavy cardstock paper. You simply check off the wines you want to purchase and take the order form to the cashier’s desk to have your order filled. To me, if seems like they could save a few trees by using a computer to type in the purchase request — this is not a green winery. However, I did find many of the wines enjoyable, which is a tribute to Chris Pearmund’s characteristic winemaking style. All of the wines are priced between $18 and $26, except for a port style wine which retails for $35. My personal favorites were a 2008 Viognier and a 2008 Cabernet Franc. The Winery at La Grange is worth a visit on your next Route 66 wine tour. For more information visit their website at www.wineryatlagrange.com

Tarara Falls from Grace

Back in the late 1990s I was a huge fan of the Tarara Winery. I always stopped by their booth at the Vintage Virginia wine festival and made purchases, and I also made visits to the vineyard in Leesburg for wine events. Unfortunately, since Doug Fabbioli left Tarara and their wine recipes changed, the wine quality has gone down hill…way down hill.

The tasting room staff person, Jim, was fairly knowledgeable, but he did argue with my Italian aunt over European politics. It didn’t make for a good start to our wine tasting, especially since I believe that the whole wine experience should be an enjoyable and relaxing one…not stressful.

The tasting fee is $10 for a flight of six wines, a mix of red and whites. The only wine I really liked was a Chardonnay which is priced at $30. It was a decent Chardonnay, but overpriced by $10 to $15 in my opinion. My least favorite wine was a red called the Long Bomb which is priced at $25. It is marketed as a football tailgate wine. Now, I am very pro Virginia wines, but this is a complete rip-off. I recommend buying “three buck Chuck” at Trader Joes and saving your money for some tasty hot wings and perhaps a pot of spicey chili with some melty cheddar cheese on top. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

All of the Tarara wines sell for $20 to $30 unless you happen to be a wine club member, in which case you get a 20 percent discount on your purchases. They also offer a 5 percent discount on half cases and a 10 percent discount on full cases.

I must admit that the Tarara Estate has lovely grounds and besides grapes, they grow some beautiful and very fragrant rose bushes. The visitor parking lot is huge compared to the size of the tasting room. My guess is that Tarara takes advantage of the natural beauty of the property and pulls in many visitors for outdoor events. Unfortunately, my recommendation is to skip this winery unless you’re attending as a wedding guest. For more information visit www.tarara.com

Fabbioli is Fabulous

I rang Doug Fabbioli on a sunny Wednesday morning and asked if I could stop by for a special wine tasting since my Aunt from Italy was in town. He was very accommodating and invited us to stop by after lunch. He had a meeting with a reporter in the morning…apparently some of his grapes got frosted with the unpredictable cold spring temperatures. I learned that a few other Northern Virginia vineyards had similar issues.

Fabbioli is extremely engaging and makes you feel as if  you’re a long-time friend from the moment you meet. He talked with us about the wine making process, his family, and his last trip to Italy (albeit 20 years ago). He  received his wine training at UC Davis and his son is in the program at Cornell right now. Fabbioli moved to Virginia in the late 1990s and was the winemaker at Tarara for a few years. Now, he not only owns his own sustainable vineyard, but he consults with a number of other wineries, and mentors a friend who produces wine under the 8 Chains North label.

One of Fabbioli’s goals is to make sure that Virginia wines are as good as they can possibly be. So, the more wineries that produce high quality wines, the better because it helps the Virginia wine industry as a whole. Another one of his goals is to be one of the top ten wine makers in Virginia. My personal opinion is that he is already there!

Fabbioli specializes in crafting red wines and creative wine blends with personality. My favorites include a 2008 Cabernet Franc and a Raspberry Merlot (great with dark chocolate!). He also carries a couple of lovely whites made from grapes from his mentee’s vineyard under the 8 Chains North label. The Sauvignon Blanc was especially good.

Fabbioli’s wines sell for anywhere from $16 to $32. he also has cheese and baguettes for sale. The wine is a good value for the price. Fabbioli’s tasting room is small but he does make good use of the space. Besides the main wine bar, he has several side wine bars, some barrel storage and a wine merchandise area. He also has some picnic tables outside so that you can enjoy a glass of wine on a nice afternoon. Some vineyards have wine dogs, but Fabbioli has a friendly marmelade-colored wine cat instead. He patrolled the winery during our tasting and I’m sure he keeps the local rat and rabbit populations in check.

Please visit Fabbioli’s the next time you’re in Loudoun County and tell him that Lady Vino and her Italian aunt sent you! For more information visit www.fabbioliwines.com