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| Thank goodness it's just a 10 min trip to visit this great place! |
Luckily I had the last weekend of spring break to relax at home with my parents and take a trip to the new winery near my house! I guess the winery isn't exactly brand new, but I hadn't been there since turning twenty-one. I easily convinced my mom to go with me, because persuading her with some wine wasn't too hard. My younger sister who tagged along (and drove us) was slightly harder to convince, since she would obviously be missing out on the wine tasting aspect. Luckily we packed a delicious snack tray full of hummus, artichoke dip, cheddar cheese, monterey jack cheese, and an assortment of bread and crackers. After a short ride in the car, we arrived at the Winery at Bull Run and even made it in time for some live music.
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| My mom and I |
The winery opened in 2012 and prides itself on being the closest winery to Washington D.C. The vineyard sits on the 21-acre property and grow Norton grapes. The Hickox Family are the proprietories and farmers and the vineyard is adamant on creating a family farm-oriented winery. The executive winemaker at the winery, although not part of the Hickox family, has been in the Virginia wine industry for over 23 years. The winery embraces the cultural heritage of a Virginia past, yet brings some present and fine wines from the region.
For being such a new winery, the wines produced have won many awards. At the 2014 Dallas Morning New & TEXSOM Wine Competition their 2012 Lilly's Viognier was a Gold Medal Winner. Their 2012 Norton came in a close second and won a silver medal. Additionally, the Northern Virginia Magazine ranked Bull Run one of the "Top Wineries" 2012.
My mom and I chatted with the owner and decided that the pick of the day was going to be the 2012 Pinot Gris. It was 100% Pinot Gris and aged in 100% Stainless Steel. The winemaker's tasting notes explained the wine ," apricot, pear, and citrus is apparent on the nose of this wine. it has a crisp light mouth feel with a linger of green apples on the palate. Pairs well with fruit, cheese, seafood in butter, cream, or red bell pepper sauce." This wine was exactly how it was described and it had a wonderful balance. It was light and crisp and paired great with our spinach and artichoke dip! The wine also had a smooth texture and when it was paired with the monterey jack cheese an unbelievable explosion of flavor coated my palate. There were so many different fruit varieties, but they all blended into a perfect fruit salad with a slight tang. For $26 it was obviously more than our average grocery store purchase, but definitely worth it! This wine had 13.5% alcohol and 0% residual sugar. It won a bronze medal at the 2013 Grand Harvest and was told that it was an extremely popular type of wine.
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| The selected favorite |
The other white wine options were very tempting, as they each have won a significant award
- 2012 Chardonnay: Bronze 2013 Next Generation
- 2012 Lilly's Viognier: Gold 2013 Wines of the South Best in Show!
- 2013 Delaney: Silver in 2013 Wines of the South
Overall, my experience at The Winery at Bull Run was a great one and I am definitely going to take advantage of this place being so close to my home over the summer. Because they are so new, there are so many cool events the have to pump up the winery experience, but I will need to schedule a special tour next time! I really enjoyed talking to all those that worked at the winery and can't wait to venture back there soon!
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| My lovely family members |
