Can't Visit Charlottesville Without Wine Tasting

The visit for UVA's alumni homecoming weekend was pretty busy but incredibly fun. Even though I've been an alumna for about 6 months, it still felt weird to return to grounds and getting accustomed to the changes. Dunkin' Donuts on the Corner, the South Lawn Project is done, finally, and there's a Starbucks so close to the Comm School that I could cry out of jealousy.

The Young Alumni event was awesome seeing so many drunk people dancing on stage and they rewarded us with a vat of Arch's. Halfway through losing, not unusual, the football game we left for a Charlottesville dinner at a restaurant that few other cities can compare to. Zinc uses herbs from its garden that is about two yards outside from where you dine, gets local meat, and orders the best quality seafood from around the globe. Needless to say, the roasted quail, butternut squash soup, and the Monastrell wine were like introducing a future musician to the songs of Mozart. My stomach was producing symphonies. On the last day and on our way out, there was no way we could renege on our most recent favorite pastime: wine tasting.

It was quite a burden to find out that UVA is in the heart of the Monticello Wine Trail. With only less than two years of being legal to wine taste, how could I possibly visit all those vineyards before I graduated? Being content with defeat I vowed to complete the trail at some future point in time. Nearing the end of our trip we decided to visit a vineyard on our way home. So many options! Within several miles of each other off Rte. 20 there's Barboursville (always a fantastic visit), Burnley, and Horton. Having no cell phone reception and only a vague idea of where Horton was on the map, we tracked over to the vineyard. It was gorgeous! It was like driving up to an estate with a massive building in the distance and beautifully manicured grapevines lined in rows.

The wine inside was just as promising as the view driving in. It had the usual wine tasting ambiance with a large tasting room, wines lining the walls, and the sounds of people tasting wine. Horton had a great variety of whites and reds. The whites included viognier, vidal blanc, and this unusual Russian grape called rkatsiteli. Definitely recommend the rkatsiteli. The reds included the Virginia native Norton and some non-native grapes like malbec, nebbiolo, tannat, and Touriga Nacional. My favorite white was a French-style blend called Stonecastle White that tasted like vanilla and nutmeg according to the wine description. The Touriga and nebbiolo were fantastic. 

Surprisingly, all the grapes are grown on the vineyard which is pretty unique among vineyards who import the grapes and outsource some of the wine making process. The whites and reds were great to try, and even better, they had a large selection of port wines as well. There were two types that tasted like chocolate: one white and one red. What could taste better than chocolate and wine? A wine that tasted like chocolate! I couldn't help myself and I ended up buying a bottle of the chocolatey wine port for only $16. Compared to ordering a glass at a restaurant, what a steal. At a rock bottom price of $0 for tasting and about thirty to forty wines to try, we definitely plan to visit again!