Recently, we ventured out to Delaplane so that we could use our Capitol Deal vouchers for Barrel Oak Winery ($45 for $100 to spend at the winery = no brainer)!  We wanted to get some Virginia wine to bring to some upcoming holiday events and the voucher worked out perfectly.

Let’s back up a bit, though, because as we were venturing all the way out to Delaplane we thought we’d make it into an afternoon and ended up stopping by two wineries on the way.  We made detours at Cobbler Mountain Cellars & Miracle Valley Vineyard both in Delaplane.  It was a gloomy day for wine tasting and most people must have been doing last minute holiday shopping because we basically had the wineries to ourselves, which was awesome!

So now for the reviews:

Cobbler Mountain Cellars:  We had been here a few years ago when the tasting room was situated in the basement of the owner’s home so we were excited to check out their new digs next door.  Cobbler Mountain is open Thursday-Monday from 11am-5pm.  They opened their current tasting room in March of 2014 and the room itself features some unique aspects.  For one- they have a circular tasting bar that allows for easy conversation. Another unique feature is that they have a cider pub in the back.  The decor is adorable and although we didn’t do the cider tasting, the pub would be a cool place to hangout for an afternoon. The last special element of this place was the “kids cupboard” under the stairs.  It was very cute that there was a magic cupboard/Harry Potter closet for children hidden away in the center of the tasting room– parents can bring their kids and keep an eye on them while enjoying a tasting.  Actually having a Harry Potter closet in one of our homes, we admired the creative approach to using it for something other than storage.  Maybe we’ll make ours into a wine cellar?!  In addition to the cute decor, the outdoor areas at Cobbler Mountain are nice and well-maintained.  They had several fire pits available for cooler days and a nice view from their land.

We snapped some photos of the place and proceeded with our tasting.  Their tasting fee is $10.  Our server was incredibly friendly and made us feel right at home.  Our favorite wine was the Petit Verdot which was incredibly smooth and was just awarded Gold in Sonoma Valley’s Grand Harvest Competition.  We also liked the 2012 Meritage as a nice blend.  Unfortunately, we did not find the whites very appealing for our taste but we’d be willing to give them another try in the future!  Cobbler Mountain is also in the cider game and features a very cozy cider pub in the back of the tasting room.  We opted not to do the cider tasting but for anyone interested it’s an additional $5 for 4 hard ciders.  They had on tap 2 original apple ciders, a pumpkin cider, and a cinnamon cider.  The winery also featured a very talented live musician on Saturday, which was a nice touch.

Overall, the winery decor was very cute and the unique features set this place apart from others.  The customer service was friendly and outgoing, and the ambience was lovely, but we weren’t overly impressed by the wines we sampled.

Miracle Valley Vineyard:  Our next stop happened to be on our way to BOW so we decided to pop in to Miracle Valley.  This was our first visit to this winery, which we couldn’t believe once we realized how close it is to Barrel Oak.  Miracle Valley opened it’s tasting room doors in 2007 and is located on a plateau of Little Cobbler Mountain.  The grounds feature a pond, an old farmhouse, a lovely vista and patio, and the tasting room which is a historic civil war home. The tasting room is open Thursday-Monday from 11am-5pm and their current tasting features 5 wines and one hot mulled wine.

The tasting room was small inside but they have a lot of outdoor space here.  The front of the building features a huge patio where they have live music in warmer months.  The inside was divided into two small rooms and a back screened-in patio.  Our server was extremely friendly and funny and we had a lot of laughs throughout our tasting.  We tried 5 wines, and liked each of them.

• Cobbler Mountain White: This was our first sample and was a unique white blend made of White Cab Franc, Niagra, and Chardonnay.  It was smooth and crisp with notes of pear and lemongrass.  It was quite enjoyable.
• 2012 Merlot: A lighter Merlot due to a rainy harvest, the Merlot was a medium-bodied, lightly tannic red.  Aged in Hungarian oak, it has hints of plum, cherry, and raspberry.  This would be a nice pizza pairing wine for us.
• Meritage: Made of mostly Cab Sauv (57%) and blended with Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot, the Heritage was a favorite.  It has a very smooth finish with small hints of pepper at the end.
• 2012 Cab Franc: Another favorite, the Cab Franc was medium-bodied with a peppery finish.
• Smitten:  To accompany it’s cute name, the port-style wine has 17.9% alcohol content and is made with Madeira Port blended with Merlot.  Like other ports, the Smitten has flavors of brandy and warms you right up.
• Hot Mulled Wine:  Not big fans of hot mulled wine we also tried this one, but no matter how many times we try to like it, we just can’t help but taste potpourri.

Overall, the tasting room is small and plain, but the wines are big hits!  Try the Meritage or Cab Franc next time you’re out in Delaplane!