Winery Visit: Barrel Oak Winery

 For the past few weeks Marie and I have been making trips back and forth to the DC area for job interviews and apartment hunting.  A few times we have stopped to check out some of the wineries around along the way.  One of the wineries we stopped at was Barrel Oak winery in Delaplane, VA. 

The main building.  The tasting room is at entry level and the
 production area is below that where the slop drops off.

 We originally decided to stop there because there website made them look like a nice fun loving bunch of people that just got together to make some wine one day.  They make about 24,000 gallons of wine annually on the premises as well as have about 20,000 vines on the property.  They did say though that they import grapes from all over Virginia.  

View of the grounds from the main building

The tasting room is located above the production area in the same building.  The interior of the tasting room in reminiscent of a pseudo log cabin type feel.  Lots of stone and heavy timber framing form a cozy space around a rather large fire place.  It is all quite a nice space to have some wine.  There is also a top loft space for private tastings for larger groups and events.

Marie with a glass of the BOWHaus
 Red in the tasting room

The tasting room complete with fire place

A view of their back party deck

The day we were there they weren't giving any guided tours but encouraged us to take a self guided tour around the grounds.  It was quite nice being able to just roam about the building and the grounds as we pleased.  Below the tasting room was the production area with the large stainless steel fermentation tanks and a few barrels for aging.  They had a very cool platform from which to view all the equipment.  They also have a great back patio area with a covered pavilion and fire pits, and if you feel like a little privacy they have picnic benches set up all around the grounds closer to some of the vines.

The giant stainless steel fermentation tanks
viewed from above

Their giant 20+ foot door
(its visible from the highway!!)

Me in front of the fermentation tanks

Some of the barrels used for aging

Below is a list of the wines we were able to try during our visit to the winery:
     (Quick side note:  We also chose to stop here because being architecture students and knowing that our school was based on the ideals of the Bauhaus [a very famous design school] when we saw that they were playing with that motif we just had to stop)

• BOWHaus White 2010:  Light, fruity, sunshine  in a glass!  It is a blend of Vidal Blanc + Sauvignon Blanc.  It is Riesling reminiscent and their most popular wine.  This was the wine that still sticks out in my mind.  It had such an unusual smell and taste to it that it is hard not to remember it.  On the nose and the palate I got smacked in the face by a strange banana creamy richness that I wasn't expecting from their description.  It was still very light and crisp just as their description said it was.  
• Barrel Chardonnay 2010:  100% Chardonnay with hints of Fiji apple, Asian pear and vanilla.  Aged Sur-lie in new French Barrels.  100% malo-lactic fermentation provides a rich buttery finish.  Their description of this wine is spot on.  It was rich, and fruity on the nose with tons of bready, cheesy smells that gave it a sense of a fuller bodied wine  It did sport the vanilla from the oak as well but it was hidden in the background and I really had to concentrate to pick it up.  On the palate it was where more of the vanilla began to come through for me.  It mixed nicely with the pear but I didn't get much of a distinct apple taste.  It was a fairly full bodied wine that really coated the mouth nicely and was fairly silky in texture.  It didn't have much heat on it and wasn't overly sweet either.  
• BOWHaus Red 2009:  Chambourcin with a fine blend of Merlot, Cab Franc, Syrah, and Malbec.  Slightly off dry, very fully developed and highly quaffable.  Excellent with a wide variety of foods.  This was one of their other wines that really jumped out at you.  The scent alone made me take pause.  It was a mix of a very vegetal notes with an almost perfume jamminess that I had never really encountered before.  When I asked they said that it was the Chambourcin that I was smelling.  It had a bit of heat on the nose and seemed to be fairly light bodied.  On the palate it was not nearly as interesting as the nose.  I could sit there and smell it all day but the taste was so-so to me.  It was fairly dry with some acidity and a bit of dark berry jamminess but nothing jumped out at me.  There was also a peppery earthiness to it as well that came in on the end.  
• Merlot 2009:  This was by far my favorite wine that Marie and I tried.  Soft and sensual with balanced acidity. This fruit-forward Merlot represents ideal winemaking conditions from vine to bottle.  Barreled in American and Hungarian oak, the finish is reminiscent of espresso and warm croissant.  On the nose it was deep rich and warm.  Full of body and huge dark red fruit smells.  Plum and cherry came though nicely and was balanced by a nice level of tannic structure.  Some smoky vanilla was also present on the nose.  On the palate it was soft silky and warm.  It coated the mouth instantly and stayed for a while.  It was very nicely fruity with lots of cherry and plum coming through that helped to mellow out the tannic component.  There was also some nice soft vanilla coming through from the oak as well.  On the tale end is where the surprise was.  At first I didn't notice but after a few sips the coffee/espresso notes started to creep froward.  
• Chocolate Lab:  A beautifully crafted and totally unique dessert wine.  Port style Chambourcin infused with cocoa nibs.  This was another wine that I could just smell all day and be perfectly happy.  It had bits of the strange smells similar to the BOWHaus Red because of the Chambourcin but it was much much sweeter.  Just from the nos it seemed like it would be a very thick full bodied wine that would just coat the mouth.  It also had tons of dark chocolate notes as well.  The alcohol was very present on the nose which turned me off a little at the beginning but as I spent some time with the wine it seemed to dissipate.  It was like drinking rich red fruits [think strawberry and cherry] covered in silky dark chocolate and a touch of alcohol.  It was an easy drinker despite its high alcohol content and would be a perfect end to most any meal.