My special fella and I decided to take a short trip over Labor Day Weekend. Usually I avoid travel on holiday weekends as it's expensive and stressful. However, we were lucky with a pretty pleasant drive to and from the Staunton, Virginia area. We also lucked out as I found a Howard Johnson Express for about $60 a night. It was cheap enough and was walking distance of restaurants in the downtown area. The dream would be to stay in a quaint bed and breakfast or a 5 star hotel, but you know....that costs money. Hojo Express didn't let us down except for some really weak wifi.
One of our first stops on our winery day of fun was Flying Fox Vineyard. I briefly stopped by the winery years ago and am glad I finally made it back. They are located in Afton close to some other cool wineries such as Veritas as well as distilleries and breweries. Their grapes are grown at Flying Fox Vineyard (mostly their reds such as Cab Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot) in Monticello AVA and Ridge Run Vineyard (mostly their whites such as Viognier and Pinot Gris) in Shenandoah AVA.
Their tasting room is really welcoming albeit very small. We arrived early and were able to hang out some after our tasting. There was seating outside that would have been amazing if the weather was cooperating. I definitely want to return on a snowy day to sit by that fire place.
We bought several bottles of their wine and enjoyed a 2014 Merlot to start off our wine tasting filled day. It can be enjoyed now or allowed to age. It had some dark cocoa characteristics and raisin or plum.
What was pretty exciting was their launch of the vermouth! We found out that day was the first day people could sample or buy the vermouth (well fancy wine club members had access earlier, but I'm not a VIP I just play one on tv). The vermouth is basically all Virginia made except for the wormwood. The vermouth was really intriguing with the spring being incredibly fruity with strawberry notes. We both enjoyed the summer edition and discussed cocktail pairings. I can't wait to see what they do with the winter vermouth.
Interestingly enough during our visit we heard that they may also be experimenting with orange or amber wines. Chances are it will be made with the Pinot Gris.
Flying Fox Vineyard states on their website that they are Nelson County's Best Kept Secret. I truly don't know how this can still be the case, but I imagine with their vermouth and tasty wines, they won't be for long.