Winery Visit - Barrel Oak

Barrel Oak Winery is located in Delaplane Virginia, in good old Faquier County. This dog friendly winery was one of the first I attended when I turned 21. What brought me to this great place was its scenery, you could see the beautiful building from I-66. What also drove me here was word of mouth. This winery has gained so much attention in Nova, people from Arlington, Alexandria, DC, Maryland, make the trip annually just to get away from the city and enjoy some great wine.

My girlfriend and I go to this place about 2 times a month and sometimes more, especially her. She loves this place so much, she bought a membership there. She gets free tastings up to 4 people and she gets free cases of wine every once in a while, and she gets to go to the membership only parties. A great purchase in her mind.

Now for the wine I tasted that evening. I got there around 5pm, and it was surprisingly empty. It's usually ridiculously crowded, and dogs running around everywhere. But sometimes it being less crowded is better.

The wines we tasted were some of the usual ones:

1. Bowhause White 2015
2. Estate Chardonay 2014
3. Bowhaus Red 2014
4. Syrah 2014
5. This was supposed to be Meritage but they ran out so they gave us a Cab Franc 2013
6. Goldie 2013
7. Chocolate Lab

The first wine, Bowhouse White, smelled of tropical fruits, like peach, mango and so on, I could even smell the sugar, I knew from then it was gonna be a very sweet wine. However, after tasting it, it wasn't overwhelming sweet. it was crisp, sweet, tasted like a white tropical fruit punch. This would be the perfect summer sipping wine.

The second wine, Estate Chardonnay, had some very intense smells. It was like smelling one of those sour warhead candies. I got a lot of granny smith apple, and pear. After tasting this wine, my smelling power did not let me down, I got all of this from the taste. Sour, apple, and some pear and very crisp. you could tell this was fermented in a stainless steel tank.

The third wine, Bowhaus Red, smelled of oak, and red fruits like plum, raspberry, blackberry. The taste was that. plum, oaky, dry and some berry elements to it. From what my server said, they do age it in oak before bottling, which gave it all that oak smell and flavor.

The next wine was the Syrah, this was a beautiful dark red color. The smell I got from this was dark cherries and more dark cherries and this isn't a bad thing, I also got a hint of dark chocolate. The taste had both of these elements and some, I got a hint of cranberry and some other red fruits, and the tannin level was pretty high, it coated my palate, this would be great with a big juicy steak.

Next was supposed to be the Meritage, but they were out of stock so they gave us a Cab. Franc. They do not make this wine, they said it was made somewhere in California, I didn't get a chance to look at the bottle. The smell was oaky, and like the last one, a lot of dark cherries. The taste was similar. cherries and oak. The server tested me on the tannin level, low medium or high, I said medium and got it right. this class is turning me into a wine expert.

The sixth wine was the Goldie, this was a great wine. We loved it so much we got a bottle after the tasting. The smell was divine, right away I got a hint of flowers melon, mango, peach, and I could smell the sugar. The taste was even better, sweet, citrus, refreshing, and crisp. I got a lot of melon, which I love, I could drink this all day. 

Finally, the Chocolate Lab. This wine isn't for everyone, everyone who goes with us either loves it or hates it, I personally love it. Smelling this wine you get a huge hit of the obvious, chocolate. You also get a floral smell. The taste is crazy, it's so sweet, it can be overwhelming to some, but I like it. You right away get more chocolate and even some whisky. This is the true definition of a dessert wine.

Overall, I'm never disappointed with Barrel Oak. On weekends they usually have live bands and food vendors come in, brick oven pizza and BBQ. The place is a blast, it's always lively and very pet and children friendly. This winery is doing so well they have decided to create a brewery there, it starts this April or May they said.

We were planning on taking a tour that day, but because it was late, they weren't doing tours. However, I have taken one before there, and its quit the sight. Thousands of barrels of wine in the basement, next time I go I will take pictures of the basement.

Funny fat cat.

Great name, "Dog"