Heaven in Chester County

There are some places that I find incredibly difficult about which to write.  Oddly enough, most of them turn out to be some of our favorite places.  You know, it's kind of like my favorite pair of shoes - the ones
I love so much that I don't wear them.  Follow?

Anyway, I'm sure that it will come as no surprise when I say that Va La is one of those places.   We  try to be fair and objective but sometimes passion prevails.  I mean, we are the official, self-appointed Ambassadors of Va La Nation.  The only thing missing is the T-shirt.....just sayin'......

So, with no official duties on the schedule, we headed out to meet up with friends for a picnic lunch on the deck overlooking the Little Vineyard.  What could be better on a warm Spring day than an afternoon of good friends, good food, and of course, good wine?!  And, it's always a treat to spend time with The Farmer!

Between us, we put together quite an impressive spread - from pork to artichokes, pasta salad to pesto, dips, and spreads - sorry guys, no cookies this time.  Needless to say, we had an even more impressive lineup of wines to accompany our fare!  I know, it looks bass-ackwards but it actually worked.  As the afternoon got warmer, our wine got cooler!

The feast started with a 2010 Cedar - five clones of Nebbiolo and Corvina Veronese.  It had a couple hour decant thanks to our friends in the tasting room.  It had opened up to reveal leather and tobacco notes with hints of smoke and tar;  it's a men's club in a bottle!

We moved on to a perfectly chilled 2010 Silk - Corvina Veronese, Barbera, Carmine, Petit Verdot, and Nebbiolo.  This rosato is brick in color, soft on the palate and shows dark fruit and smoke with a hint of burnt sugar.

The afternoon ended with a 2011 La Prima Donna - Malvasia Bianco, Petit Manseng, Pinot Grigio, and Tocai (friuliano).  Crisp and delightful with more stone fruit than the 2010.

Before we knew it, the sun began to set over the Little Vineyard and it was time to let the The Farmer get back to pruning and the good tasting room folks go home.  Another wonderful afternoon was had by all.

Call us cheerleaders, call us what you will.  We are.......Va La!!  

Plant a Seed and it Will Grow

Our Saturday trip to Va La was postponed due to, as Thefarmer Va La would say, "stupid poopy weather".  Fortunately for us, Sunday was a beautiful blue sky day, the perfect kind for a drive, and...my PIC can't think of a better place to drive than Va La!

Not that we need one, but the reason for this particular trip was to check out the just released Seed.  We were intrigued after hearing about it on our last visit and there was no way we were going to miss out! 

Sunday's line-up was 2009 LPD; 2008 Silk, paired with Honey'd Goat Cheese; 2008 Siranetta, paired with Focaccia and Goat Cheese; 2008 Seed, paired with Bouchde; and 2007 Mahogany, paired with Pennsylvania Noble.

We did our requisite tasting before settling into the comfy purple leather chairs with a glass of Seed to enjoy the fine Autumn sunshine streaming in through the French doors.  In French oak for 24 months, only two barrels of this experimental cross of Carmine and Cab Franc were produced.  I kept trying to come up with a succinct description of a very complex wine.  My PIC called it a toned-down Carmine - in a good way.  For him, it tamed something in Carmine that he sometimes finds objectionable.

During our lazing in the sun, I jotted down four words - mint, blueberry, nuts, and mocha.  There's a hint of mintiness on the nose with a huge burst of blueberry at the back of the palate that evolved into this lovely nuttiness that moved on to a mocha finish.

Plant a seed and it will grow - into something awesome!  I remain intrigued and I think we may need to try it again this weekend, maybe with some pizza!

Va La 2008 La Prima Donna

We're not really white wine enthusiasts with the exception of my new found appreciation for some Finger Lakes Rieslings, but sometimes the weather demands something a bit lighter and more refreshing than what we would normally open.  We happened to have a chilled LPD and she was just begging to come out and play!

This is no wimpy white!  From the southwest area of the home vineyard, LPD is a blend of Malvasia Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Viognier, Petit Manseng, and Tocal.  The grapes are picked separately and fermented on the skins for 2 to 3 weeks.  Aged sur lie for a year, it gets another year of bottle age before release.

This rich and complex wine is pale yellow in color with loads of interesting aromas.  It has beautifully balanced acidity and is exotic and spicy on the palate.  Crisp, dry, and refreshing, this lovely lady is said to peak at 4 to 8 years which begs the question, do we have another one?

A Holiday Weekend + Wood Fired Pizza = VA LA!!

PIC - that would be my Partner In Crime - had been longing to make another trek to Va La, not only for their outstanding wines, but they had wood fired pizza and jazz in the little vineyard!  Believe me when I tell you that we need no reason beyond the wine to make the 50 mile trip to Avondale, PA; however, the Glenn E. Williams Jazz Trio and pizza did make it a festive holiday weekend destination.

The pizza, by Chef Matthew Hans http://www.woodfiredpizzatruck.com/, turned out to be awesome!  We tried three of the day's offerings - El Blanco a white pizza; 'Wilbur', a wild boar sausage, spinach, and red onion pie; and The Spicy Italian, a hot italian sausage, pepperoni, jalapenos, and parmesan pie.  The pizzas are about 10" and serve one to two people, depending on how hungry you are...we were obviously pretty hungry! 

We started with perfectly chilled glasses of Silk to accompany our half white, half Wilbur pizza.  A rosato, Silk is a blend of barbera, carmine, petit verdot, nebbiolo, corvina veronese, and whatever else is hanging around the cellar.  It is what PIC calls a red wine drinkers rose.  Complex and deep in color, it drinks beautifully at room temperature or slightly chilled. 

When we moved on to The Spicy Italian - I said we were hungry - I stayed with Silk but PIC switched to Cinderbox, an earthy, rustico styled red made from Carmine.  Both were perfect pairings for the pizza. 

With our bellies stuffed, we relaxed in the little vineyard on a beautiful summer afternoon enjoying the jazz and wishing we lived closer..or not, that could be very dangerous!