Virginia has a many varieties of wines that are made here in Loudoun County. There are eight different types of grapes used to create these delicious, native wines.
They are the following:
- Chardonnay: a dry white wine with citrus, apple, pear or tropical fruit tastings. Generally, vanilla, butterscotch, and toasted oak are extracted due to the barrel aging.
- Cabernet Franc: a spicy and herbal red wine. Extracted flavors can include black pepper, cinnamon, currants, mint and leather.
- Cabernet Sauvignon: a tannic, dry wine with currants, green olives, herbs, and bell peppers, with a tasting of mint and leather.
- Chambourcin: an American-French hybrid grape is known to create a dark color in wine but is very light on your palate. This wine is widely accepted to white wine drinkers as their red wine choice.
- Merlot: a red dry wine that is known to have a strong flavor in the beginning and a soft finish while drinking it. Black cherries, anise, blueberry and plum are the usual flavors.
- Norton: this is Virginia's native grape. The grape itself is dark in color and the wine has fruity flavors that include plum and tart cherries.
- Viognier: This grape was originally grown in Condrieu in the Rhone Valley in France. This grape is easily grown in Loudoun County due to the county's soils, climate, sunlight and growing season are perfect for the grape's perfect conditions.
- Blends: here winemakers combine different grapes together to create a unique but delicious wine. When tasting a blend make sure to ask about what grapes were used in this process.
