The Winery at La Grange. October 2021

The Winery at La Grange.  October 9, 2021. 

October is Wine Month in Virginia – a time to celebrate the harvest.  Perhaps the best way to celebrate is to visit a winery.  Kim and I visited the Winery at La Grange in Haymarket on a cloudy day with impending rain.  The winery has a manor house, the original part of which was built in 1797 and completed in 1830 by Benoni Harrison who supposedly still haunts the place.  It is he that named it “La Grange.”  The manor house is situated on a small hill overlooking a wide vineyard. The manor house has a small tasting area inside and a larger tasting bar outside.  There is some indoor seating upstairs as well as a cellar converted into a wine cave.  Outdoor seating is at picnic benches, and there are some fire pits with the vineyards rolling away in the distance.  Outside food is allowed or you can see if the Winery has arranged for a food truck.  La Grange is pet friendly.  Parking is somewhat limited.

They have 3.5 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon, 1.5 acres of Petit Verdot, and 1.3 acres of Petit Manseng growing on the estate.  They also bring juice in from other Virginia vineyards and out of state, principally from Washington State.  In fact, according to the staff, La Grange is probably only 50% Virginia wine overall.  According to Leahy, La Grange produces around 8,000 cases annually.

La Grange is a fictitious name for PWC Winery LLC, formed in 2005 with Chris Pearmund leading a group of local investors.  The Winery opened in 2006, but the local investor group sold the winery in 2012 to a Chinese company whose goal was to export bottles in small numbers to China in the hope that it will be able to get in on and educate the burgeoning Chinese wine market.  See, Jeremy Borden, “Chinese-owned Prince William winery, La Grange, begins exports to China,” Washington Post October 16, 2012, accessed at https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/chinese-owned-prince-william-winery-la-grange-begins-exports-to-china/2012/10/12/4d6899dc-1323-11e2-ba83-a7a396e6b2a7_story.html on October 11, 2021.  As of 2017 La Grange is 60% owned by Wesion, Inc., whose president, and the listed president of PWC Winery/La Grange, is Wanzhong Zhang. 

Kim and I had separate tastings:

2019 Petit Manseng.  Kim rated this a B+ and we bought a bottle. It is medium bodied with some floral and citrus.

2019 Albarino.  Kim rated this a C+.  It was not dry as advertised.

2020 Sauvignon Blanc.  Kim rated this a B+ also.

2020 White Meritage.  It is rare to find a white Meritage in Virginia.  Rare as it is, Kim did not like it that much.

2020 Riesling.  Citrus and line.  Dry to medium dry.  Even though this is a Washington State wine, it was a good Riesling.

General’s Battlefield 2.5 (NV).  Served in a Port-style bottle, this red blend is very light; no tannins, no finish.  At $45.00, you might wonder what you’re buying.

2017 Cabernet Sauvignon.  Similar to General’s Battlefield – light in color, no finish and very little tannin.

2017 Meritage.  This is Washington State Meritage. It has more body and some finish compared to the Cab Sauv.

2019 Merlot.  I found the Merlot the best of the reds on the standard tasting menu. This Merlot is light and uncomplicated with good tannins but not much finish.

Thanks to Bethany, our server, we also enjoyed three extra wines not on the tasting menus:

2020 Rosé.  This wine has none of the rosé color and is quite dry if you like dry rosés.

2018 Petit Verdot.  This wine was superior to the other reds on the standard tasting menu.  It has light tannins but is complex and worth your while.  It is a Virginia wine, thank goodness.

2019 Benoni.  This is a new release, and I can say that for my taste this outclassed the selections on the standard tasting menu. It is an earthy blend of Chambourcin and Cab Sauv with some tannins and good balance. I chose the Benoni over the Petit Verdot to buy a bottle, but the choice was close.  The Benoni is also a Virginia wine. 

I recommend that you ask for the Petit Verdot or the Benoni.  Both are relatively better priced than the Merlot at $50 or the Zinfandel at $60.

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