Blue Quartz Winery

September 28, 2024.  On our way home, we got off the beaten path which is Route 29 and drove about 9 miles North from the town of Madison on Route 231 also called the SFT Valley Road.  We were heading to Blue Quartz Winery in Etlan, Madison County.  We found it at the top of a steep gravel driveway from where you feel you are neighbors with the mountains.  It is an easy hike to the base of Old Rag Mountain next door. 

It being Saturday and the first sunny weekend in at least two weeks, the winery was doing a brisk business.  We should note that the winery shares the tasting room and the tasting bar with the Shotwell Run Brewing Company.  Wine is on the right side of the counter; beer taps occupy the left side.  Hard cider and mead are available everywhere in between.  There is ample seating inside the long tasting room.  Check-out the old hickory floor and wagon wheel chandeliers. 

 

French doors open onto a wide patio with mountain views.  Step off the patio into the gently sloping field where kids and dogs will find a perfect place to run.  At the “LOVE” sign you can see some of the Blue Quartz vines  across the valley.  Outside food is allowed, although the Blue Quartz kitchen is open most days and food trucks come on Saturdays.   

 

Hal White, with his Billy Gibbons beard, and wife Christine (Chris) Wallin moved from Arlington and purchased the property in 2009.  That’s when they began planting vines.  Hal is the beer lover and tends the vines; Chris is the wine lover. 

 

                                                                Hal White and Chris Wallin at Blue Quartz Winery

You might think that serving beer, wine, cider, and mead is distracting.  (Chris told us that most customers come for the beer.)  However, the couple, with their son Harold assisting, are able to move seamlessly and knowledgeably between these beverages to serve the clientele.  People also come for camping and hiking.  You may arrange your base station from your RV at the Blue Quartz campground that Chris manages.   

Blue Quartz is a very small wine operation – four acres under vine and between only 400 and 800 cases of wine a year.  There is no wine production at Blue Quartz; they have always been a custom crush customer, first with Early Mountain Vineyards (2019-2021) and since 2022 with Stephen Bernard at Keswick Vineyards.  So, Chris and Hal just need to bring in the harvest, and Mr. Bernard makes the wine. 

Here are our impressions of what Chris served.  All wines were light to medium-bodied:

2021 “Estate Grown” Chardonnay.  Lots of citrus and some pear as well.  B.

2022 “Estate Grown” Chardonnay.  Tasting notes indicates the 2022 Chardonnay has more mouthfeel and silkiness.  Kim rated it a C+.

2022 “Estate Grown” Viognier.  Tasting notes indicate more citrus than floral notes.  C+.

2022 “Estate Grown” Viognier Reserve.  Tasting notes indicate a creaminess and vanilla notes from the oak aging.  C+.

2023 Merlin.  Featuring Petit Manseng from Carter Mountain.  Lots of floral nose.  High residual sugar at 16% and 38 BRIX at harvest!  Almost mead-like dessert wine.  B.

2023 Rosé.  This is 100% Cabernet Franc.  Strawberry and earthy tones.  B.

2022 Marcelo.  Lots of raspberry fruit taste on this blend of 90% Cabernet Sauvignon and 10% Petit Verdot.  Light tannin, jammy.  B.

2022 Petit Verdot.  The 2022 Petit Verdot is made under their new custom crush arrangement with Keswick Vineyards.  It is lighter that the 2021 and memorable. Plum and some pepper.  Will probably surpass the 2021 with some aging, but right now, a B.

2021 Petit Verdot.  We were able to compare the 2022 Petit Verdot with the 2021, which was made through the former custom crush arrangement with Early Mountain.  The 2021 Petit Verdot won a Gold Medal in the 2024 Virginia Governor’s Cup.  More spice and pepper and more tannin and better finish than the 2022.  I preferred it to the 2022 (as did Chris).  I rated it a B+ and bought a bottle.

Blue Quartz Winery offers a relaxed mountain retreat with a libation for every taste.  Bring your beer lovers.

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