That is to say that when I drink wine I look for something that I can enjoy that compliments food or an event or both and that I can thoroughly enjoy with others.

For some reason, some people seem to think this is wrong. That when tasting wine, it should be done on one’s own, swished, spat out, and while sticking one’s nose high in the air, be able to remark on the sweetness, acidity, tannin, balance, and body – all while being able to identify the different subtle flavors.

It’s great being able to do that; I think it is an important step if you have consumed enough of a varietal to know what to expect when you buy one, to know if it is good or bad, and to be able to know if a person likes one varietal, if they are more or less likely to enjoy something different.

Characteristics of wine, however, are not what make wine great; wine should be (and is!) an experience to be shared with family and friends. It should be talked about and talked over, sipped and quaffed, spilled, laughed at, and forgiven the fact that there are those out there who have no friends or family and all they know how to do is to talk down to others about an experience that they only understand half of.

So you can see why I’d think I drink wine the wrong way – and so does almost everyone else. The truth is that I drink wine the right way; I drink it like the rustic Italians and French – as a shared experience before, during, after, around, through, over, and under a meal. Why else would there be wine for every occasion?

Even the Parisians, in their tiny little better-than-thou hearts know this. In fact, from the Parisians I’ve encountered, the only way to get many of them to admit that they can relate to people, they just choose not to, is to hide the spit bucket.

I get odd looks at tasting rooms; I’m always with a group, the group is always vocal, not always refined, but almost always cheerful. We’re inquisitive and make connections with other wines we have had, sometimes on the same trip, sometimes not. We will talk about why we like a wine (or do not like a wine) with each other and our host.

So wine may be evaluated on a five point scale, if one must. I would put money down (with the odds in my favor) that I enjoy wine way more than most people who think of wine like that, though.

What makes a good vacation? Well, in my opinion there has to be some amount of exploration, good food, and good drink.

That made last Thursday’s and last Friday’s tour around the Loudoun Wine Trail in Loudoun County, Virginia, west of Washington, D.C. a pretty good way to start a vacation. My friends Chris and Rachyl (who knitters from Ravelry may know as The Knitting Pirate) hosted our friend Michael and me for the Memorial Day weekend, so the local wineries were high on the priority list.

We started with a known favorite – Chrysalis Vineyard in Middleburg. Every time we visit, we’re more impressed with the quality of wine that is produced there. While Michael was exceptionally impressed (as always) with the Locksley Reserve, I found myself quite taken with the ‘05 Tannat and the ‘06 Viognier. We bought a bottle of the ‘05 Chardonnay and had a ploughman’s lunch on the grounds, and then moved on.

Our second stop on Thursday was Breaux Vineyard in Purcelleville. I’m not quite sure how I would describe our experience here – Ben, the Tasting Room Manager was well informed and friendly, and the wines were certainly solid, but none stood out in my opinion. The most interesting wine at Breaux was (probably due to my love of Rosés) was the Syrah Rosé, but while it was good, I think it could probably still use some maturity.

The third winery we visited was Doukénie Winery, and Paige in the tasting room was very friendly. She seemed a bit distracted as we did our tasting, but she was friendly and enthusiastic and the Mandolin white was quite interesting, but the wine that got everyone’s attention was the Raspberry Merlot – which they say is not a dessert wine, but I highly disagree – as my qualifier for a Dessert wine has a lot to do with pairings, and the high residual sugar makes it hard to pair with much else. It was served with dark chocolate during the tasting, but it could easily stand up to something like a chocolate flan or a créme brulee.

Last for the day on Thursday was the biggest (and most pleasant!) surprise of the trip, Loudoun Valley Vineyard. As soon as we made it in the door, vintner and owner Bree Ann Moore was there, making cheerful conversation and guiding us through our tasting. The wines were all quite lovely, and consistent and consistently superior in my book. We took away several bottles from Loudoun Valley, including the misleadingly named Zinfandel Blush, which is actually a sweet Rosé, and the most excellent Cabernet Franc. I highly recommend visiting this little gem as much for the wonderful treatment as the good wine.

Friday’s first vineyard was Fabbioli Cellars, which was showcasing a couple of other vineyards wines along with their own, and I have to say that I was very impressed with the 8 Chains LoCo Vino, even though it was significantly sweeter than I prefer my wines to be. It is, as I understand, a 50/50 blend of Traminette and Vidal Blanc, and goes (as tested) quite well with Mexican fare. Fabbioli’s own productions were good, but they all still seemed a bit underdeveloped – though there is clear potential and I certainly will be keeping my eye on them.

I’m combining the second and third vineyards we visited, Lost Creek and Hidden Brook, because the families that own them are related. At Hidden Brook, we met Deborah Houck – one of the owners, who was quite helpful in going through their tasting. At Lost Creek, we had another good experience. Both wineries tended towards the sweet whites, and very fruity but light reds, not quite where my tastes lie. I think with both, as well, there still needs to be a bit of development – but don’t discount that as these being bad wines. Give them ago – I promise if your tastes list towards the sweeter, then you’ll be startled by how much the wines at these two fine places appeal.

The last winery for this trip was Tarara, which is one of the more established (and possibly the largest) Loudoun County winery. We did both the reserve and standard tastings, and all of the wines were solid entries. I think my biggest complaint about Tarara’s wines is that for the quality, I’d have placed them at a lower price point. That isn’t to say they aren’t good wines, but many are priced like one would expect exceptional wines to be priced. Still, the staff was very friendly and I enjoyed the most wine-related discussion with them more than any of the other staffs. They gave us a very good idea of both what the goals for each wine were as well as what the actual results were. Kudos to Tarara for that!

So there you go! My Memorial weekend at Loudoun County vineyards! It was a great experience, and I look forward to visiting each of the wineries again and following their progression.