Monday Mashup: VA Wine & Food Expo

No gardening for me this weekend! Chris and I had tickets to the VA Wine & Food Expo so that took up my Saturday. We had a really good time but we both agreed that there should have been more food to go with all the lovely wines we sampled. 

holding glass containing Cru from the Trump Winery

The Virginia Wine & Food Expo is a collection of vineyards from all across Virginia. Only Virginia vineyards  are included. There were over 70 different wineries participating this year in the 5th annual expo. 

We tried all kinds of different wines from several different vineyards. A crowd favorite is the Barboursville Winery. Even though we arrived very shortly after the expo opened, the booth for Barboursville already had a crowd. We mingled our way to the front of the crowd to get our chance at their wines for tasting.

The wine of the day for me was the Malvaxia Passito from Barboursville. I swear this was like drinking the nectar of the Gods. It gave me chills tasting it. The Malvaxia is a sweet wine that is very smooth with no bad aftertaste. It is thicker than a riesling or eiswein with no bitterness.
Chris really loved the Cabernet Franc's that he sampled from several different vineyards. I finally switched over to red and tried a Cab Franc at the James River Winery booth. Neither of us enjoyed that one. It was more vinegary than either of us like and the color seemed off as well. We moved on to the Williamsburg Winery. 

Tunic Sweater over red turtleneck

There we tried two different vintages of their Adagio wine, 2007 and 2008. The 2007 Adagio is 40% Merlot, 40% Petit Verdot and 20% Cabernet Franc and it was delicious. Selling price: $80 per bottle. 

The 2008 Adagio is 80% Merlot, 15% Petit Verdot, 5% Cabernet Franc. Selling price: $65 per bottle.

We preferred the 2007 vintage over the 2008 but they were both better than the James River Cabernet Franc.

Grey Suede BCBG boots

The second wine to capture my fancy was The Williamsburg Winery Vin Licoreux de Framboise (Wine with Raspberry) which is 100% Merlot infused with fresh raspberry juice. This is dessert in a bottle and absolutely scrumptious. Unfortunately it is for sale in Virginia only and sells for about $20 per bottle. Our only complaint about the entire expo was the surprising lack of FOOD. There was ONE table that had a sampling of cheeses. There were concessions there but who wants a hamburger with fine wines? Not this couple! There were samples of little silly stuff like sugared pecans or dipping oils but the only real vendor we encountered selling what could be considered a meal was The Grapevine Restaurant, which is Greek & Italian food. I bought a chicken Gyro and hummus with pita while Chris got us each a glass of the Cabernet Franc at the Barboursville booth. 


From here we went onward to the Trump Winery booth and bought a glass of the Cru vintage.
"Unique to Trump Winery, Cru is created by blending Chardonnay juice with Chardonnay brandy in lieu of a traditional fermentation. This fortified wine is then aged for over a year in American bourbon barrels. The result is an aperitif wine that is truly all-American." It was indeed a unique wine and Chris was prepared to hate it since it was aged in bourbon barrels. He was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it quite much.

We sat to enjoy it with a small pound cake from Heavens Gate Pound Cake shop. We purchased the Xoco pound cake and it was divine! The Cru complimented it perfectly.

It was very windy here on Saturday and chilly. I agonized over what to wear to the expo as I wanted to be comfortable yet chic at the same time. I changed clothes 3 times. Then I finally decided on a red turtleneck with grey brushed corduroy Calvin Kleins with tunic sweater and my grey suede BCBG boots. We had to walk several blocks from parking to the convention center and then be on our feet most of the day. I knew I wanted to wear these boots as they are very comfortable long term, in spite of a 4 inch heel. 


Sunday I just didn't feel like getting down and dirty so I went shopping with Tiff instead. We shopped DSW the conservative way by taking photos of what we like. I will share those with you tomorrow in my Shoesday post.


Later this week: my review of Sally Hansen Salon Effects: Brattlesnake. 
Happy Monday Fashion Lovers!