Sorry, I have been Gone

Well we had a little I.T. glitch with the blog over the past couple of months and we apologize, but we are now back and more exciting then ever. I hope you enjoy reading about some of the many things we have going on that are new and exciting at Tarara since I last wrote.

First off, we have entered our 20th anniversary here at Tarara and we are celebrating full steam with events all the time. We have created a lounge once a month for our wine club as well as several great features like season tickets to our concert series which goes an extra month this year. We are also ramping up for our very first "Fine Vine Festival: Just say Viognier". This will replace our "Winds and Wine Festival" as a more upscale 20th anniversary experience to delight you with Virginia's flagship grape variety Viognier and some local cuisine. We will be celebrating with 4 other fabulous Viognier's from around the state as selected by a great panel of sommeliers and wine writers including Laurie Forster and Dave MacIntyre of the Washington Post.

Since I last wrote close to the end of harvest the wines have dramatically been changing. The 2008 vintage is starting to show some incredible poise and complexity that I was having a hard time seeing with all the hustle and bustle of harvest time. The reds, Chardonnay and Viognier are tucked away in barrel just slowly developing into what could turn out to be a classic vintage. The Chardonnay and Viognier are showing a great amount of elegance and complex fruit from 2008. They are wines of incredible balance with a great backbone of acidity. We have some reds resting in barrel that have never existed before at Tarara that are showing great promise. Our Touriga Nacional (previously used for our 2007 D9 - to be released in May) is the first time we have created a dry version of this variety and it shows great red berry fruit intertwined in complex red meat like aromas that all lay under a great structure of acidity and fine tannins. The Tannat that is also a first is full of smokey characters laying under what is clearly our most structured wine to date with massive but velvety tannins. Both these varieties are destined to be in our "Long Bomb Edition Two" with some Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. That could all change as the wine matures further though and more varieties could be added like Cabernet Sauvignon or Petit Verdot. I will keep you posted. It will be hard to top "Long Bomb Edition One" as out of the gates is has clearly been our most popular wine just flying off the shelves due to it's great value.

Our Meritage from 2008 may actually be a first for Tarara as well. This is our flagship wine and for the first year ever will hold a great proportion of Petit Verdot which is showing an Inky violet color, with intense plum character and loads of cracked black pepper notes under a line of vibrant acidity and ripe tannins. This wine is looking to be a blend of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. We will see about the Cabernet Franc and how it works with the blend. Right now, I would say this could rival our best Meritage to date. Even better then the great 2007 being bottled next week that is selling like crazy as a futures item? We'll see.

Next week we will also be bottling our highly anticipate first release of Syrah 2007. This wine is still defying it's own limits with its blend of 91% Syrah and 9% Viognier co-fermented. Everytime I taste the wine (which has to stop since there is not much and I keep diving in) I am finding it more and more complex with great raspberry and plum notes nixed with licorise and yes bacon. Sounds odd, but smell for yourself and you will be addicted. The palate is soft and silky with a medium to full body showing great elegance and complexity leading to the long smokey finish. There will also be the new D9 being bottled next week for release in May. If you enjoyed the first version of this wine, the 2007 will make your knees weak with smokey aromas from the 18 months in barrel, meaty aromas of the Touriga Nacional and a lovely blend of earthiness and fruit from the Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chambourcin. This will all be complemented by the firm tannins, and a good dollop of alcohol (18%) as our new fortified wine. We will also bottle our flagship Meritage 2007 which is already selling like crazy as future and is a lovely blend of 46% Cabernet Franc, 34% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Sauvignon and our 2007 Cabernet Franc which is a classic rendition of the variety. The first of our 2008's will also be bottled including our Rose which is a blend of 49% Cabernet Franc, 29% Merlot, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Tannat and our new style of Charval using all classic "Vitis Vinifera" varieties to include in the 2008 (Chardonnay 48%, Sauvignon Blanc 41%, and Pinot Gris 11%). So much to bottle and enjoy, so little time.

With this all said I have to get back to actually visiting my family right now as I am in Canada and don't get to see them too often. I had the opportunity to come back to my home province of Ontario to receive the "Premiers Award" as being he top graduate out of the Ontario college system in the past five years. It is a testament to all those that I have surrounded myself by. Tarara Winery has played a huge role in my success and the wines are obviously a sure proof and I am glad the Ontario Government has recognized the accomplishments that those I work with have created. I am also here to celebrate a Wedding. My wife's cousin Darryl Keller and his soon to be lovely wife Rachel will be married this Saturday and I would like to wish them all the best and I look forward to a fantastic evening surrounded by my lovely family that my Wife Jen has brought to me.

So at that I will leave you until next time, and I hope we will not have any more glitches to I can keep you up on what is happening in the Vineyard as we come out of dormancy in the soon to come spring (I hope), the Cave where the wines just keep getting better and better, and with our Retail store and all of our events so that you know the best times to visit us at Tarara. Thank you so much for keeping us as the voted number one winery in Loudoun for 12 consecutive years moving into our great 20th anniversary celebrations.