| | So I ended up trekking up to Centreville today for the Vintage Virginia
Wine Festival, and had a lot of fun (even though meeting up with people
apparently failed miserably. Lesson of the day - remember to actually
take important things like people's cell phone numbers with you before
leaving the apartment.) I tried a whole bunch of different kinds of
wines from five or six wineries - the details all sort of run together
now. There was a German-style winery, various Merlots and Cabernet
Sauvignons and Cabernet Francs, a few Chardonnays, a Pinot Grigio, a
couple of Vidals, and others whose names escape me at the moment. The
European-grape varietals were, to me, not very exciting - they were
pleasant to drink, but nothing spectacular. The standouts of the day
all came from Chrysalis Vineyards,a
winery in Middleburg that specializes in grapes that grow well in
Virginia's climate. The owner of Chrysalis led a tasting seminar in
the afternoon, and the wines we tried were made from two different
varietals of grape - the Vigonier (a grape that grows in the Northern
Rhone Valley of France, and also happens to do quite well in Virginia),
and the Norton (a Virginia original, and apparently the most
disease-resistant varietal of grape in the world). I'd never had
either of these two varietals before today, and they were quite
unique. I'm not sure I'm a white wine fan anymore, so the Vigonier
doesn't do that much for me. The Norton, on the other hand...wow.
Definitely unlike any red I've ever tasted. Not too tannin-y like I
find most Cabernet Sauvignons, not too sweet, not too oak-y, just very
complex and good to drink. I made sure to compliment the vineyard's
owner profusely after the tasting, and before I left bought three
different wines made from the Norton grape.
The other highlight
of the day had nothing to do with wine. A local Volvo dealer showed up
to the wine festival with a brand new Volvo C30 hatchback.
I'd never seen one of these in the flesh before today, and...damn.
That car is sex on wheels, or at least the closest one gets to it in
the mid-$20k price range. The example that the dealer had shipped down
from Canada (the C30 doesn't go on sale Stateside until September) was
this very light green color, with the bottom "lip" of the car done in a
chocolate brown. It doesn't sound very appealing, but trust me - it
was absolutely gorgeous. The Alcantara seats were black and silver, a
theme that was repeated throughout the very Scandinavian interior.
From what I could tell during a brief sit in the driver's seat, the
controls fall neatly to hand, in the way that I love my Prelude for.
Shifter action was precise, with good throws - I was initially afraid
that I would accidentally grab Reverse while attempting shifts to 6th,
but working the shifter through its pattern I found out that would be
much more difficult to accomplish than I feared. The 18" wheels, shod
in Pirelli P Zero Rossos, are a perfect match for the rest of the car.
I told the Volvo sales rep that I wanted to drive home with it -
fortunately for me he wouldn't make me a deal on it then and there.
Conclusion - dear God I want one. |
| | Posted 6/2/2007 9:19 PM - 85 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
- recommend
  - recs0
- share
- email
 - sent0
|
