3 words: What a day.
On Saturday, April 27, one of my coworkers and I set out for the First and Main Shopping District for Blacksburg's 5th annual "Fork and Cork," a food, wine, and art festival. Having just turned 21 at the end of January, I have never been able to go to Fork and Cork before and had no idea what it was going to be like once we got there. Admittedly, though, I was pretty excited about going - and who doesn't love a complementary wine glass?
Prior to leaving my apartment, I checked the weather forecast and saw there was a chance of rain throughout the entire day. After having gotten drenched in the rain (twice) already this week, I figured a little rain wouldn't hurt me and I was determined to go, have a good time, and sample some wines.
We arrived at Fork and Cork around 1:15, and immediately saw a massive line of people. We were terrified we were going to have to wait in this monstrous line. Luckily, however, I heard someone call out of my name and realized it was one of my friends who thankfully told us that the super long line was for people who didn't have tickets. This brings me to the first thing I learned during the day...
Lesson #1: There is definitely merit in buying your tickets ahead of time.
Luckily, my coworker and I had both purchased our tickets online weeks ago. We got to wait in a much shorter line with our well-printed, blessed tickets in hand. This already made me a happy wine drinker.
After our tickets were taken, we were given one of their programs and immediately realized we were basically right in front of a trio of wine booths to our left. These booths were as follow: Beliveau Estate Winery, Virginia Mountain Vineyards, and Mountain Rose Vineyards. I also knew that one of my best friends was working at the booth for Gobble Cakes - my favorite cupcake store in Blacksburg. Naturally, since we were right there beside that trio of wine-related booths, we decided to check those out and I knew I also wanted to stop by and see my best friend and grab a cupcake from the Gobble Cakes booth.
Our first booth was for the Beliveau Estate Winery. Much to our happiness, the wine line moved at a fairly brisk pace. Immediately, however, I learned my second lesson of the day...
Lesson #2: I should have brought a legitimate purse with me. My hands needed to be more free!
It's amazing how quickly I accumulated things to keep track of in my two hands. Between my small purse/clutch, the program, my phone, and my wine glass, I realized taking pictures was going to slowly become a challenge as the day went on. Nonetheless, I did know one thing...
I was going to make it work.
Lesson #3: It's completely fine to have your hands full of stuff - just as long as you can hold a wine glass in one of those hands
At the Beliveau Estate Winery's booth, we tried the following wines in the following order:
"Afternoon Delight": This lightly oaked dry Vidal Blanc has overtones of grapefruit, melon, almond, clove, and a hint of white chocolate. Pairs well with herbed foods and strong cheeses. Excellent with venison! $18
“Lover’s Quest”: Semi-sweet Vidal Blanc with notes of tropical fruit and citrus. Goes great with light cheeses. A favorite of those who like white wine on the slightly sweeter side. $15
"Silhouette": Made in a dry fashion with light oaking, our Cabernet Sauvignon is a cornucopia of red berry flavors, raspberry, strawberry, cherry, and red current, topped with spicy overtones. Wonderful with many foods. $20.00
"A Cappella": This 100% Landot Noir. Is light yet fruity with distinct overtones of blueberry. This is a wonderful sipping wine as well as a great accompaniment to ice creams or cobblers! $16.00
Out of these wines, I can say that I my favorites were the "Lover's Quest" and the "A Cappella." I was actually pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the "A Cappella" wine as much as I did - I really don't enjoy red wines in general. It was really good though - and as my coworker pointed out to me, it even left blueberry residue on our glasses! For some reason, I thought that was super nifty and it made me really happy, which leads me to....
Lesson #4: Maybe, just maybe, I won't always find red wines to be too dry and unbearable to drink! Yay!
Moving along, we took one swift step to our right and ended up in line for what would become our second booth of the day, which was for the Virginia Mountain Vineyards. The line for this booth moved just a tad bit slower than the first, but we kept moving right along and we were definitely still having a good time. The weather was nice - the rain was holding off - everything was pretty chill.
We got to try 5 wines at this booth, which was pretty exciting. The wines we tried are as follows:
Petit Verdot: A red wine rich in color and structure, full tannins with an essence of black cherry. Single varietal. $17.00
Acacia Gold: A semi-sweet blend with a pleasingly fruity finish. A great picnic wine. $14.00
Virginia White: A unique sweet fruity table wine
Virginia Red: A unique spicy sweet table wine. $14.00
Holiday Spice: A special blend with a splash of spice. Serve chilled or warm. $15.00
Immediately, at this booth, I learned my next lesson...
Lesson #5: It is possible to put Christmas in a bottle.
Holiday Spice was by far the most surprising wine of the day, and it was fantastic. It was Christmas in a bottle. It was as if a gingerbread man escorted the wine onto the palate. It was fantastic and smooth and had just the right amount of spice - it was great. The other wines were good too - but Holiday Spice left the lasting impression. At that moment, as soon as we tasted Holiday Spice, the other wines no longer mattered - that was definitely our wine at that booth.
What I also took from this booth was a question, which I probably should've asked, but certainly did not because I did not want to look dumb and also because the lady pouring our samples was a little less than warm and friendly. She seemed very indifferent towards our existence. Anyway, she put these little plastic pieces into the wine bottles before pouring our samples. I really wasn't sure what they were, and I can't remember learning about them during our wine class. They are somewhat visible in the picture of 4 of the bottles - but I have no clue what they are or what their purpose is. Clearly this is something that will involve some further Google searches.
Anyway, moving along, we broke free from our anticipated trio of booths so I could stop by the Gobble Cakes booth, see my best friend, and snag a cupcake. I have an affinity for all things caramel, so naturally a caramel was coming along with me!
Lesson #6: There is ALWAYS time for a cupcake, especially when it can be paired with wine...
After getting a cupcake, we walked back over to what would be our third booth, which was for Mountain Rose Vineyards. This became the mother of all lines - the line to end all lines - the line at which you thought Gandalf might be standing at the end exclaiming "you shall not pass" because the line literally did not move. We stood in line, with my poor cupcake, for an hour. Slowly but surely we ended up drifting forward, inch by inch.
Lesson #7: Good things had better be worth waiting for.
Once we essentially moved at the speed of slow to this booth, we were warmly greeted by a very nice lady who poured our wine samples. I could tell the line had moved so slow because she was actually taking the time to explain the wines to people. We got to taste all 6 wines listed on their information sheet, and I felt myself growing more content and less annoyed with our visit to this both. We tried the following wines:
Traminette: Semi-sweet, clean smooth, and crisp! $15
Sweet Mountain Rose: Sweet, youthful, foxy! Grapes - Niagara, Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc. $11
Jawbone Red: Dark, dry, bold, and spicy! Grapes - Chancellor and Cabernet Franc. $14
Dorchester: Off-dry, cherry smooth, and velvety! Grape - Chambourcin. $13
Pardee Red: Sweet and delicious sippin' wine! Grapes - Chancellor & Chambourcin. $12
Autumn Gold: Late harvest, dessert delight! Grape - Vidal Blanc $20
I knew I had to come up with some sort of strategy - this cupcake had to go with the right wine. One sample, one cupcake, one chance to get it all right. I was able to overhear the descriptions of the wines while I was waiting in line, and I knew that cupcake was meant for the last wine: Autumn Gold.
I enjoyed all of the wines at this booth. I was less of a fan of the Jawbone Red, mainly because it was a dry wine. It was apparently noticeable on my face - and I was reassured that I would like the next wine, which was the Dorchester, much better - and I did. I also really liked the Pardee Red - its description as a "sippin' wine" was accurate - I could have drank that all day long.
My last wine of the day though was by far my favorite, and it went perfectly with the cupcake. Autumn Gold, which was described to us to "taste like honey going down your throat" was unbelievably accurate. I loved it - and it went so well with that wonderful cupcake! The wine on its own was fantastic - I loved the honey flavor profile, but then adding a caramel cupcake to it accentuated the flavor profiles of both the food and the wine. It was their most expensive bottle of wine - but it would be well worth the $20. It tasted so sweet and so much like honey and I loved it - I forgot I was actually drinking wine. It would be perfect with any dessert, and I would love to own a bottle of this in the future. It was by far my FAVORITE wine of the day - Holiday Spice was a close second!
As we were leaving, we were given a small flyer for this vineyard, which I also appreciated. Though we waited for what felt like a small eternity in line, it was worth the wait and I was a happy wine drinker.
After our wait at our third wine booth, we were pretty much done for the day. The rain seemed to be picking up a little - it had been sprinkling on and off throughout the day - and we had been there for roughly 2 hours.
The most important lesson of them all: Be open to new experiences.
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