Wannabe Wino

Our second stop of the day found us at Doukenie Winery, formerly Windham Winery. Doukenie was our favorite stop of the day and we have already returned since our first visit. We were supposed to go back for a third visit for an event to meet their new winemaker, but unfortunately, the weather that was called for was terrible and there was no way we were heading out over an hour's drive with torrential rain on the way!

Doukenie looks like a friendly red barn as you drive up. The grounds are gorgeous, and if we hadn't had a few more stops we wanted to make that day we would have sat out by the pond for the afternoon and enjoyed the salad of the day and some of the cheeses that were for sale in the tasting room. When we arrived, we were the only guests in the tasting room, which gave us plenty of time to talk to the attendant, until the room filled up fast and furious about half-way through our tasting!

Overall, the wines at Doukenie were fantastic! The tasting menu was solid, and each offering was very good, I liked all the wines, a first for me at a VA winery. We liked it so much we took my brother in law and sister in law to visit about two weeks later, where our tasting was poured out on the porch on a gorgeous VA day by the brand new winemaker. He was great and really knew his stuff, you can tell he loves wine and I look forward to his first vintage at Doukenie.

2006 Sauvignon Blanc: $18. Light and crisp with lemon and orange zest. Barely a bit of oak from the neutral oak aging. My favorite of the day, we bought 3 bottles.

2006 Riesling: $17. I was surprised to see a Riesling in VA, a first for me I believe. Honey, tropical, mineral notes, slightly sweet. We took home 3 bottles.

2005 Chardonnay: $15. Slight butter, tastes like candy (maybe caramel?), with a slight tropical note. A little oaky.

Mandolin: $15. Flowers, red apples, sweet on the end of the palate. Matt's favorite of the day, we took home 4 bottles.

2005 Merlot: $18. Strawberry, light, good balance, very good for a VA red.

2005 Cabernet Franc: $19. Earthy, herbs, fruity, with jammy red fruit, slightly tannic.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon: $23. Earthy spice, tobacco, raspberry, plum.

Hope's Raspberry Merlot: $21 for a small bottle. Just delish. Intense raspberry, tastes like fresh berries, amazing with dark chocolate. We bought 2 bottles.

If you are in the area, I would highly suggest a stop at Doukenie. I hope that we are able to visit many times in the future.