Paradise Springs
Friends of ours invited us out to Clifton Virginia tonight to do some wine tasting. Clifton is a tiny town on the edge of Fairfax County, and the idea that Fairfax County had an active vineyard was news to me. In fact, their old tasting room displayed Washington Post stories about the battles this vineyard had with the zoning boards to allow a vineyard to produce commercial wine within Fairfax county. I love that this vineyard fought the law and the wine won.
Paradise Springs is not only an active vineyard, but they are a hopping place! Friday nights feature live music and Brazilian Barbecue Steak on the patio. There were about 300 people at the place tonight to celebrate the opening of their new grand Tasting Room, the biggest I’ve seen in all of Virginia.
And the wine’s not bad either. Not much fruit is grown on the estate, but they have a great wine maker on property that seems to work some magic with fruit purchased from around the region. Pictured is the Petit Manseng, a dry, yet fruity flavored wine that is really different from most Virginia whites like Chardonnay or Viognier.
What a wonderful time we had on a crisp Friday night! I don’t think the Petit Manseng survived past Midnight, but we have another wine of theirs, the Nana’s Rose, which is a wonderful blend wine that will be great on a warm spring day.
