When I first came upon Glass House, I was surprised on a number of levels. The bottles are decorated with pineaaples and have an almost tropical look to them. They stand out. But the colors are very bright, and fun. You're not sure if this is going to be serious wine or picnic wine. It's beautifully designed and packaged, but the bright colors threw me off. Well, let's get it straight right from the start - Glass House Winery is serious about wine.
Glass House Winery is a boutique winery in the heart of the Monticello Wine Trail in central Virginia. They craft artisan wines made solely from grapes grown on our property and in our region. They currently have 6 acres under vine. Owners Jeff and Michelle Sanders moved to Virginia in 2006. They were awed by the lush landscape, the beauty of the Blue Ridge and the friendliness of the people. While searching for a way to marry Jeff’s botanical skills with Michelle’s love of creating unique chocolates, the couple discovered Virginia’s promising wine industry. It was a perfect match and Glass House Winery was born.
Viognier – 100% Viognier grapes estate grown. Wonderfully aromatic. Some of this wine was made in stainless steel, some in American oak, and some in French oak. Pineapple, citrus, and other tropical aromas come through. Whifss of vanilla. Absolutely a fantastic viognier!! A wonderful surprise!
Barbera - 100% Barbera grapes estate grown. The wine is made using the same techniques when making the Italian favorite, Amarone, where the grapes are tried toward the stages of raisining, giving the wine a much more intense flavor and water evaporates form the grape living highly concentrated sugars and flavors.The wine is a dark color, with big fruit flavor up front of tart blackberry and cassis. There's also a smoky overtone to the wine with hints of leather and cedar. Nicely balanced, with medium acids, and low tannins. Very, very nice, sophisticated dry red wine, with nice lingering flavors. Another nice surprise.