Soft and Pretty: General's Ridge Vineyard Estate Petite Verdot 2014 (VA)

I first tried General's Ridge Vineyard Petite Verdot 2014 at the award dinner at the Easter Winery Exposition 2020 in Lancaster, PA.

Rick Phillips grew up in the wine country of Northern CA. He went on to serve for 35 years as a Marine Corps flyer. He and his wife Linda settled in the quaint countryside of Virginia's historic Westmoreland County. They bought a wonderful old farm and began to school themselves planting, cultivating and harvesting grapes. The old rundown farmhouse, originally built in the mid 1800's, was quite a challenge. Board by board, the renovation began and up from the dust came the charming Manor House - a step back in time.

Today their farm is a a rustic step out of time., complete with wedding facilities,lodging, and accommodations for executive meetings and retreats....all with an historic flair.

One of the most important things for me about General's Ridge is that all their wines are estate wines. And all wines are produced by Michael Shap's Virginia Wineworks. Sounds like a good match. And it was.

General's Ridge Vineyard Petite Verdot 2014 is a lovely dark purple color. On the nose there's dark cherries, a jammy wine with stewed with plums and prunes and blackberry. There's a swirl of spices and soft tannins. There's an earthiness to it, hints of cedar, cocoa, and black tea. The wine finishes soft and lovely. And the fruit hangs on a long, long time.

Very, very nicely done! Soft and pretty! Congrats to all those at General's Ridge!