Friday, January 4, 2013

Corcoran Vineyards and Brewery


Corcoran Vineyards and Brewery is nestled off a cute country road just north of route 9. It is the first combined winery and brewery in Virginia and is definitely worth a visit – or multiple visits. :) This delightful, family-owned business is run by Lori and Jim Corcoran, and Dan and I had the wonderful opportunity to take a tour with Lori on one of our most recent visits.

Since we have visited the tasting room before, Lori started off the tour at the wine cellar, which was filled with tanks, barrels, and scattered boards covered with wine notes. She eagerly told us about the various wines she was making and what she was looking forward to creating in the future.

Lori opening a barrel to taste

To our great excitement, Lori even let us try a special barrel of white port wine that she was creating just for friends and family. Needless to say, it was delicious, and the time it had spent in an old whiskey barrel gave it an added warm that instantly spread through your whole body. We’re hoping she makes more for the general public! lol

Dan and I getting to smell a barrel of the white port wine:


After touring the wine cellar, we walked over to the brewery. At the time, the brewery had 16 different beers available! There were lots of different favorite beers in the group. Dan loved Slainte Stout, Onceyougo Black Ale, Wheatland, and Catoctin Ale, and I enjoyed Wheatland and Hops the Bunny Ale.

Taps at the Corcoran Brewery

The tasting room at Corcoran offers a variety of red and white wines. Some of the ones we have really enjoyed are the Apple Wine, Riesling, Petit Verdot, and Tannat. I also like the Cello that Lori makes with Petit Manseng grapes, spirits, and lemon zest. It makes a great gift for Christmas or birthdays – just ask my dad. :)

Before leaving Corcoran, Dan and I took some time to walk around the grounds and find a good location for our latest VA Wine Trail geocache. We are quite proud of the hiding spot we found! You can find the new cache coordinates on the geocache page.

We also found some herbs growing that Lori had cunningly labeled for visitors, pointing out which wines would go well with that herb.


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