A Late Summer Visit To Gadino Cellars

While I have been on radio silence in the bloggisphere, I have still been hitting the VA wine trails here and there. Recently, we took a trip down to Gadino Cellars to enjoy one of the last summer days of the year and check on our geocache.

Dan decided to slip inside for a tasting, while I went right for a glass of Luminoso with our friends from Wine About Virginia. We all sat out on the patio with the sun streaming down through the vines that grow over Gadino’s pergola and listened to Triptych, one of our favorite local bands.

Triptych playing on the patio

About halfway through our bottles of Luminoso and Sunset, Bill, the winery maker and owner walked over with Quinn, a sweet lab that my son instantly began petting and talking to. Talking with Bill was easy and delightful, as he and I share a similar Italian heritage. We talked favorite foods and restaurants, family, and of course, wine!

Bill shared how this years’ crops were growing and which would be getting harvested soon. Dan eagerly asked about how Gadino Cellars was planning to use petit verdot grapes from Berryhill Vineyards, a local vineyard that we were sad to see sold recently. Happily, Bill plans to add it in with his own wonderful petit verdot, and we can’t wait to try the results. Wine About Virginia asked after his petit manseng and dessert wines, and he shared how he uses local whiskey in his port wines.

Bill and I

Throughout our visit, as we listened to live music and spoke with Bill, my little one was also enjoying the winery. We’ve worked hard to teach him winery etiquette, even at his tender age of 2, and while we still get some typical toddler breakdowns, he had a fantastic time running in the yard, jumping off rocks into Dan’s arms, and reading his favorite dinosaur book under the grape vines.

Playing with daddy

Jax reading under the vines

As the afternoon came to a close, we packed up and headed for the parking lot. We enjoyed our afternoon at Gadino Cellars, and we’d like to send a special thank you to the winery owner and staff, Triptych, and our friends at Wine About Virginia who made it so.

Arrivederci amici!

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

Long weekends are wonderful. They always pass a little too quickly, but they are a great way to get a break from work without using up lots of vacation days. The best long weekends are the ones that also have a federal holiday at the beginning or end. :)

For Memorial Day weekend, Dan and I started off with a date night at the new Alamo Drafthouse theater in One Loudoun. If you’ve never been to an Alamo theater, I highly recommend you check it out. They are a combination of a movie theater and a restaurant. You purchase tickets for specific seats (so you don’t have to show up really early for the good ones), and you can order all your food and drinks (including alcohol) directly from your seats, even during the movie!

Dan and I have been to the theater three times since it opened at the beginning of May. We love the food, the funny previews before the movie, and the friendly staff. This past Friday, we saw the newest Star Trek movie, and we had yet another great visit at the Alamo. Here’s a picture we got at the theater before the show:


On Saturday, we stopped at two different parties. The first was a very yummy crab feast at a friends’ house. The crabs were delicious, and Dan had fun scaring people with the crabs before throwing them into the cooking pot.

After the crab feast, we headed west to have dinner with my family in Martinsburg. It’s always fun getting together with my cousins. Only your cousins truly understand the kind of crazy family that you come from. LOL We seem to be getting crazier as we get older too. Heehee…

Sunday brought a beautiful sunny day, and Dan and I got to clean house and watch some episodes of Castle before heading out to a VA Wine Mafia meet up. The “godfather” of our group, Kurt, had most generously opened up his pantry and basement to share some wines before they got too old to drink. The other mafia members also brought wines and snacks to share with everyone. Dan and I brought a bottle of Fox Meadow Freezeland White to share. Mmm…




There were many favorites being passed around. Some of my favorites were a Breaux rose, Crushed Cellars Merlot and Meritage, and Berry Hill’s 2010 Petit Verdot. Kurt even broke out a few special bottles – Keswick’s 2009 Cab Sav, Clarksburg’s 2010 dessert red (from Cali), and Corcoran’s special white port.



VA Mafia meet ups are always a blast, and we enjoyed every minute spent with this fantastic group!


No weekend would be complete without spending time gardening, so Monday was spent working on our veggie garden at my dad’s house and the potted garden at our house. We started with a trip to Home Depot for mulch, insect repellant, and a couple flowers.

Our veggie garden was growing, but slowly, and the zuccinni, squash, and cucumbers were getting seriously attached by some nasty yellow striped bugs. At Bluemont nursery, a worker said he had seen the same kind of bugs that we had and gave us some repellant called Eight. It is a product that has been used for years, and part of the mix comes from the extract of crushed mums.

After weeding, applying the insect repellant, and putting down some garden mulch, our garden looked much better.



The last hours of sunlight were spent cleaning up our own backyard. We moved my little maple tree into a big half-barrel pot, put down a bunch of mulch, and did a general clean up. We even gave the puppies a bath, much to their disappointment.





Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed our Memorial Day weekend. It was a great mix of relaxing, fun, and outdoor activity. Cheers to wonderful long weekends!

Flint Hill Public House

This weekend Dan and I went on a wine tour with friends from our VA Wine Mafia group. Since we were running a little late, we caught up with them for lunch at the Flint Hill Public House. If you are ever out in the Flint Hill/Washington/Sperryville area, this is a great place to have lunch!

Before we could even get up to the entrance, Dan and I were snapping pictures of us out on the grounds.

The restaurant had a nice clean, classic décor. I especially liked the chairs and booths, which were very comfortable and covered in a white, soft leather-like material.

Since we were on a wine tour, Dan and I started with the wine list, which contained dozens of local Virginia wines. Dan chose a Fox Meadow red, and I chose a Gadino Cellars rose. The food menu was equally enticing with a mixture of salads, sandwiches, and entrees. Because so many items sounded delicious, most of our party decided to try lunch combinations. The food did not disappoint, and we were quite full by the time our plates were emptied.

When the waitress came with the dessert menus, we changed our statements of “I’m too full” to “That looks too good not to try”. :) Dan and I shared the pumpkin crème brulee, which was delightfully creamy and delicious. Mmm…

We were a happy, full group as we left the Flint Hill Public House. I can say for a surety that Dan and I will be returning to the restaurant on our next journey to the area.