Having arrived at Front Royal the day before I had a quiet day after all the exertions of the four days in Washington. I explored the town cemetery and walked around the town, which is quite small. It was helpful that the Wine Festival was being held: Main Street was closed to traffic, there were stalls all along it, there were at least a couple of bands playing at various places, people were tasting the wine, and a generally fun time was being had. Front Royal is actually very small, and I think that on a normal Saturday it would be very quiet.
Now for the wine. I’d never heard of Virginia wine until this week, but it is in fact the fifth-largest wine producing state in the US. However, much of the planting is new – many of the wineries told me that they had started in 2006, 2007, and so on, and I think this showed in the wines. Many were very young and not especially subtle. There was a lot of sweet wine, including sweet red wine – not to my taste. There was also a tendency to produce wines with fruit additions – apple was a favourite. Also, many of the wines were made from blends of three or four grapes, which makes it hard for any especial character to come through. There were some exceptions, and I enjoyed what I tasted from the Naked Mountain winery. Perhaps not coincidently, that one dated from the early 80s (and the vineyards from the late 70s) so they already have over 30 years’ experience of making wine.
Back to the car, the little Hyundai. I found a really strange feature on it – it has three doors (actual doors, not counting the hatchback). There is a single door on the driver’s side, and two on the passenger side. Bizarre.
Finally, I ought to say that I had wonderful stay at the Woodward House B&B in Front Royal. Bob and Joan made me especially welcome and introduced me to a number of other guests, and a couple of very good evenings were had.
