The Herndon Jazz & Wine Festival Rocks

Two weeks ago, I attended the annual Herndon Labor Day Wine & Jazz Festival. Ten Virginia wineries were represented. At an average of six tastes per winery booth, it was a good thing that the tasting ended an hour before the jazz did.

Some of my favorites . . . no deep insights here.

Cooper Vineyards (website) held the poll position at the festival, and their Cabernet Franc is wonderful-- the wine has a powerful caramel aroma with a smooth finish of plum and chocolate flavors. I picked up two bottles of this relatively inexpensive wine ($14), which is actually 75% Cabernet Franc and 25% Tannat. Other wineries offered commendable Francs (Davis Valley and Barboursville Vineyards), but at twice the price. Cooper Vineyards is located on a "sunny sloping hillside with a well-drained soil that is a mixture of volcanic ash and eroded ridge line."

Davis Valley Winery clearly had the best Chardonnay at the festival, not to mention the best label, featuring an artsy diva. I also picked up a bottle of the American Red Wine.

The Williamsburg Winery (website) came through with the best Merlot ($10.50) of the festival, which is to say it is decent and inexpensive. When I passed this wine around at a friend's housewarming, it was a big hit with her. Of course she had already had a few glasses of wine by then. The Breaux Vineyards offered a comparable Merlot for $28. The Williamsburg website is very fancy, complete with music clips from Resphigi's Ancient Airs & Dances.

Rebec Vineyards (website) featured several tasty semi-dry wines, but none so amazing as the Sweet Sophia ($9.50), which boasts of an incredible flora aroma. Don't bother drinking it, just inhale; although it may be illegal to do so in seven states. What is in Sweet Sophia, anyway? Rebec's Svetlozar Kanev was kind enough to provide me with addition insight via e-mail:

This is a recipe from my home town in Bulgaria. What we do is we take 20 gallons out of a tank with sweet wine and heat it up to boiling then steep the herbs for half an hour in the batch and strain them, then the flavored batch is used to flavor the whole tank. I can not give you the combination of herbs we use, [because] then [I would] have to kill you lol. Most people recognize the thyme, basil, and the sage.

Apparently Bulgarians take their wine very seriously.

I also procured a bottle of the Autumn Glow ($10.50); it cost only $6 because I bought two bottles of the Sophia. This sweet wine, which is a blend of Riesling and Pinot Noir, gets its name from its color, which is reminiscent of fall sunsets.

After a good deal of tasting, it was time settle down with some jazz. I caught the last hour, which featured the Liz Briones Band. Briones has a sultry voice with a soulful delivery consisting of jazz, blues, and r&b.