Laurel Gray Vineyards

While at Raffaldini we were talking to another couple who recommended we stop by Laurel Gray since Traci mentioned that she liked Chardonnay. It wasn't on our list for the day, but it was so close we thought "why not?"

It's a quaint little winery with a country store look, but the grounds are very pretty with lots of flowers and a pond.

Unfortunately for Traci, the Chardonnay wasn't too impressive. Of course she's a California Chardonnay snob, so judge for yourself :) Actually, I wasn't a big fan of the Chardonnay either. The two wines that stood out to me were the Estate Reserve Cab Sav and the Rose'. The Estate Cab was actually pretty good. My only problem was the $29 price. There are just too many California cabs at that price that are better :(  I actually ended up buying a bottle of the Rose' which is odd, because generally I don't care for it. In VA and NC the Rose's I've had tend to be too sweet or bone dry. And seem to be a mix of whatever grapes were left over that they couldn't do anything else with. This one seemed to land in the middle of the sweet/dry, not too sweet but easily drinkable. It is a blend of Viognier, stainless Chardonnay and Syrah which I found pleasant. However, bear in mind that this was our 5th winery of the day and my palate may have been cooked :) I review it in more detail whenever I get around to opening the bottle. While we were tasting it a lady from New York basically spit it out because she didn't like it :) It just goes to show how different preferences in wine can be. Just remember that Good Wine is whatever you like to drink!