Delaplane Cellars

Sunday, we were to celebrate Ann's birthday by going out to dinner. That morning, we were sitting in the sun room having coffee when she said "Let's not go to dinner and let's go have a bottle of wine at Delaplane this afternoon." I was really OK with this. Even though I was looking forward to going out with her, I was exhausted from the week before (to the point where I didn't even miss going on a hike) and I could tell she was exhausted too. In fact, after another cup of coffee, we kind of had to talk each other into getting up from the sun room to get ready to go. Inertia was strong on Sunday.

But what an amazing day to be outside! We kept saying to each other, "It would be a fabulous day to be out hiking!" That said and even if I had the energy for it, I don't think my ankle was up to a big hike after the debacle of last weekend. But still, what a day! The temperature was in the low 60's with gusty 20- to 30-knot northerly winds from the cold front. The skies were that once-or-twice-a-year deep blue and totally devoid of clouds.

The crowd wasn't really that heavy when we arrived around 1pm and we were able to taste through the current wines in relative peace. We haven't been winery hopping this year much at all and so we needed to catch up with the current Delaplane releases, especially because I have to do some food pairings in a few weeks. Delaplane is one of the local wineries for which I provide catering.

There Were 11 Wines on the Tasting Lineup

View from the Tasting Room

How Beautiful is This?

After our tasting, we made a beeline for the deck where we were the first table to brave the gusty wind, so gusty that we couldn't leave our wine glasses on the table. I was surprised that based on our tasting Ann selected the Duet with its red fruit profile over the Left Bank which is much more dark fruit and Cabernet Sauvignon-dominated.

Ann Chose Duet over Left Bank

Lunch al Fresco

The Queen Holding Court

While I was sitting out on the patio waiting for our lunch to arrive from the kitchen, Ann went downstairs into the cellar to say hello. Jim and Tim were at a baseball game, but Betsy and Rick Tagg, who is helping out with this year's harvest, were downstairs. Rick gave Ann a taste of the 2016 Sauvignon Blanc from Springlot Vineyard to bring up to me. Though it is cloudy and just finished fermentation by three days, it is nearly ready to drink and damn delicious at that. I'm afraid that that is the lot of the 2016 vintage. It was so hot and dry in August that most of the wines are going to be early drinkers and not wines to lay down.

We couldn't have visited Delaplane on a more spectacular day! Happy Birthday Annie!