In this edition of Out of the Barrel, It's all about Merlot. Why Merlot? This classic and often misunderstood grape is grown more than you think, in fact, it is the second most planted red grape around the globe. Speaking of this misunderstood and underrated grape, ever see the movie Sideways? Remember the restaurant scene where Paul Giamatti’s character, Miles, states “if anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I’m not drinking any Merlot”. Miles despises Merlot and isn’t shy about expressing that in the movie. While he raves about how wonderful Pinot Noir is, it is an extremely difficult grape t ..read more

​Happy New Year everyone! 2021 was another whirlwind of a year and one of my resolutions for 2022 here at the vineyard is getting back to the “Out of the Barrel'' blog providing insider content from Bluestone. I’ve missed writing about different things going on at the vineyard and what better way to get back to it than tell you all about our upcoming winemaker’s dinner. Over the years guests have asked, “how do you come up with these food and wine pairings?” Which is why I’ve decided to focus this blog post around that question and give guests an inside look at how we come up with our dinner ..read more

In this edition of Out of the Barrel, we are going to explore the grape Petit Manseng. Why Petit Manseng? Well, for many reasons. Aside from being one of my all time favorites, it has also done quite well for us in recent competitions. Before I go into all the shiny medals it has brought home recently, let’s talk about the grape itself. ​ Many of the grapes that are commonly grown in Virginia are originally from France and Petit Manseng is no different. It is primarily grown in southwest France between the province of Gascony and the Pyrenees mountains bordering Spain. In more recent years it ..read more

How many of you have wished we could have seen into the future and would have known what 2020 had in store? Well that would have just been too easy. Instead we were all stuck on the roller coaster of 2020 together using a whole new vocabulary with phrases like “social distancing,” “out of an abundance of caution,” “flatten the curve,” “the new normal,” and so many more. While it would be easy to skip over the mess of 2020, we do think it is important to reflect on all that happened in 2020 including the good and the bad. Let’s just take it month by month to try and digest what happened in 2020 ..read more

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. But what to do on this day for that special someone that isn’t over the top or cheesy, like the title of this blog? Let’s look at a few different ways you can treat that special someone and also support local businesses. ​ Give the gift that keeps on giving (at least until they open the bottle). There are a couple different things you can do. Come by the tasting room and pick out a bottle of their favorite wine (or two), or if you don’t know their favorite, purchase a gift certificate so they can pick out something they like and the pressure is ..read more

Photo from Warfels Chocolate Happy New Year everyone! As we begin this new year, I was thinking about the different topics I could start the year out on and the first thing that came to mind was chocolate! Probably because as I’m writing this, I’m snacking on chocolate truffles that were in my stocking from Christmas. How does one go about deciding which type of chocolates go with different types of wine? That’s the theme of this week’s blog. For those of you who are reading this, it may just come in handy for an annual event that we host each January. More on those details later, but for now ..read more

Anyone know what the significance of December 5th is? I’ll give you a hint, it was on this day 86 years ago that a very important event took place.  Today is Repeal Day, which marked the end of Prohibition. The 18th amendment was ratified in January 1919 and went into affect a year later and lasted until December 5, 1933 when the 21st amendment was officially ratified. During this time, the making, selling and transportation of alcohol was illegal. Fun fact that I learned during some of my research, consuming alcohol was not illegal during Prohibition, just all of the other stuff state ..read more