DuCard Vineyard

The Day

It was a drury, drury afternoon as we ventured to DuCard Vineyards, located in Ethlan VA (about an hour north of Charlottesville, just north of Ruckersville and Madison). The wife and I had planned a three-winery adventure for the afternoon, and after a quick google search came across DuCard. Many remarked that the views were great thanks to the winery being nestled at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains. That’s more for my wife, I’m here for the wine.

BE WARNED; there is no cell service there, nor wifi. “It’s a great chance to unplug and enjoy the ambiance” our server mentioned as she dropped off two flights. I interpreted that as “we’re not paying for you to also have wifi.” That’s fine, we’ll survive.

As mentioned it wasn’t the greatest out (see picture above), but you could tell that on a lovely day this would be a great place to hangout at. Luckily the indoor facility was ready for us as we found a nice spot on a very comfy leather couch. Before finding our seats, we did place an order for the white flight (four wines pre-determined). Soon enough they were delivered and away we drank.

Wines

In total we sampled six wines:

Viognier (Veni, Vidi, Vino! or V3)

Smell: Pineapple, melon
Taste: Melon. Not a lot of body. Crips. Good lingering flavor.
Notes: Really nice start to the tasting. Could easily drink this again.

Chardonnay (TANA)

Smell: Not much? Couldn’t really pick up a lot of notes
Taste: Strong pear, granny smith apple
Notes: Not a fan. Just too strong with the tartness. Not for me

Chardonnay (Whetstone Run)

Smell: Strong classic Chardonnay smell. Honeydew
Taste: Straight honeydew. Maybe a little pear.
Notes: Liked this one a lot. Could keep going with it.

White Blend (Gibson Hollow)

Smell: Honey
Taste: Also Honey
Notes: This wine was heavy on the honey, but it was pleasant. Decent body. It’s not one that I would drink often, but it would be a nice change from time to time. I think mead drinkers will love this.

Sparkling (XOXO)

Smell: Kinda sweet. In a good way. Sort of lemon-lime, but more lemon.
Taste: Huge lemon-lime. Think mellow yellow, but better tasting.
Notes: This was a delight and a surprise; the server stopped by and offered us a glass (not turning that down!). A fun bubbly with a strong tropical fruit flavor.

Port (C’est Trop)

Smell: Not as strong as a typical port. Couldn’t pick up a ton of notes, but this is also made with Virginia grapes sooooo…
Taste: Yep, that’s port. You can taste the brandy.
Notes: Norton grapes were first cultivated in Richmond (ayyyeee), but Missouri latched on to it. It is the official grape of the state and a huge portion of Missouri wines feature Norton. Enough history. This is a fun attempt at port, but not one I’m rushing to try again.

Rating time

I rate wineries based on wine, the grounds, and other items such as staff friendliness or any weird quirks. Wine gets double the impact because if the wine sucks, nothing else really matters.

Wine

A couple of good whites make this a winery I would recommend to people if they were in the area. The XOXO sparkling was a nice surprise and bubbly was a good touch on a cold and wet day (which confused me… you think it wouldn’t be a great choice, but it was and I’m not mad about it). The star was the V3. Kinda mad I didn’t get a bottle of it ($32 was a touch high, I think $26 or less and I’m leaving with it), but on those warm spring days in May this is a great bottle to have on hand.

The TANA Chardonnay was rough with tartness. Both the wife and I agreed it was not a favorite by any means. I wanted to like the Gibson Hollow White, but the strong honey flavor was a bit dominating to my taste. We didn’t try any of the reds, but in Virginia red is always dicey.

6 / 10

Grounds

Lovely. Simply put. There was a cute little deck area nestled off to the side that made it feel like you were getting lost in the vineyard a little; would’ve been cool to drink there but it was simply too wet. The indoor facilities were quite adequate, but this is a winery that you want to enjoy the outdoor portion of.

3 / 5

Other

Staff were lovely and checked on us the right amount of time. They provided a nice overview of each wine, the winery itself, and adjusted the temperature when we mentioned it was too cold. They even brought my wife a blanket (major plus).

The no wifi thing was odd. You know that cell service is bad where you are located, offering wifi would be a nice touch. Not sure the real reason why, but didn’t care for that. They do host weddings but try to accommodate visitors as best they can. I think they try to have all the weddings later in the day, so you shouldn’t have to worry about them being closed.

3 / 5

Final Rating

12 / 20 — Light green

I would go back. I’m not rushing to go back, but again, if we are in the area I wouldn’t mind another stop by. I think next time I want to give their Cabernet Franc a go, but in talking with the server she mentioned that the wine maker wasn’t super thrilled with their previous yield. I GREATLY APPRECIATE the honesty, because in this industry it feels like you can never say anything negative. Drives me bonkers. I do think the next visit will require a nicer day weather-wise so we can enjoy the outdoor portion.

For the record, after six wines (four tasting pours and two regulars), we scrapped one of the other wineries. Gotta be sensible when drinking!