Pollak Vineyards

As we were driving in to Wintergreen late on Christmas night, daughter spotted a new vineyard sign off Route 250, just west off I-64. We asked Don at the Devil's Backbone Brewery and he highly recommended visiting Pollak Vineyards. So we looped up to 64 and over to Crozet to try it. Pollak just opened their tasting room in May, so it is all shiny and new and in the spirit of spiffy tasting rooms designed for events and crowds, which surely will come. Like Veritas, it is similar to the major California tasting rooms, which not surprisingly is where their winemaker is from. We were impresssed by the friendly, knowledgable and generous staff pouring. We were equally impressed by the wines, offering a full array of Virginia wines, an excellent Meritage, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris,Viognier, and Rosé. These are clearly a cross of California meeting Virginia. An interesting tidbit is that they grow the plantings differently - tiering them higher and across one another, called ballerina trellising - thus inspiring the logo. Daughter bought the rose, husband loved the Meritage. We view this as a great find and very convenient to Charlottesville. Already the wine tours have found the place, for better or worse.