A Flashback of the First-ever Bluebell Music Festival Held at TWABR

It was on May 18 when the first-ever Bluebell festival was organized at The Winery at Bull Run. It was quite a cool weather due to few rain showers that day. Amazing food & wine, entertaining music and a lot more was arranged for the visitors who took out some time to raise funds & awareness for three local charities - Manassas Battlefield Trust, Final Salute Inc., and NPLB Operation Second Chance. TWABR's owner Jon Hickox said at the occasion that he holds a special affinity for these charity groups as these have strong bondage to the battlefield and veteran's aid.

As per Hickox " I had made a pledge that I would organize a fundraising event for the purpose of benefiting three local charities before TWABR celebrated its one-year anniversary. Two causes that I specifically wanted to support were the Manassas Battlefield and local veteran's support". Besides Hickox, there were other prominent people also present at the occasion, one of them being Robert Bartlett, representing NPLB Operation Second Chance. Robert spoke openly about the efforts their charity group puts up for the rehabilitation of veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. “Our noble charity aids the injured service members recover by engaging them in activities like fishing, hunting etc.,” as per Robert Bartlett. 

 

Another charity group benefiting from the event was Final Salute Inc., that helps the women veterans who don't have any home in D.C by providing them transitional housing, rent & utility assistance. As per Gail Paige, the executive director of Final Salute Inc., “Though there was a cold rain here, yet this event was a grand success. We feel immensely proud to be benefiting from the first Bluebell Music Festival, and we look positively to attend it next year too”.

Plenty of entertainment was on offer to the visitors with performances from jazz band Sonyx; R&B and pop singer Andrea Pais; Indie folk rock group “The Dreamscapes Project” and cover band Livin' the Dream. Delicious food was served by Purple Onion, Amphora and Bad to the Bone. Colonial Remodeling & Restoration, PrintFalcon.com, John Marshall Bank, Meant 2 Live Foundation, IMPACT Marketing & Events were some of the other sponsors that made the event turn out to be a huge success.

We celebrate such events and wine festivals from time to time. All you need to do is to visit our winery. You can visit our winery to take a tour of the best Virginia vineyards while sipping exotic VA wines served in beautiful glasses.

Understanding the Process Involved in Making Tasty Wines at TWABR

The winemaking process has been in existence since quite a long time. A lot of people may consider that there may have been huge advancements in the process with the passage of time. However, the truth is that the basic process has remained the same except that few modifications have come in it over the centuries. It was in the early 1600s that Virginia's first settlers made attempt to cultivate grapes. At The Winery at Bull Run, we don't follow the conventional approach to grape cultivation. 

At the initial stage of the process, we de-stem the grapes with help of a de-stemmer machine. Further, the grapes are crushed properly in our clean wine cellar. With stems removed, the fruit is kept in big size T bins to allow initiation of the fermentation process. During the fermentation process, several changes occur in the structure of the fruit. Within a few weeks time, the fruit skin as well as its seeds get separated and fall to the bottom. 

After that, we clarify the wine in a large capacity stainless steel tank and finally move the filtered wine into French Oak barrels. The wine remains in the barrel for about a year and during this period it ages considerably. When the aging process is over, we transfer the wine into suitable bottles. It simply means that the grapes harvested this year will only be made available next year for tasting. We use Merlot and Norton grapes for winemaking; lets know more about these varieties in detail. 

Merlot features a dark blue color and finds use for varietal wines. Typically medium-bodied, Merlot based wines have hints of berry, currant and plum. This excellent grape variety is quite soft and has tendency to ripe early. Its owing to this softness and early ripening ability that Merlot is extensively used for effective blending with Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Cultivated in Richmond for the first time, Norton got its name from Dr. Daniel Norton, the person credited with the development of this brilliant grape variety. Features that make Norton a hot favorite for winemaking include its blue-purple color and red color juice. At TWABR, you will find our Norton to be a rich, robust wine that is prepared to impress. Besides Norton, you will find a lot of other wines to taste when you come and visit our winery. TWABR is a great winery to relish tasty wines besides being one of the prominent wedding reception venues in Virginia. So, come and have a great time at TWABR.

At TWABR, We Do Take Care of Our Fans & Followers

The Winery at Bull Run is not just about tasty & delicious Virginia wines but also about caring for the people who admire and love us. It has been the main reason why we went for re-configuring our Adults 21+ section, swapping it with the Adults and Children section. Visitors to our winery were quite nervous seeing their cute little children running into our driveway as there was high probability of a tragedy happening in such a case. Children would also climb on our historical ruins, thereby increasing the chances of falling and getting injured. 

Also, the size of lawn in the Adults and Children section was not enough, especially on the days when there were wedding ceremonies organized on Hillwood. Working on the modifications, we built a new outdoor bar with facility for restrooms. The bar will effectively split the Adults and Children section from the Adults 21+ one. Hence, there will also be no further requirement to go to a distant place to find a restroom or bar. By doing this, we have also got the space for building Civil War era winter cabins where children will have the absolute liberty to play with ease. We also added 30 picnic tables to expand our current inventory size. You can visit our winery to take a look at the modifications while enjoying our tasty wine.

The Philosophy Behind Making Award-winning Wines at TWABR

If we think over the reasons that make a winery great, there would be a number of points coming to the mind. Not just wine, but its the location, people and philosophy as well that comes into play to make a winery great. At TWABR, we are immensely proud of our closeness to the old & historic Manassas National Battlefield Park. We have also taken the highest level of care to ensure that our Civil War heritage remains preserved. You can take a look at the architecture & artifacts in our winery to know how we have done the same. 

No doubt, a great winery to a large extent about making great wines. We are proud of the fact that our Red & White wines have won awards in a number of wine competitions held across the country. One of our award-winning wine is Viognier that received "Best of Show" at the Wines of the South Competition. We have been constantly working on improving the quality of our wine offerings and offering the very best of VA wines to wine lovers. 

Its due to these reasons that we teamed up with wine expert Chris Pearmund and made him our executive wine maker. Owner of Pearmund Cellars, Chris is renowned as the key "idea guy" in the wine industry of VA. Besides teaming up with Chris, we also approached vigneron George Wilson to seek his help to establish & manage our vineyard in a better way. We have been cultivating around 3 acres of Norton grapes on our Centreville property. 

Norton is a popular grape variety that got its name from Dr. Daniel Norton who is the person behind the development of this deep blue-purple variety of grape. Norton grape has a jammy, fruit forward taste that makes it ideal for wine making. It has been rightly said that good wine is prepared in the winery but great wine actually starts in the vineyard. Hence, we also took possession of a farm near Little Washington so that we get absolute control over the cultivated fruit and ultimately over the wine produced. 

Having acquired the Little Washington property, we opened up new possibilities for elevating the standards of our winemaking and that is evident from the standards we have maintained till date. If you want to relish our tasty wines, do visit our winery during the opening hours. TWABR is not simply a winery but also one of the best wedding venues in northern VA. Moreover, you can also plan any other event of your choice by contacting TWABR's event management team.

Make your Picnic Special with Amazing Food & Wine Pairing at TWABR

Its quite easy to pair food with wine even if you don't have fair knowledge of the same. You can look into the tasting notes available on the labels of most wines for that purpose. Taking consultation from a proficient sales person present at a winery or a wine shop will help you in a better way. As far as packing food for a picnic is concerned, you may know it better that what food you like and so may pack the same accordingly. However, you may never know which wine you may get to drink at the picnic, unless you are a regular visitor at our winery. 

You need not care a bit for your next picnic as we have arranged picnic-focused food along with wine pairing guide to make things easier for you. We have divided all the wines in categories - reds, all whites, acidic whites, softer whites, and dessert/sweet wines. Merlot, Norton, Petit Verdot, and Meritage Reserve are the wines forming the Red category. Its good to pair protein based food like prosciutto, chicken, sausage, salami, and turkey with our reds. It might prove to be a protein heavy lunch for you. However, you will find that the fat in the meat complements nicely with our reds. 

Our Delaney, Pinot Gris, Petit Manseng form the acidic whites and are most suited with nuts and fruits. The wine taste is enhanced due to the acid contained in dry fruit. As for cheese, the creamier cheese & spreads will be quite suitable with the acidic whites. Our softer whites, Viognier and Chardonnay feature fruit & oak flavors and a less acidic nature. Breads, crackers and sharper cheese will pair quite well with these two. Any of our offered white wines pairs exceptionally well with hummus. The savory flavor of hummus enhances the flavors in white to a good extent. Fish, chicken dishes, and cold shrimp are some of the other protein based food pairing best with our whites. 

Our dessert & sweet wines category includes the Fort NV and Classic Blueberry. A port-like wine, Fort NV features vanilla, chocolate and dark fruit flavors. Chocolates & nuts form the best pairing with Fort. However, there are two other amazing matches for Fort that include chocolate or vanilla pudding and crunchy popcorn. The tasty flavors and creaminess of pudding bring out the best flavors in the Fort too. Similarly, our Classic Blueberry tastes best with brownies and chocolate chip cookies. You can enjoy this amazing food-wine pairing when you visit TWABR for your picnic. When you visit our winery, you can also get the opportunity to take tour of the best VA vineyards. So, come and join us at the winery.

Wine Making at TWABR is Somewhat Different From the Traditional Methods

Over the past centuries, the wine making process has not changed much. In the early 1600s, Virginia's first settlers tried cultivating grapes and followed a specific wine making process. Its only in terms of sophistication that the wine making process has changed these days, the basic process yet remains the same. As for the wine making process followed at TWABR, our grape stomping process is different from the one followed in the old days. We de-stem and then crush the grapes in our clean wine cellar. Further,we remove the stems from fruit and then place it in big size T bins. 

In these bins, the grape undergoes fermentation process and after some weeks, proper separation of skin and seeds occurs. Separated skin & seeds fall to the bottom of bin. After completion of this process, wine is clarified in a stainless steel tank and finally moved to the French Oak barrels where aging takes place. Its almost for a year that our Red wines age in the barrels. It simply means that the grapes harvested in a particular year are available for tasting the next year. When sufficient aging has occurred, the Red wine is ready for being bottled. Further, the wine is poured in attractive bottles carrying the TWABR logo. 

Merlot and Norton varieties of grape are extensively used for production of tasty wine. A wine grape used for varietal wines as well as blending, Merlot features a dark blue color. Wines made using Merlot are normally medium bodied and have hints of currant, plum and berry. Some of the most highlighted features of this grape are its softness and tendency to ripe early. Its on account of these features that Merlot is the preferred grape for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon, a later-ripening grape variety. As for Norton, this grape variety was grown for the first time in Richmond. Dr. Daniel Norton is credited with the development of this grape variety. 

Norton variety features a typical deep blue-purple color and red juice. Its naturally red juice enables making a wine that is jammy, fruit forward and has high content of anthocyanins. You will find our Norton wine to be quite rich & balanced in terms of taste & composition. Tastings are conducted on a daily basis in our nicely decorated tasting room. We charge a tasting fee of $12 that includes 9 tasty Virginia wines. Our winery is also the perfect site for arranging wine festivals in Virginia and so you have the liberty to participate in the organized festivals as per your convenience.

Going Back in Time to Know the Rich History of Norton Grape

Many people must be aware of the fact that Thomas Jefferson failed in his attempt to establish a vineyard at Monticello. However, many previous attempts from other people to plant vineyard in this new place didn’t succeed either. Virginia's wine producing history dates backs to the year 1619. In this year, Act 12 was passed by the the Virginia House of Burgesses. Under this act, each head in every household was supposed to plant ten wines and to attain the vineyard dressing experience.

After facing & recovering from a devastating period in life, Dr. Richard Norton managed to experiment in his home garden by cross-breeding a European grape vine with a wild American vine. Dr. Norton's experiment created the first grape that was able to grow successfully and also produced a tasty wine. As the news of Dr. Norton's experiment spread, people took deep interest in planting Norton grape all over the place. The extraordinary variety also bagged award at a wine competition held in Paris. 

Norton grape plantation was quite prevalent in Missouri before it got prohibited which further resulted in demolition of Norton grapes vines. In the 1990s, Dennis Horton, one of the preeminent winemakers of VA, brought Norton back from Missouri to Virginia. In an endeavor to tell the story behind Norton, we at TWABR brought the original plantings from Missouri to our property, when we opened. The people working at Monticello ate all the grapes produced at the location. 

Jefferson was told that the vines failed. However, the reason for the same is not yet clear. Quite possible that the people said so as they felt bad for consuming all the grapes or may be they produced really awful wines. Jefferson was quite similar to George Washington as he kept serving his country for a long time. Monticello is located on a large hill's top that offered him an ideal location. However, Jefferson's rootstock didn't work fine with the available soil & weather conditions. 

You will definitely like to try Norton after becoming aware of its rich history. At The Winery at Bull Run, we present to you heart-winning Norton wine that will impress you to the core. You can relish tasty wine and can also plan an event of your choice by contacting our event management team. Among the several birthday, wedding sites in VA, TWABR holds a special place due to the relaxing ambiance it offers to guests. So, you can make a booking at our winery without thinking twice.