Wine & Music at Chrysalis Vineyards

It's one of those beautiful Virginia Spring weekends, so you know what that means: Time to visit one of the area wineries. After consulting the 2006 Virginia Wine Guide, we learned that the Hottest Smooth Jazz Concert was going down at Chrysalis Vineyards. Now, I'm not a snob or anything, but I took a Jazz music class in college and, having been exposed to some of the best of the genre, I think the "smooth" variety (think Kenny G) is probably what awaits those destined for the Ninth Circle. But these nice days are hard to come by, so off we went.

We've been to Chrysalis before, so we decided to forego the tasting and just enjoy lunch and a couple of glasses of wine with the music. By far the best white wine Chrysalis makes is their Viognier, so my wife opted for that while I went for their Barrel Select Norton. Norton is a grape native to America and several Virginia wineries feature it. It's a full-bodied red that would stand up to any steak. As you can see from the picture, it's a dark ruby red color.

Oh, and the music, courtesy of a trio called Gone Again, wasn't bad at all. Instead of the bland saccharine dreck I was expecting, their style tended more toward Van Morrison with a bit of bluegrass thrown in. All in all, a pretty good way to spend an afternoon.