Stone Tower Winery Review
Address: 19925 Hogback Mountain Road Leesburg,Virginia 20175.
Phone Number: 703-777-2797
Tasting Hours: Thurs-Mon 11:00-5:30 and by appt.
Region: Virginia
Reviewer: Richard Rynders
Review Date: 2/13/2015
Reviewer: Richard Rynders
Rating: 4
The Review
If the architect’s renderings are anywhere near accurate, the new, soon-to-open tasting room and event center at Stone Tower Winery just south of Leesburg will be spectacular! In the meantime, you owe it to yourself to visit the existing winery and tasting room before the crowds gather.
A new addition to the Virginia wine scene (the winery opened in September 2014), Stone Tower currently focus primarily on white wines. Wines produced with the grapes imported from California and other parts of Virginia are bottled under the Wild Boar Cellars label. Wines produced from the Hogback Mountain estate vineyard are labeled Stone Tower Estate Wine. The wine maker, Tim Crow is an experienced winemaker from California with a degree from UC Davis. As the recent snowfall was melting on this Friday in January, I was not surprised to see the tasting room occupied by only myself and the winery staff preparing for the upcoming MLK holiday weekend. To that end, my hostess Gillian was able to give me her sole attention. The tasting room offers two tastings: $10 for their current vintages and $15 for their reserve tasting. Currently, the difference is the addition of the “Estate” vintages in the reserve tasting list.
Starting with their 2013 Wild Boar Sauvignon Blanc, I could truly taste the “California-influence”. Not only were the grapes imported from the Golden State, but the wine also had the benefit of aging in the winery’s new concrete egg fermenter, adding a nice minerality to the crisp lemon and grapefruit flavors.
The winery currently offers two Chardonnays; the Wild Boar and Estate-grown. The Wild Boar, aged in steel tanks, is crisp with flavors of melon. The Estate-grown Chardonnay leans more towards a new world style. Despite not going through malolactic fermenation, the wine has more of a classic “buttery” flavor.
Sanglier is French for “Wild Boar,” and Stone Towers’ Sanglier Noble is a red Bordeaux-style blend comprised of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. It was well-balanced but a little light for my taste (only 13% alc.).
As an aside, the new tasting room and event center (to host weddings, music and other parties) is slated to open May 2015. Much of the materials are being harvested from the estate itself. I look forward to returning to this bright newcomer and to see how it matures and flourishes in the years to come.