Wine Club: Fruit Wines

Wine Club celebrated the waning days of summer with a night of fruit wines (and a morning of headaches, I'm sure). Sweet Lauren hosted and set the perfect tone with a flag you would think was made for us!

Fruit wines can be delicious, but are perhaps best sampled one at a time! They're very sweet and perfect for dessert. Virginia has many great fruit wines (four of these were from the Commonwealth). We tried:

• Tradewinds Pineapple Wine: It didn't taste bad, but once someone said it reminded them of Hawaiian pizza, it was soon nicknamed "ham juice." It's hard to explain why, but it definitely had a hint of bacon. 
• Horton's Chateau le Cabin Pear Wine: I brought this wine, which isn't overwhelmingly "pear" thanks to a blend with Viognier. It's a nice change of pace from the usual white and would be delicious with a dessert cheese tray topped with honey.
• Rapidan River Peach Wine: This is my fave! It manages to still be a little crisp while retaining its essential peachiness. Their website recommends pairing with BBQ and that sounds like a match made in heaven.
• Fruitprint Orange White Wine: Orange wine sounds a little cuckoo, but this was actually quite crisp and refreshing, with only the faintest hint of orange. It could easily be a great substitute for a Pinot Gris at the dinner table.
• Rapidan River Raspberry: I love this wine's slight effervescence. It's a blend of Riesling and Merlot with natural raspberry juices and makes for a great after-dinner drink. 
• Chateau Morrisette Blackberry Wine: Unlike the others, this wine is made from 100% blackberries. Their website recommends pairing with spicy foods, which could be very interesting.

Our hostess prepared a fruit-themed menu that went perfectly with the wines! It included chicken piccata with lemon, along with watermelon bites drizzled with balsamic...

Delicious cream cheese topped with two fruit mixtures: Harry & David's fruit relish and a mixture of orange marmalade and jalapenos that Ashleigh made. Both were wonderful!

And we finished the night with slices of Lauren's fruit pizza with a sugar cookie crust. Fresh and delicious!