James River Cellars Winery Chambourcin 2014 and fresh-fruit cake from Shyndigz (Photo by Jay Paul)
Sometimes, at the end of the day, you don’t feel like cooking. Hence, takeout. And sometimes, it was a particularly long day. Hence, wine. Here’s a quintet of Virginia wines (and one cider) paired with four meals to go (and one dessert) to get you ready to face the next day.
Barboursville Sangiovese Reserve 2015
$21.99 at Whole Foods Market
Added Bordeaux varietals give the dried strawberry spine of this excellent sangiovese an unexpected roundness. Which makes it perfect for pizza. Order two large, four-topping pies from Whole Foods for $24 in the early afternoon, to secure a spot in the fast-filling pizza hearth.
Rosemont of Virginia Rosé 2017
$16.99 at Ellwood Thompson’s
The chambourcin grapes in this gorgeous, well-priced rosé amount to a crisp strop of the tongue. With its notes of watermelon and rose petals, it goes great with a sandwich like The Industrial, a powerhouse of salami, mortadella, capicola and provolone from Coppola’s Deli in Carytown.
Potter’s Farmhouse Dry Cider
$13.99 at Kohlmann’s Neighborhood Market
Pick up pierogies and smoked fish by the pound at adjacent Perly’s to go with this cider, which brims with the flavors of melon and Bosc pear. Though vinted like wine, it’s lower in alcohol and also has zero residual sugar.
Thibaut-Jannison Virginia FIZZ or Thibaut-Jannison Blanc de Chardonnay NV
$23.49 or $30.99, respectively, at Ellwood Thompson’s
FIZZ is made in the less-frothy, cremant style and sings of peach, while the Monticello Appellation Blanc de Chardonnay seduces with its crisp notes of apple. With their scrubbing bubbles and yeasty aromas, both are perfect, if unorthodox, matches for an order of fried chicken from Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken. Seriously.
James River Cellars Winery Chambourcin 2014
(pictured above) $14.99 at Shyndigz Market & 2Go Cafe
The nectar-like qualities of this locally made chambourcin make it an ideal dance partner for a wedge of fresh-fruit cake iced with buttercream from Shyndigz.