Lately, clean air has been something in short supply in northern Virginia. I spent much of the week inside, plotting where I would spend the weekend (and more importantly, someplace I could breathe easily). Fortunately, Shenandoah Park specializes in clean air…which also meant a side-trek to DuCard Vineyards was in order.

DuCard is located not far from the Sperryville entrance of Skyline Drive, and even closer to the White Oak Canyon and Old Rag trailheads. I’ve long thought of it as a hidden gem, although more of my friends including My NOVA Wine Blog have been discovering it.

DuCard exemplifies a theory of mine; wineries off the beaten path work extra hard to make your visit worthwhile. Not only has the wine consistently been above-par, their service is always top notch. It helps the local scenery serves as a great brand ambassador.

I’d last wrote about DuCard in 2019 (and been back a few times) but since they’d had a few changes in the lineup, a new blog seemed necessary.

Owner Scott Elliff was making the rounds amongst guests when I walked in, showcasing his latest wine; “Pet-Nat”. He even made t-shirts with a gnat logo for the occasion! My group managed to grab a table near the brook and settled down with a glass. Even the 2 1/2-year-old seemed to appreciate the color.

Scott wasn’t the only friendly face there; Kathy Wiedemann was at the tasting bar when I came in for a fresh bottle. Asking her to join a mini vineyard tour with Scott was an easy sell.

While walking amongst the vines Scott told us about his three vineyards. The main one at the winery had 20-year old vines; not something you see everyday in Virginia.

He also talked about the trellising system for his Norton vines. I’m probably mis-remembering half of the details but there was something unique in how they designed it, allowing the fruit to hang in such a way to minimize its acidity. Norton is a HUGELY acidic grape, so taming that quality is important. But it must have done the trick, since DuCard’s was the favorite of a Virginia Norton comparison last year.

But it was his new additions that really excited me. Scott managed to convince his neighbor to sell him a few extra acres of land adjacent to his vineyard, which he’s using to plant two acres of Albariño. Not only that, but Tannat is being planted at another vineyard. I mean seriously; just when I thought I couldn’t love this place enough, they are planting two of my favorite grapes.

Since it was the weekend of National Rosé Day, we of course had to have the obligatory photo of a bottle, perched on the bridge across the brook.

After some snacks, we made our way inside of a seated tasting.

They had a red, white, and mixed flight available. Scott talked us through much of it before going off to check on other guests. They also had a library tasting, which made Kathy’s eyes light up.

The mixed flight had two Chardonnays (one made in steel, one oaked), the Popham Run red blend, and a fairly soft Cab Franc. I liked the two reds, but LOVED one the “TANA ” Macon-style Chard. Very full for a Chardonnay; I think it would be even better with food but great on its own.

But arguably the hit of the day was their 2019 Petit Verdot (which Kathy shared a sample of with me). I was tempted to open the TANA right there, but as time was running short I took it home with me. Kathy was so impressed she grabbed the TANA, a library 2019 Petit Verdot, and the very effervescant and quaffable pet-nat.

All in all, a really successful day. Extra kudos to the staff for giving the dog a water bowl, which he sampled while under my table.

Mattapony Reserve is one of Virginia’s newest wineries, opening in late 2022 on the Mattaponi Indian Reservation on the banks of the Mattaponi River east of Richmond. This wasn’t on my original itinerary, but I had some free time so I scooted over to try it out.

Since there isn’t a vineyard, the tasting building isn’t obvious at a glance. The winery is located at the end of a long circular road (maybe I could have taken a right instead of a left and sped up my journey, but I didn’t know). I passed a number of family homes, a church, and the Mini Ha-Ha Educational Trading Post (I never thought I’d see a sign like that, but there it was!). But the GPS was right on, and as soon as a saw a big parking I figured that was the place.

The entire experience has a very mom-and-pop vibe to it. It helped that Ginger and Lonnie Custalow, the owners/winemakers were behind the counter. Ginger poured while telling me their backstory.

They were home winemakers for a while, finally making their first commercial vintage in 2020. They named the winery ‘Mattapony’, which is an older spelling of the local tribe. There’s a separate Mattaponi winery as well, although the two couldn’t be more different.

All of Mattapony’s fruit is from Virginia, and the wine is made via ‘natural winemaking’. This is a bit of an open-ended term, since there is no technical definition of ‘natural wine’. But generally speaking it means limited intervention, low chemical spraying, and (in their case) no added sulfites.

While there isn’t a lot of indoor seating it has something I think is even better; a covered patio next to the river. I was told that if you watch long enough you might even see some bald eagles swooping down. No eagles were seen when I was there, but the view was well worth the visit.

Nine wines were available during my visit; a pair of Nortons, a pair of Petit Verdots, a Pinot Grigio rose’, a 2021 Chardonel, a 2020 Chardonnay, DeChaunac, and a red blend called “Two Rivers”.

I got to try them all, with my favorites being the rose’, Chardonnay, and DeChaunac (if only because I see it so rarely). The prevalence of hybrids is very common in natural winemaking.

The Chardonnay was definitely my favorite. It was almost an orange wine; very dark hue to it. Notes of pineapple and coconut abound.

The Pinot Grigio rose’ was nicely done; lots of peach notes. I almost got a glass, but opted for the Chardonnay instead.

That DeChaunac was damn interesting. It’s a French-American hybrid that was one of the first created in the wake of phylloxera. I found it was very acidic and tart. I later found they got the fruit from Rockbridge.

If you like smoky reds; this is your place. The 2021 Norton and 2020 PV were both was lighter than I expected. Did it have something with the winemaking style? I forgot to ask.

It may be further out than many wineries, but there’s something to be said about kicking back on the porch and hoping to see eagles fly-by.