The Hague Winery

Came in on a rainy Tuesday afternoon, so it was just us, but the owner came out and served us graciously. The place is very unassuming on the outside — it’s in an old barn, but is super cute on the inside and nicely done outdoor seating area. But none of that matters — what matters is that it was some of the BEST wine we have ever tasted in Virginia. We’ve been to over 30 Virginia wineries and this is now in our top five. Their Merlot is certainly the best we’ve ever tasted in VA and their Petit Verdot actually made me swoon. We walked out with three bottles, which is a little uncommon for us. We usually take home at least one but three means we LOVED a place. It’s also so nice that they are open on the weekdays when so few wineries on the northern neck are. Go there. Go there now. You won’t regret it.

This place has everything going for it — the age-​worthy Michael Shaps wine, the historical buildings, and the server with the New Jersey accent. Definitely the highlight of my wine tour of the VA neck.
The Hague is a smaller vineyard — only 5 acres under vine, but everything they make is estate grown. That’s so rare, it’s an accomplishment in itself. And the property is somewhat historical — it also includes a 1800s era refurbished house turned B & B.
Michael Shaps is the winemaker, and all of their wine is sent to his place for production. But that’s not to say the Hague’s owners aren’t active participants; my server told me a bit about the family, enough that I should give them their due in making this excellent product.
My $ 6 tasting included 7 wines; two different vintages of Chardonnels, a Rose, several reds, and a sweet Muscat. The Chardonnels were very crisp, and the 2011 Cynthia Muscat was fairly floral, and actually not too sweet. In retrospect I should have gotten a bottle of the Muscat — my server told me it goes well with pastry or blue cheese, both of which I’m a sucker for.
While all that was good, where they really make their money are the reds. Wonderful, smooth reds… I really enjoyed the 2013 Petit Verdot, which was medium-​to-​full bodied. The 2013 Cab Franc was pretty good too.
But the best was the 2010 Meritage Reserve. Very smooth, wonderful color. And it was only $ 29! This is another one I’ll look back and regret not grabbing; curses upon myself for having a wine rack that’s already full to bursting.
I’d likewise kick myself if I didn’t mention my service. Everything was poured thru an aerator into a small cup, then re-​poured into my glass. Maybe that was done for convenience, but I suspect it also opens up the wine. And my server was also the cook from the restaurant I just had lunch at! We hit it off pretty well; since she’s from NJ, she is one of the few locals here who sounds normal to me. But hey — New York doesn’t have great reds, so it looks like I’ll be here for a while.

A friend brought me a bottle of 2011 Chardonel as a housewarming gift when we first bought our house in the Northern Neck. Nice gift — bottle of local wine. Thought it would be mediocre at best but to my surprise it was really good. It was after that bottle that we deicded we needed to get there to do some tasting.
Unfortunately it took us a while to make the trip (about 20 minutes) but we finally did it in December! The owner was so friendly and the atmosphere was great — just as you would expect. We enjoyed the conversation — about the wine, about the property and sharing things we had common about Louisiana — GEAUX TIGERS.
The tasting was great and we bought 2 ½ cases to give as gifts to friends and co-​workers during the holiday season — and a few extra for us!
We look forward to bringing friends back to experience The Hague as well especially when the weather is warmer so we can enjoy the wine our on the patio.
There is a nice selection of meats and cheeses as well as some Northern Neck and wine related gifts to pruchase as well.
It’s worth the trip whether you are a local or just driving through. Stop by and say hello and have a taste — you won’t leave empy handed.

Stopped in here for the parents to buy Holiday gifts for their employees/​co-​workers. The tasting room was difficult to find, but once we did was nicely decorated inside. The owner walked over from his house when he saw us pull up.
We made it clear up front we intended to purchase a lot of wine — and we did. The tasting was very nice, and the gentleman was very informative about their wines. FYI — they grow all their own grapes. Not a lot of wineries do this anymore!
I’ll likely be back — They’ve got good wine!

The Hague Winery was our first stop on a vineyard weekend in the Montross area. We stayed at The Inn at Montross and they recommended we visit the winery. The ambiance was great, with plenty of outdoor and indoor seating to enjoy a glass or two of wine. The prices were very reasonable and we really enjoyed getting to know the owner during our visit.

Love this winery. Great wines, fairly priced. Charming outdoor patio and they don’t mind if you bring your own food, they even suggest it. Although cheese and crackers are available. Very friendly and informative. They have been offering events, music pairings. This is our favorite on the Northern Neck because they offer it all!!!

My boyfriend and I decided to check out The Hague one afternoon while driving up the Northern Neck to MD. We were pleased to discover the owner, Steve, behind the counter as he was incredibly informative about not only the wine but the process, well and so much more. We were even more pleased to find that of the six wines we tasted, not only was the Chardonnel delicious, but all of the wines on the list were delicious, even the dessert wine (and I don’t care for sweet wine). My favorite was the Cabernet Frank but I didn’t want to miss out on the others so I bought 4 different wines and half a case, which was funny because I rarely find one wine I like. I look forward to a return when we are not on the way somewhere else, but simply just to hang out and drink wine.

Okay — so it has been over a year since I visited this winery (visit was in Jan. 2012) but it was only this past weekend that I popped the cork on my 2008 Meritage from Hague (I tend to save my «good» wine for special occasions and the occasion was that I was out of cheap wine and too lazy to make a run to Giant).
Anyways, WOWWWW… Geeezzzzz! I remember that I really loved their Meritage (in fact — I was staying at a local B&B and purchased a bottle at dinner at the B&B and loved it so much that was the whole reason why I went out to The Hague Winery). It was beyond delicious — hands down the best red I’ve had in a long time. Now I’m all sad that I didn’t buy a case :-(boo. Really wish this winery shipped their wines. I live close to DC and wish I could have a case mailed to me. Ohhh well… I’ll just have to plan a road trip back down that way soon and stock up.
From what I remember about my visit it was a very good experience. The gentleman that did our tasting was very polite and told us a lot about the winery and their wines. I also liked the fact that he waived the price of the tasting with the purchase of a bottle wine. I’ve noticed that GOOD wineries do this — crappy wineries do not (probably because they only make money off the tasting because after a tasting no one buys a bottle HA!).

Very nice vineyard in historic Westmoreland County. Really liked the 2009 and 2010 Chardonels. Good atmosphere and very friendly people. A gem.

Solid Northern Neck vineyard. We learned the soil in this part of the Commonwealth is similar to Bordeaux in France (a French winemaker visiting from another nearby winery — Athena, I believe — told us this). So expect deep reds — pretty unusual for Virginia. Merlot, Petit Verdot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc. The Meritage is delicious and the prices are good. You are rewarded for getting out of gridlock central (read: every artery west, east, north and south of the Beltway for at least 50 miles).
The property dates back to Robert E. Lee’s great grandparents (mid 1600s). A few original buildings from the estate still stand. The tasting room is inside a renovated barn. Ample seats outside. Smoke was heavy in the air from the Dismal Swamp fire (which was 100 miles south!) But that didn’t stop us from partaking — Meritage and Chardonel (a chardonnay hybrid crafted at Cornell University), and smoke on on the water (or is that smoke from a distant fire)…surreal to the max.