THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611010067
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STEPHEN HARRIMAN
LENGTH: 153 lines
DO YOU THINK you can really tell the difference between wine aged in French and American oak? Would you like to try? It could give your life new meaning. You could learn to become an actual wine snob. Impress your friends with your sophistication. Or, if you're slow making decisions, you could just get drunk.
Well, maybe not that, but. . . .
At Ingleside Plantation Vineyard's annual fall barrel tasting, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, you can sip Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from the barrel (you don't drink out of the barrels but from a tasting glass) - French and American oak, side by side.
I went up there several years ago on a Rappahannock River cruise, and a number of my fellow passengers, mostly ladies of considerable, uh, seniority, got a little tipsy and a lot silly. Do be careful.
In case you're just getting into this wine thing, Cabernet Sauvignon is a red wine with a fruity flavor (cherry, black cherry, black currant, raspberry, whatever), while Chardonnay is a white wine that's sometimes buttery, creamy, nutty, smoky, steely, appley, lemony, melony, whatever).
And you thought it was just grape juice with a touch of ethyl alcohol.
The 2,500-acre Ingleside plantation dates back to 1834. It has also served as a boys' school, a Civil War garrison for Union troops, a stand-in courthouse and a dairy farm. It's been in the Flemer family since the 1890s.
It's been a vineyard since Carl Flemer planted the first grapes in 1960, and an award-winning winery since 1980. They have a nice European-style courtyard where the tasting takes place.
Ingleside is in Westmoreland County on Virginia's Northern Neck peninsula. It's about a three-hour drive from South Hampton Roads via Interstate 64 and U.S. 17 to Tappahannock, U.S. 360 to Warsaw, Route 3 west to Oak Grove, then Route 638 south about 2 1/2 miles.
Admission for the barrel tasting is $5, which includes the tasting and your own tasting glass, plus winery tours and music. Reservations are not required, but the people at Ingleside would appreciate your call so they'll know how many barrels to roll out. Call (800) SIP INGLESIDE.
You could make a complete day of it by joining the 50th anniversary dinner celebration for nearby Colonial Beach Yacht Center at Dockside Restaurant. The four-course dinner, beginning at 6 p.m., will be paired with Ingleside wines. The dinner is $40 per person plus tax and gratuities. For dinner info, call (804) 224-8726. FROM HERE TO THERE
Tidewater Community College has scheduled two spring and summer travel and education programs that are open to non-students as well as students (for credit under certain circum-stances).
The Spring in Prague tour, May 6-19, priced at $1,585, includes round trip air from Washington Dulles, 12 nights B&B, ground transportation in Prague, guided tours and informal talks by Charles University professors. Info: (757) 484-2121 or 483-6139.
The Summer Studies Abroad program at the Universidad de Costa Rica in San Jose, June 27-July 26, priced at $1,940, includes round trip air from Miami, fees for four-hours-per-day classroom instruction, lodging and two meals daily with a local family, cultural activities, field trips and excursions to volcanoes, rain forests and beaches. Info: (757) 549-5214 ot 484-2121, Ext. 478. DISCOUNT CAMPING
Cabins and campsites at Virginia state parks are now going at discount rates through Dec. 2. Reservations also are being accepted for the 1997 season, which runs from March 1 through Dec. 1. To learn about specific dates or prices, call the VSP reservation center at (800) 933-7275. YOUR MONEY'S WORTH
Here are some overseas deals that seem to be good value for the money:
Long weekender to London, $289 from New York, now to March 11. Leave Thursday or Friday, return Monday or Tuesday. Reserve three days before departure, pay within 24 hours. May be combined with special hotel rates (from $32 pp/do) from British Airways Holidays. Call a local travel agent or BA (800) AIRWAYS.
You want Paris, too? You can't do this on a London long weekend, of course. But if you are going to be in London for a while, you can pop over to Paris on the Eurostar for. . . , well, a steal. Two plans. The Paris Two-Night Stand offers London-Paris roundtrip via Euro-star, plus two hotel nights and sightseeing for $319 (normal Euro-star fare alone is $278). The London-Paris Break offers practically the same deal, except two hotel nights in both London and Paris and includes roundtrip air from New York to London for prices starting at $949. Call a local travel agent or (800) 677-8585.
Budapest for $799 per person, double occupancy, now to March 31, includes air, transfers, five nights' accommodation, sightseeing, one dinner at Gundel's, tickets to opera or concert. Five hotels are participating in the package, which is designed to celebrate the country's commemoration of the arrival of the Magyars 1,100 years ago. Did you remember that? The price will rise to $999 between Dec. 13 and 24. Call a local travel agent or Malev Hungarian Airlines, (800) 877-5429.
Swissair Winter resort packages to 28 Alpine resorts in Austria, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, from $865 pp/do, include air, transfers, seven-night lodgings, breakfast, now to April 30. Call a local travel agent or (800) 221-4750. HOLIDAY PLANNER
How does Christmas with the Sultans and New Year's with the Czars sound? Well, OK, so they don't hold sway any more; how does the idea sound? The Virginia Beach-based World of Oz planners have a 14-day Sultans and Czars trip planned that will have you dining and dancing like royalty over the holidays.
Itinerary for the trip, which departs New York City Dec. 21, includes a gala Christmas dinner in Istanbul, as well as visits to Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the Roman Hippodrome, St. Sophia, the Grand Covered Bazaar, Kariye Museum, Suleymaniye Mosque, Dolmabache Palace and Sadberk Hanim. In Bursa, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, sites include the Great Mosque, the Green Mosque and 18th century Ottoman houses. Then it's on to Pergamon, Izmir Ephesus and Sardis.
Tour travelers then fly to Helsinki, Finland, for an overnight stay, then ride the Sibelius Express to St. Petersburg, where a stop at The Hermitage is part of the city tour. On Dec. 31, travelers prepare for the New Year's Eve Czar's Ball at Catherine the Great's Palace. A champagne and caviar reception is followed by a gourmet dinner, ballet and opera performances, fireworks and a Cossack show.
The $4,145 per-person, double-occupancy price includes round-trip airfare from New York, deluxe accommodations, sightseeing, most meals, entrance fees, tour guide and transfers. Info: a local travel agent or (800) 248-0234. ATTENTION, TWENTYSOMETHINGS
If you're wondering whatever happened to just ``hangin' out'' and are looking for a place where two people of the opposite sex - or even the same sex for that matter - can enjoy an evening together with no strings attached . the planet. This may require more dollars than sense, but, hey, you only go around once. They are (in no particular order):
Trekking Permit Office, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Tahiti-Moorea ferry, French Polynesia.
Spanish Steps, Rome.
Sunset Cafe, Pushkar, India.
Green Tortoise Bus, San Francisco to Seattle.
Hill-Tribe Trekking, Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Scuba diving certification, Great Barrier Reef, Cairns, Australia.
Why Not Homestay, Bencoolen Street, Singapore.
Spanish School, Antigua Guatemala.
Joe's Bar, Prague, Czech Republic. HAIL TO THE CHIEF
Whichever. Phoenix Park Hotel in Washington, adjacent to Union Station and the U.S. Capitol grounds, offers bi-partisan inaugural package beginning Jan. 17. Book four nights minimum, from $219 per room per night. Call (800) 824-5419. IT'S ALL DOWNHILL
The top ski resorts in the West, as listed in the September issue of Snow Country magazine:
1. Whistler/Blackcomb (British Columbia)
2. Vail (Colorado)
3. Aspen (Colorado)
4. Beaver Creek (Colorado)
5. Snowmass (Colorado)
6. Steamboat (Colorado)
7. Mammoth Mountain (California)
8. Park City (Utah)
9. Sun Valley (Idaho)
10. Breckenridge (Colorado) by CNB