My father and I took a trip out to the Shenandoah Mountains to (somewhat belatedly) celebrate his birthday.

Besides the mountain vistas, the main attractions were a fantastic (mostly) used bookstore called Royal Oak Bookshop and the Fox Meadow Winery, or rather the fantastic views of the mountains from its patio.

While sitting on that patio deck with my father, I sipped a solid (if unspectaculer) Cabernet Franc (though, in fairness, while the Cabernet Franc varietal seems particularly well suited to the terroir of the Shenandoah Valley, I can’t think of anyone who say it rises to spectacular heights with any frequency) and read Stephane Mallarme.

It seemed a perfect moment. A full, relaxing, and uncomplicated wine to go hand in hand with a full, relaxing, and very complicated poet.

Mallarme was one of those poets I had read a little of, but not deeply, but very much wished to.

In this particular collection (Selected Poems, purchased, naturally, at the above mentioned Royal Oak Bookshop) was a poem entitled L’après-midi d’un faune.

A month or two earlier, I attended a small concert where they played a Debussy piece entitled Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune. The musicians described it as having been written for a dramatic presentation of a poem by a then famous poet. The poem and poet, I was assured, were little read and with good reason. It was typically bad and boring nineteenth century poem and we, the audience, need not worry ourselves, for the only thing left of value from that artistic moment was the music.

What absolute poppycock!

Now that I know it is by Mallarme, I rightly incensed. Mallarme and his poems are still rightly read and rightly respected and that poem is quite good.

In continued rambling, the Royal Oak is a fantastic bookstore. The owner takes care to keep a broad and good selection of books. Yes, he stocks some trash – including many of those old sci fi pulps I love so much – but also clearly works to keep good and interesting books in stock. You will find some treasures, if you care to look (and you won’t have to look that hard to find them, either).

Fox Meadow Winery is a typical Virginia winery. The vines are pretty young and the wines not very complex.

The tasting covered the following:

2010 FMV Le Renard Gris – This is the bottle I bought to bring back. Not my favorite, but my partner prefers sweeter wines and I really can’t stand them. This one seemed like a good value and sweet enough for her palate and still dry enough for mine – as you might expect from a blend of (among others) pinot grigio and chardonnay.

2010 FMW Barrel Fermented Chardonnay – I’ve got to say, this was not a very chardonnay-ish chardonnay. In fact, I couldn’t get any of the classic chardonnay mineral-ish flavor until the finish. Nothing in the middle at all. Interesting for all the wrong reasons.

2011 Riesling – If you love sweet rieslings, you’ll love this. I don’t love sweet rieslings, but my partner would have loved it. However, as noted, I opted for something she and I could (I hope) enjoy together.

2009 FMW Syrah – They offered a lot of descriptives for this one, but I swear, most of the time, I could barely taste a thing. There was no “there” there.

2009 FMW Cabernet Franc – This is what I enjoyed on the patio. A relaxing and enjoyable wine. I would have gotten it except it simply wasn’t worth $27 a bottle. But, I was very much tempted. It is a great full bodied, dry red that also manages works well in summer.

2009 Le Renard Rouge – My absolute favorite, but I just wasn’t prepared to spend $32 on it, especially since my better half would not have appreciated it. But it really was the best wine they had and I can recommend it.