Matthew F.
Yelp
Narmada is owned by a couple from India who are 'living the dream'. With 20 acres under vine - and 75% of their wines estate grown - it's not a huge place but I like how most of their own wine comes from their own grapes. I also like the Indian theme, which can be seen in the wines.
But my highest praise is how most of the red vintages on the tasting menu are 2011 or 2012s. That's unheard of! At a time when many places are serving 2013s, this place is definitely doing it right.
They have 3 wine flights, each consisting of 5 wines; Reserve ($10), Fruity ($8), and Sweet ($8). Normally that's pretty expensive, but given I have the VA Wine pass and they offer card holders 2 tastings for the price of 1, I was basically able to do a second tasting for free, so I went with the Reserve and Fruity flights.
I found the tasting notes here to be very unique. The Reds tend to be subtle rather than bold, and often had a spicy finish. My server explained that might be because the wine maker/co-owner is a chemist (the wife of the husband-wife team). Given all the spices she's accustomed to from home, this may well influence her approach to wine making.
I thought the whites were OK, but I LOVED the reds from both flights. I mean seriously loved every one of them. The 2011 Cab Franc Reserve was very smooth; almost as good as the regular 2011 Cab Franc, which spread out over my palate nicely. The 2011 Chambourcin was also good; more dry than fruity, which is unusual for this grape.
But the best two were the 2010 Tannat and the 2011 Yash-vir (Bordeaux style). The Tannat was the least bold Tannat I'd ever had, but that's actually a compliment. And the Yash-vir was highly unusual in that it was very smooth going down, but had a nice spiciness at the end.
A shout out for the kitchen, which serves small Indian dishes; individually they are not exactly lunch-sized but if you get several it would serve as a good (if expensive) meal.
The guy who co-owns Narmada gets my vote for "Son of the Year", because he named this place after his mom. Then again, given she literally sold her family jewels so he could go to college in the US, she deserves it.
The reds are fantastic, as is the overall facility. And funny enough - I met my server at another winery, while she was doing a wine article! Narmada's tastings and food are pricy, but the bottles themselves are reasonable. A return visit is definitely in my future.