THE
WINERY AT BULL RUN
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| Wintery Winery: fewer blooming flowers than in spring, but still a lot of fun! |
This
is a slightly different take on a winery visit – rather than visiting
per se, I came back to work at this winery. Admittedly, I had worked
there before, but since December, I’ve learned a lot about wines through the
chapters and lessons in this class, and the Winery itself has made new wines
and undergone a few changes, so it actually turned out to be a completely different
experience. And I was able to apply my newly developed wine knowledge and
palate to the wines and the experience as a whole. I even got to do a
tasting for 3 other Virginia Tech seniors, including one girl who is in
Geography of Wine too! But that meant as a pourer, I had to be on point,
or else I’m sure she would have called me out, what with her new wine-tasting
expertise.
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When I'm not working, I get to hang around the winery and try some of the different wines
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To
begin with, I’ll describe the production facility and the winery itself.
Driving up to the winery, you pass by a wide expanse of land that makes up the
Bull Run battlefield, the site of two bloody engagements of the Civil
War. Separating the Winery from the field itself is the famous Stone
Bridge that was destroyed during the First Battle of Manassas. There are
two acres of Norton grapes to the left of the drive way; Norton is a grape with
a long history in Virginia, thought to be indigenous to the state, so the
placement of this grape varietal takes history into account. Although the
farm was not a winery during the Civil War, 19th century history is a big part of this
winery’s appeal, especially considering the proximity to the historical
battlefield.
The
Winery itself is very beautiful – it looks like a massive barn that stands a
few yards away from the ruins of the original house on the property, which has
been converted to a patio. Its off route 29 and secluded in a nice, quiet
property, about 22 acres, and there are horses just beyond the fence.
There is a beautiful sunset beyond the patio, and it makes for a great place to
spend the early evening.
Being
relatively very new, production of the first few wines occurred at other
wineries, namely Pearmund Cellars, as Chris Pearmund is the principle wine
maker for Bull Run. However, over the past 6 months, the Winery at Bull
Run has produced and barreled several wines just below the tasting bar in the
wine cellar. There look to be about 50 American oak casks in the cellar,
mostly with Merlot and Norton wines, two very popular reds at the winery.
There are also 6 Stainless Steel vats that will be used in the production of
the white wines.
This is actually my manager Chris, pushing down
the cap with the viticulturist, George Wilson.
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| Here George is gathering the grapes for the crush |
There
are currently 10 different wines available to taste (and I was actually
fortunate enough to get to try 2 new wines that will be introduced to the
tasting list soon). There are 4 whites, 5 reds, and one rosé. These
are all Virginia wines, made from Virginia grapes, with 2 new exceptions.
Since I’ve been at school for this semester, the Winery has introduced a dry
Riesling that was produced in Virginia, but with grapes from Washington.
The second exception is a fruit wine, and is a 100% peach wine.
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| The wine to the far right (Viognier) was recently replaced with the peach wine. |
My
Tasting Notes
WHITES
2011
Dry Riesling
This
wine was the only one with grapes that came from Washington State. I
had tried this when it was newly bottle, and it really wasn’t very good, but
since then it’s really made big improvements. With no residual
sugars, it was a dry Riesling with a clean, crisp, apple flavor, as well as a
light pear flavor. Since it was fermented entirely in stainless
steel, it had a very pale yellow color. The nose was also had light
apple flavors as well. A few people who came to the tasting were
surprised that they liked it, saying that they usually didn’t like Rieslings,
but were happy with this dry version.
2011
Chardonnay
Whereas
the Riesling was entirely stainless steel fermented, the Chardonnay was
entirely fermented in French oak. It also underwent malolactic
fermentation, which brought out some mild buttery qualities as well as tart
granny smith apple tastes. The light oak flavor worked well with the
buttery flavors, and I felt like there was a chestnut taste to this
one. The color was slightly darker than the Riesling, probably
resulting from the time it spent in oak.
2011
Delaney
The
first two were varietal wines, and this was the first blended white on the
tasting sheet. The grapes involved are Traminette, Vidal Blanc,
Viognier, and Riesling, and as a result of some of these sweeter grapes, there
is 1.2% residual sugars. There was a definite floral component to
this wine, maybe from the Traminette or Viognier. This blue bottle
contained a soft yellow colored wine, and the semi-sweet flavors combined to
give it a citrus flavor, similar to grapefruit or lemon. Although
its sweet, it did have a mild sharpness on the finish too.
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| Becky's favorite wine for a while was Delaney, so we got a bottle and came out for the day |
Classic
Peach
This
was one of the wines I was most eager to try; I had never had a fruit wine
before, and this was a popular one among the staff. It had a very
light clear color, and since it was fermented in stainless steel, the clear
color was not surprising. It was a little sweeter than I typically
like, coming in at 1.5% residual sugars. Nonetheless, I found it to
be very good – although potentially very dangerous. The nose had
young peach flavors, and unsurprisingly the flavors of the wine were very
peachy. Dangerously easy to drink (almost like a white sangria or
something), but I doubt the versatility of peaches.
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| The relatively new peach wine was advertised like this, because it probably won't be a staple of the wine tasting. But it made a good impression, if not for being a great porch wine, then maybe for the price! Slightly smaller bottle, but about $10 cheaper then most others. |
2011
Rose
The
Rose was also a stainless steel fermented wine, however, unique to this one on
the Whites side, the wine is a co-fermentation of the two grapes used,
specifically Merlot (about 90%) and Chambourcin (about 10%). I
learned that co-fermentation meant that the grapes’ juices were fermented
together, rather than separately and blended together at the end of the
process. It had a light pink color, having spent limited contact
with the skins. It was a dry rose with no residual sugars, and
despite the strawberry and mild alcohol smell on the nose, the taste was a nice
combination of strawberry and raspberry flavors. I think it would
pair well with brie cheese.
REDS
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Here's a shot of the tasting bar, although I have to say, it looks
much bigger in person, I guess because this shot was taken at an angle.
The mural in the background depicts the First Battle of Manassas.
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Here are the reds as they appear behind the tasting bar. On a
slow week day, we only line them up like this, because we don't want to open
too many bottles if it turns out to be a slow day. But on weekends, we
double and triple the stacks of reds that are out, and we always keep them in a
specific order, so that in the chaos, we don't get confused. The Whites
on the other hand, stay below the bar in some mini fridges, so as to keep them
cool.
2011
Merlot
This
Merlot was fermented in American oak, and as a result it had a smoky quality
that was really apparent. It also had a slight spicy flavor. The
wine had a medium body, and a dark red color. There was a light vanilla
flavor from the oak in addition to dark cherry flavors. The higher
alcohol content was apparent compared to the Rose (which was also Merlot), and
the body to it was significantly different.
2011
Cabernet Sauvignon
I
had a harder time picking out the flavors of this one. Also in American
oak, but I felt like the vanilla flavors were a lot more prominent. I
myself didn’t really pick up any identifiable or obvious fruit flavors, I would
guess blackberry or something along those lines, but maybe it’s just my
palate. I found it really enjoyable, but I think I’ll have to try this
one again.
2011
Meritage
Meritage
is a really popular red at the Winery at Bull Run. This one spent 13
months in American oak, and I was told it likely become even better with a
little more time on the shelf. It is a blend of Bordeaux style grapes, in
this case Cab Franc, Cab Sauv, Petit Verdot, and Merlot. As a Meritage,
the wine maker actually has to pay a fee to use the name. The wine had
some darker fruit flavors, I felt like plum and blackberry were the flavors
that I identified. It had a much heavier body than the previous two
wines, and I have to say, this was probably my favorite red.
2011
Norton
The
Norton wine was a really rough, robust red. Like all the other reds, it
was fermented in American oak. I’ve learned a lot about the history of
the Norton grape, and I also learned that the grape naturally has a darker
pigment than most other grapes, resulting in a darker wine. Since the
Norton grapes at the winery are far from ready, the wine was produced from
grapes that came from Charlottesville. The nose had a smoky, woody
element, and these came through in the taste as well. The roughness of
the wine would probably work best with food, ideally a grilled steak or
venison.
2011
Fort
This
was a port-style wine made from 100% Chambourcin grapes. It had a deep
red color, and was unique from the other wines in that it was actually
fermented with cocoa nibs within the American oak barrels (the only wine to be
infused with anything else). It was fortified with ruby red brandy, and
that meant the alcohol content was up to 17%. The residual sugars were up
to 8%, so a big difference from any of the other wines. It had a powerful
chocolate aroma as well as a strong chocolate flavors. I tried it with a
little bit of chocolate, and I felt like it had a mild raspberry flavor after
the chocolate.
SNEAK
PEAK
Being
an employee, I was also able to try a Rosé made from 100% Cabernet Franc that
will replace the co-fermented Rosé. It had a similar color to the
merlot/chambourcin Rosé, but I thought the nose was a lot nicer than the
previous one I had tried. I actually really like the taste of the Rosé
that the Winery is selling now, but I’m also really excited for this new
one. It had a small amount of residual sugars, so the fruit flavors came
through slightly sweeter in this wine.
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| Becky took this while I was finishing up a few tastings. You can see the vineyards in the distance, and of course, she's drinking Delaney. |
Additionally,
we tried a new version of the Delaney, which essentially excludes the
Traminette from the blend. A lot of my coworkers (who are much more
capable than I am) said that the Traminette was very apparent in the Delaney
being sold now, so the new one takes a very different approach. I thought
it was nice, certainly less floral/perfumy, but I still think I prefer the
original. Then again, maybe I just need to come back to it; I’m likely
biased because I’ve had several glasses of the original one, but only a tasting
of the new one.
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