On Sunday Becky and I thought we'd take advantage of the warm weather and visit Beliveau Estate, a winery that's about 30 minutes from Virginia Tech. Only three days before, we got about 5 inches of snow...so it's been a noticeable turnaround, and we figured it would be a good idea to do some "homework" for Geography of Wine. |
| It was a great day out, and we really enjoyed the weather |
Beliveau Estate is a Bed and Breakfast on about 130 acres. About 40 feet beyond the bed and breakfast, there's a winery, established by the owners about a year ago. In addition to wine, they grow quite a bit of lavender, and it was interesting to see what kinds of things they made with it. But more importantly, we were there to try the wines.
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| Here's the B&B and some of the rows of Lavender |
Becky and I started off the tasting by asking a few basic questions about the winery. We learned the vines had been planted in 2009, and they were still relatively young. The pourer mentioned that they had planted several different grape varietals there, and they were eager to see which ones worked well with their terroir. Since the vines weren't yielding grapes that were being used in the winemaking yet, she explained that all of the grapes (except the Zinfandel) were brought in from vineyards within a two hour radius of the winery. The Zinfandel grapes were brought in from California, because they are better suited to that climate. I meant to ask her name, so I wouldn't have to keep calling her "the pourer" in this post, but also because she did a really great job. She was really knowledgeable about the wines, and very friendly, and having worked as a pourer myself, I thought she definitely knew what she was doing.
Although the pictures don't look very big, the vines stretched out across a good portion of land, and it looked like they were gradually elevated over the hills in order to get good sun exposure.
Although the vines have been there since about 2009, we're on the early side of the growing season, and they have a ways to go before harvest, and even then, I don't think they'll be used in any of the wines that will be sold here quite yet. Then again, they may find that they have a successful grape varietal.
The shed behind the winery looked like it housed most of their equipment, and there was another shed closer to the top of the hill as well.
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| Here's some of the equipment for the pressings |
TASTING
The tasting fee was a total of $5 per person and we tried 10 wines, which I thought was very reasonable. There was also one more wine that was unavailable for the tasting, called Reflection. Apparently it sold very well and because they now had limited stock left, it was only sold by the bottle.
WHITES
We started with 3 white wines, which were three different takes on the Vidal Blanc grape varietal. I thought it was cool to see some diversity of the grape, especially because I haven't tried any wines that are 100% Vidal Blanc grape until now. I thought the names were a little bit...silly I guess, but I guess they were going for a theme.
"Afternoon Delight"
Winery Notes: This lightly oaked dry Vial Blanc has overtones of grapefruit and vanilla.
My Review: I thought this wine had a nice vanilla oaky flavor. Like the review says, it was definitely dry, but it had a crisp citrus element to it as well, either grapefruit or lemon flavors. The citrus component made me think that this would be a nice refreshing wine, especially as the weather becomes a little bit warmer. Although it spent a little bit of time in oak, I thought it seemed to be a pretty light, clear color. Not bad!
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| "Rubbing sticks and stones together makin' sparks ignite" |
"Destiny"
Winery Notes: This dry crisp Vidal Blanc - a favorite of those who like wine not too sweet and not too dry.
My Review: This one I thought had more of a dryness on the nose than the previous one. It was crisp like the last one, but it seemed a little bit sweeter or fruitier than the previous one, although it didn't have any residual sugars. We were also told that this wine won a Bronze Medal in a recent wine competition.
"Lovers Quest"
Winery Notes: A semi-sweet Vidal Blanc - a favorite of those who like wine not too sweet and not too dry.
My Review: We were too busy taking everything in at first to remember to take pictures for the first two, but here one can see how clear the wine is. I thought it had a light, airy nose, I didn't really care for it, to me its kind of like a diaper smell. That being said, I really liked the taste, I liked that it was slightly sweet, not overpoweringly sweet or dry. I thought it was a little bit peachy, too.
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| Lovers Quest |
REDS
In between the whites and reds we rinsed with water, and as I understand it, some people think this throws off the taste of the next wine, but that may just be a preference thing.
"Silhouette"
Winery Notes: Our Cabernet Sauvignon is a cornucopia of light berry flavors topped with a spicy overtone.
My Review: I thought this one was excellent, my favorite wine that we tasted. I thought it was really well balanced, and I the nose was exactly what I like from red wine; it had a really nice, rich vanilla flavor, as well as a raspberry component on the nose, and I spent a few minutes just enjoying the aromas. It was lighter bodied than some Cab Sauvs that I've tried, and I thought the berry flavors came out really nicely. I would like to get a bottle next time I go back, and for me, this was my highest rated wine.
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| Silhouette |
Winery Notes: A full bodied Zinfandel with the peppery overtones zins are known for - delicious!
My Review: To me this seemed like an archetypal Zinfandel, at least very similar to a lot of others that I've tried. The nose seemed to bear a few oak characteristics and just a little bit of a peppery flavor. The wine had a nice, medium body with a little bit of an oaky flavor and I thought a little bit of a cocoa element in the background. It would be very good with food. Also, these Zinfandel wines were made from California grapes.
"Sunset Sipper"
Winery Notes: Our winemakers chest bursts with pride at the release of this luscious red zinfandel.
My Review: I thought this was a really well rounded, nice, smooth Zinfandel. It had really nice rich tastes that I like in red wines. This is another one that would be good with a nice meal.
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| Sunset Sipper |
Winery Notes: 100% Landot Noir red table wine has distinct berry overtones. A wonderful sipping wine!
My Review: This was an interesting wine for me because I have never had a Landot Noir wine, let alone even heard of the grape. It was interesting, because it was a semi-sweet red. It smelled to me like the fruit stand at a supermarket, or like the outside of a nectarine; not overly strong fruit smells, but they were subtly there. I thought it had a great taste, not overly sweet, but with a nice cranberry and blueberry flavor with some light cocoa overtones. I thought it was very good, and we came back to get a glass later.
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| A Cappella |
Winery Notes: Our semi-sweet Chambourcin is rich in flavors of plum, dark cherries, almond, and succulent pear. This is velvet to the palate!
My Review: We were told that this wine also received a bronze medal award. It had a light violet color, and a bold cocoa flavor, both on the nose and on the palate. I thought it almost had a slight effervescence, and it was lighter bodied than I expected. I think this one would pair well with dark chocolate.
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| Warm Glow |
"Summer Rose"
Winery Notes: A sweet wine of blended reds. Yummy!
My Review: This one was interesting to me because it was a blend of Chambourcin and Leon Milot, another grape I had never heard of. It had a lighter color, and the nose didn't necessarily stand out like the previous one, it seemed a little more subdued. I picked up some raisin flavors in this wine, and it worked well.
"Serenity:
Winery Notes: This after dinner favorite is a blend of two chambourcins. Its decadent yet mellow flavor pairs fabulously with chocolate. A perfect hostess or friendship gift.
My Review: I really liked this one, I thought it was a little darker than the last two wines, and that's probably because of the two different Chambourcins, a grape that has a darker pigment than many others. To me it had an aroma of bananas, that was the first thing that came to my mind. The manager came out and we discussed that, because he said he also got that from this wine, especially when it was a little bit younger. It had a nice cocoa flavor, and it was a little bit sweet. We tried this one with a little bit of chocolate, and I did notice a perceptible change; it seemed to cut a little of the sweet sensation. I liked it both before and after the chocolate though.
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| Serenity |
Wine Review: This hearty Traminette has complex notes of apricot, lychee, and lemon. This wine is a luscious bold sipping wine.
This was the wine that was no longer included in the tasting. It sounds good though!
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| Here's the really nice view right outside of the winery |
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| After the tasting, Becky and I both got a glass (A Capella and Silhouette), and we walked around the property. |
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