Hannah M's wine blog: March 2017

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Entrance of Valhalla Vineyards, Roanoke Virginia

Winery visit- Valhalla Vineyards

On Monday, March 13th, 2017, my mom and I went to Valhalla Vineyards in Roanoke, Virginia for a wine tasting! We did not go on a tour, because they were only offered in the middle of the week. So Lisa, the woman who gave us the wine we were tasting, told us about the production and which grapes are grown at the vineyard. I had never been to a vineyard for wine tasting and I knew that Valhalla was really beautiful, so I was very excited to go to a wine tasting here and learn more about the process!

Grape Vines at Valhalla

Valhalla is located on Strawberry Mountain in the Roanoke County and overlooks Roanoke County and Roanoke City. Valhalla has a 21 acre vineyard and produces world class cabernet sauvignon, syrah, merlot, chardonnay, cab franc and more. Its decomposing granite soils and unique climate (similar to Rhone Valley of France) afford the premier terroir on the East Coast. This vineyard has wine tastings as well as cave tours, band nights every Friday starting in April through September, and "Salsa Under the Stars" three dates out of the year starting in May.

Booklet given to us describing the wines

and names of wines we were tasting.

My mom and I participated in Valhalla's "Reserve Tasting" Wines, which was explained to us to be the vineyard's older wines. Because they were older wines, there was only one white wine which was the Rheingold Reserve Chardonnay. Below, I gave the wine's name, price, vineyard's description, and my notes on the wine. Some of the wines, one being the Valkyrie, were all aged using the same methods, but had different grape varieties per vintage, making them all a little bit different but they were given the same description by the vineyard. We got to sample 10 different wines for this tasting and also got to keep the win e glass!

Rheingold Reserve Chardonnay, $25- "A taste of France here in Southwest Virginia can be found with the Rheingold. Similar to a French White Burgundy like a Grand Cru Chablis, the Rheingold is a full bodied white with butteriness and oakiness to boot. Barrel fermented in French Oak and aged 22 months before bottling, this wine will take you for an adventure back to the Old World." This was my favorite wine of the bunch. It had some pear and apple as well as some slight floral aromas. There was not much taste except for the subtle pear and oaky taste. I really enjoyed this white wine!
Valkyrie (Petite Verdot/Malbec), $30- "Only the best barrels from each production make the final blending for this beauty. Assemblage of Cabernet Savignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Vedot, it reflects the top five Bordeaux varieties. Aged 40 months in French and American oak, this elegant wine earns the distinction of Virginia's best. Integration of dark fruits, tobacco leaf, cassis and cocoa is silky on the palate and lingers lushly. I present it with pride for your ultimate pleasure." I enjoyed this wine! I thought that it was a bit dry with a good amount of tannins, but the red berries brought out some sweetness that balanced it out. This Valkyrie was more dry than the 2007 Valkyrie. I thought that this would be a good wine to pair with a rich dinner!
2007 Valkyrie, $28- "Only the best barrels from each production make the final blending for this beauty. Assemblage of Cabernet Savignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Vedot, it reflects the top five Bordeaux varieties. Aged 40 months in French and American oak, this elegant wine earns the distinction of Virginia's best. Integration of dark fruits, tobacco leaf, cassis and cocoa is silky on the palate and lingers lushly. I present it with pride for your ultimate pleasure." I would say that this wine was my second favorite out of the ones that we sampled! It was dry, but had a good amount of sweet flavors to balance it out. I smelled a good amount of honey as well as some sweet red berries. I tasted honey as well as strawberries in this wine.
2005 Valkyrie, $32- "Only the best barrels from each production make the final blending for this beauty. Assemblage of Cabernet Savignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Vedot, it reflects the top five Bordeaux varieties. Aged 40 months in French and American oak, this elegant wine earns the distinction of Virginia's best. Integration of dark fruits, tobacco leaf, cassis and cocoa is silky on the palate and lingers lushly. I present it with pride for your ultimate pleasure." This was my least favorite of the Valkyries, but I still enjoyed it! It had a strong smell and taste of cranberries and cherries. There was a good amount of acidity in this wine and I could especially fell it when I swallowed the wine and it went down my throat. I liked the berry flavors, but this wine was just a bit too acidic.
2001 Cabernet Sauvignon, $35- "Our Cabs set new marks for ripeness and tannin maturity. Harvested in late October or early November, they spend 34-40 months aging in a combination of French and American Oak. These lusty dense wines show dark cherry fruit, cedar, spice, and sweet tobacco layer after layer. Velvet tannin feel on the palate, silky cocoa on the finish, these are passionate releases from this Cabernet Girl." I did not get much flavor out of this wine except for some cherry and pepper. I thought that this was a very dry wine and was not a huge fan of it.
Norton- "Great wine for the money. Thomas Jefferson found this grape growing wildly on his estate which brings a sense of pride among Virginians. Our organically grown grape with its tough skin needs not to be sprayed but rather to be left alone to blossom in the Virginia climate. Highly aromatic of plum and violet, it is dark in color and offers a wonderful flavor. A super everyday wine." Lisa gave us a tasting of pure Norton wine in order for us know what Norton wine tastes like on its own because the Gotterdammerung has a bit of Norton grapes. It was very interesting hearing about the history of this grape from Lisa! I enjoyed this wine and it had some strong aromas and dark red berries and cherries.
2001 Gotterdammerung, $26- "On the heels of the great French producer Cheval Blanc, our Cabernet Franc/Merlot blend emulates the master. Truly endowed with French-style aromas of good mother earth, this gracious fruit yielding to harmonious tannins make this the premier dinner wine of choice. Our most highly-rated and written-about wine may be difficult to pronounce but effortless to enjoy. For ease, try 'Gott wine?,' just like 'Got milk?'" I thought that this wine was much sweeter than some of other wines we tried before it. I thought that it had a very slight aroma and taste of orange and a stronger taste and aroma of plum as well as some pepper and spice. I enjoyed this wine and Lisa told us that this was a great wine to pair with dinners, so I bought a bottle!
2001 Syrah, $21- "This is a big red wine that accompanies any meal. Aromas of spice, pepper and dark ripe fruit will be sure to evoke your senses into frenzy. Rich fruit, meaty texture and spice awaken your palate. If you like Australian Shiraz, you'll love our Syrah." I was not the biggest fan of this wine because of its dryness and strong acidity. I thought that this wine tasted of dark red berries as well as strong spice flavors.
2001 Cornucopia, $25- "Always a favorite, our striking Cornucopia embraces a distinctive wine that can elevate to pair with bold foods or soften to accompany milder foods. A red wine light enough for a white wine drinker but still with enough depth for a red wine drinker, the Cornucopia is a perfect addition to any family dinner or Thanksgiving Holiday." I thought that this wine was good, but not my favorite! It smelled sweet like honeysuckle but tasted dry and had tastes of red berries such as cherries. I thought that this was a good wine overall!

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, $24- "Our Cabs set new marks for ripeness and tannin maturity. Harvested in late October or early November, they spend 34-40 months aging in a combination of French and American Oak. These lusty dense wines show dark cherry fruit, cedar, spice, and sweet tobacco layer after layer. Velvet tannin feel on the palate, silky cocoa on the finish, these are passionate releases from this Cabernet Girl." This was my least favorite wine of the tasting. I thought that this wine was extremely dry and did not have very much flavor. One of the only smells/flavors that I got out of this wine was mulch. I do not think that I would try this wine again.

Overall, visiting Valhalla was an amazing experience and we had a great time! Lisa was very helpful, loved talking about the wines, and gave us a lot of information and good tips. The view and building were both beautiful and made the experience that much better! I enjoyed the overall atmosphere and would love to go back for the dancing and live music on Fridays! I am excited to visit more vineyards and try some more great wines!

Tasting room at the vineyard.

View from the tasting room overlooking Roanoke. My mom and I at Valhalla