Winery Visit- Beliveau Estate Winery

What do you do when it's over 70 degrees outside in Blacksburg on a Saturday in March??? You grab your friends and head out to a WINERY!!! It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day outside for us to go out and enjoy some new wine together! Beliveau Estate Winery is a cute little winery located just 10 miles away from downtown Blacksburg.

We started out by taking a tour of the winery and vineyard. We walked around the premises of the property and saw the vineyard in which they grow their grapes. Beliveau Estate Winery has 12 acres of vines used to grow a majority of the grapes used in their wines. Their wines are handcrafted, produced and bottled on-site at their facility. It was such a nice day to walk around outside and see people working on the vineyard.

While we were there, we saw several groups touring the facility as a potential wedding venue. I know that this place would be a great place for a wedding it was absolutely beautiful and there was plenty of room for people both inside and outside. There is also a B&B attached to the facility that would make a great place for guests to stay during their wedding weekend.

Inside the facility, we paid $10 for a wine tasting that allowed us to sample 8 of their most famous wines at their tasting bar.

The first wine we tasted was called Afternoon Delight. This white wine was light and slightly oaky. It had a buttery aftertaste and smooth finish. This wine was enjoyable on its own but would have been better with some food.

The second wine we tried was called Destiny. This wine was sweet and light. The server told us that the the grapes used in this particular wine were 100% estate grown and that this was their staple wine. It was slightly dry and acidic and had hints of lemon to it, which made for a sour aftertaste.

The next wine we tried was called Discovery. This white wine was very sweet. The server said that this wine contained 5% residual sugar. It smelled like Welches grape juice and honestly tasted like it too. It was refreshing and did not taste at all like alcohol.

The next wine we tried was called Summer Rose. This is their most famous rosé. Typically I do not like rosés because they are too floral for my liking, but this one was more fruity than floral, and was actually enjoyable. This rosé was slightly sour and had hints of lime in the flavor.

The next wine we tried was called Fireside Chat. The server described this wine as spicy and peppery and it definitely was. It surprisingly had a smooth finish, but was spicy, and definitely would have been better with food than by itself.

The next wine we tried was called Soul Singer. This wine smelled like cherries, and it had a tart and acidic finish. Compared to the other wines we tried, this one had a heavier mouthfeel. Overall, it was very easy to drink and had a warm feeling to it.

The next wine we tried was called Warm Glow. This one was actually my favorite wine of the day. It had strong berry and cherry smells to it and tasted very fruity and full of berries as well. This wine was warm feeling, but had a lighter mouthfeel than expected.

The last wine we tried was called Sweet Surrender. This red wine smelled sweet like candy. This wine was very similar to the Destiny we had tried earlier, except that this one was red instead of white. This one too tasted like Welches grape juice. It was light and refreshing and slightly sour. I ended up purchasing a glass of this wine to enjoy outside before leaving the vineyard for the day.

After our wine tasting, I bought a glass of wine and some soft pretzels for us all to enjoy outside on the property. We had a great time outside taking pictures outside in the sun, even though it was a bit windy. The weather was amazing and the views were incredible.

We are excited to go back again soon to experience more of the ambiance of the fresh food, wine and live music. It was such a great experience for us to get to taste some wines grown and created locally, right here in Blacksburg.

Wine and Cheese Pairing #2

This week, my friend Leah and I went to the Blacksburg Wine Lab to try their wine and cheese flight for the week for our second Wine and Cheese Pairing. We thought it would be cheaper to share a wine and cheese flight at the Wine Lab rather than buy our own wine and cheese at home like we did last month. Overall, we really enjoyed our experience at the Wine Lab.

Name: Uriando Txakolina
Varietal: White Blend
Region: Txakolina
Country: Spain
Year: 2016
Price: $18.99

The first wine we tried was a Spanish white blend. The label described it as fresh, zesty, minerals and citrus. It smelled strong but crisp and slightly sour. It tasted overwhelmingly sour. This wine was paired with a very sharp cheddar cheese. The cheese helped to take away the intense bitterness of the wine and made the wine taste slightly sweeter.

Name: Rosso di Ca'Momi
Varietal: Red Blend
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2015
Price: $9.29

The second wine we tried was a red blend from California. The label described the wine as jammy, chocolatey, ripe berries, and plum. I definitely sensed the smells of deep fruit in the wine, and it also smelled sweet to me. The wine tasted soft and slightly leathery. This wine was paired with a hard Dalmatinac cheese. The saltiness of the cheese helped to bring out sweet rich fruity flavors of the wine.

Name: Guenoc Victorian Claret
Varietal: Malbec
Region: North Coast, California
Country: United States
Year: 2016
Price: $15.99

The third wine we tried was a red blend from the North Coast of California. The label described the wine as having flavors of blackberry, blueberry, licorice, and spice. This wine smelled very jammy ad plummy to me. It tasted very soft and fruity. I definitely picked up on the notes of blackberry and blueberry. This wine was paired with a soft and creamy Brie cheese. The cheese itself didn't have much flavor to me. I didn't think the cheese really added anything to the wine. I am not a big fan of Brie so I would prefer to just drink the wine on its own.





















Above are photos of me (left) and my friend Leah (right) at the Wine Lab! Peep THE John Boyer in the background of the second picture! We had a blast trying new wine and cheese combinations at the Wine Lab this week and we definitely be back again sometime soon.

Tasting - Crane Lake

Name: Crane Lake
Varietal: Riesling
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2017
Price: $7.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as a Riesling having flavors of peach, orange blossom and pear in its flavor and also described it as having a medium sweet flavor profile.

My Review: This wine was my favorite of the day. It didn't really have much of a smell to it, but it tasted very light and fresh. It was slightly sweet and had a floral aftertaste. Overall it was a relatively tasteless wine but was very refreshing.

Tasting - Terre dei Savoia

Name: Terre dei Savoia
Varietal: Barbaresco/Nebbiolo
Region: Piedmont
Country: Italy
Year: 2012
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as a "Nebbiolo, red color with orange reflexes. Intense aroma, full of fruited and spiced notes. Dry flavor, full bodied and balanced. Pairs well with red meats and tasty cheeses"

My Review: This red wine was slightly brown in color. It smelled like car parts and had a hint of spicy cinnamon. It tasted very leathery to me and slightly spicy. This was not my favorite wine, it may have been better with food but not very good on is own, I ended up pouring most of it out.

Tasting - Vigna Lenuzza

Name: Vigna Lenuzza
Varietal: Cabernet Franc
Region: Friuli
Country: Italy
Year: 2011
Price: $5.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "full-bodied, harmonious wine, with a considerable prosperity and intensity of smells that remember raspberry. Indicated for barbecues and for the structured bouquet, it also goes well with roasted meat."

My Review: This wine did not smell good to me at all. It smelled like tar and car parts to me. This red wine was warm feeling and tasted oily and gross. This wine was horrible in my opinion and I can't imagine that food would have made it any better.

Tasting - Peter Cruythoff

Name: Peter Cruythoff
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Swartland
Country: South Africa
Year: 2015
Price: $5.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as  a range of quality wines as part of an every day quality lifestyle. This wine from the Swartland region offers well defined fruit with a complimentary freshness to ensure a crisp and refreshing white wine. Drink within 2 years with your favorite light meal or on its own."

My Review: This wine smelled floral to me. It tasted very light and fresh, but also had a bit of a bitter aftertaste. Overall it was pretty easy to drink but I feel like it would have been better with food.

Tasting- Masseria Pertuso Avelium

Name: Masseria Pertuso Avelium
Varietal: Bombino Bianco/Chardonnay
Region: Puglia
Country: Italy
Year: 2016
Price: $7.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "produced with the indigenous grape Bombino Bianco together with a small percentage of Chardonnay. It is a fresh, well balanced and fruity white wine that perfectly complements seafood entrees and fish dishes. Well chilled is a great apertif.

My Review: This wine smelled light and crisp to me and tasted very refreshing. It had hints of green apple, and tasted slightly acidic but smooth. It had a slightly bitter aftertaste. Overall it was an enjoyable wine on its own, and I feel like it would taste even better with food, especially with seafood like the wine label suggests.

Tasting - Douglas Hill

Name: Douglas Hill
Varietal: Shiraz, Barbera and Grenache
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: not specified
Price: $7.95

Online Review: The wine label described this wine as a "sweet red table wine" and was cellared and bottled by Douglas Hill Winery in Napa and Sonoma counties in California

My Review: Though none of the wines I tasted today really impressed me, this one was the most enjoyable to drink. It smelled light and sweet, and tasted like candy apples. It was very easy to drink. Definitely a dessert wine.

Tasting - Bricco dei Tati

Name: Brico de Tati
Varietal: Piemonte Barbera
Region: Piedmont
Country: Italy
Year: 2014
Price: $8.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "from our little farm on the edge of a small village of Piemonte, we proudly make this delightfully fresh Barbera. We make it for ourselves, friends, and family. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do"

My Review: This wine was rather pungent, with smells of leather and tar. It was a very full bodied and heavy red wine. It tasted like leather seats of a car. Definitely not my favorite wine. I don't even think food would have made it taste any better.

Tasting - Vina Temprana

Name: Vina Temprana

Varietal: Garnacha

Region: Campo de Borja

Country: Spain

Year: 2017

Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "Vina Temprana Old Vines Garnacha is a wonderfully full bodied, smooth red wine with aromas of wild red fruits and a rich and elegant flavor. The Garnacha grapes are sourced from selected vines planted over forty years ago, which give the most concentrated and flavorsome fruit. The wine is delicious served with a wide variety of savory dishes"

My Review: This wine smelled sweet and a little spicy. It was a soft red wine but was also slightly leathery. The label suggests pairing this wine with savory dishes, however I feel like it would also pair well with a soft, creamy cheese. I did not enjoy drinking this wine on its own and definitely think it would be better with food of some sort.

Tasting - Casa Bella

Name: Casa Bella
Varietal: Pinot Grigio
Region: Provincia di Pavia
Country: Italy
Year: 2017
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "intense and elegant wine, obtained from pinot grigio grapes, reminds you of the perfumed and rosy apricot. Fresh, gentle, and persistent it is ideal with starters based on shellfish or sea food as well as with simple and tasty dishes typical of Mediterranean tradition"

My Review: This wine did not have much of a smell to me, it had a very neutral odor. This wine was light pink in color and had a crisp, cool flavor. It was relatively easy to drink, but kinda sour. It might have tasted better with food, specifically seafood like the wine label suggested.

Tasting - Michael Chapoutier Tournon

Name: Michel Chapoutier Tournon
Varietal: Viognier Marsanne
Region: Victoria
Country: Australia
Year: 2014
Price: $9.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "Winemaker Michel Chapoutier is the seventh generation family member to lead Maison Chapoutier, first established in France in 1808. Michel has selected Victorian vineyards for their superior characteristics. Mathilda is named after both an Australian icon and Michel Chapoutier's daughter Mathilde"

My Review: This wine was very fresh smelling to me. When I tasted it, it was very bitter and was also very floral tasting. It burned a little as I drank it and also tasted slightly acidic. This was my first time tasting a Viognier, and I determined that it wasn't my favorite.

Wine Dinner #2

Today my friends and I did our second wine dinner together. We wanted to go with an Italian theme, but had to change some of our plans around to get ingredients that we could find at the grocery store. For our appetizer we made fresh homemade bruschetta paired with a Pinot Grigio. For our main course we had beef and cheese ravioli with red marinara sauce paired with a Merlot. For dessert we had a light chocolate cake paired with a White Zinfandel. It was overall a fun experience!

Name: Rex-Goliath
Varietal: Pinot Grigio
Region: California
Country: Australia
Year: not specified
Price: $5.49

My Review of the Pairing: The first wine we tried was a Pinot Grigio. This wine was very much like the label described it, light and crisp. This wine was very fresh and easy to drink on its own. Definitely my favorite wine of the night. We paired this wine with fresh homemade bruschetta. The bruschetta made the wine taste a little more acidic. The pairing of wine and food was not the best together. However, the food and wine each tasted better on its own.

Name: Barefoot Merlot
Varietal: Merlot
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: not specified
Price: $5.99

My Review of the Pairing: The second wine we tried was Barefoot Merlot. This was my first time trying Merlot before and I was interested to see how it would taste. This wine smelled very heavy and dark, and had some notes of cherry to me. The label described it as having some chocolate undertones and I could definitely taste that too. This wine was surprisingly easier to drink as I thought it would be. It was a very smooth wine. We paired this wine with meat and cheese ravioli with a red marinara sauce. The ravioli helped bring out some of the berry flavors of the wine. The pairing was good but I think this ravioli would have tasted better with a lighter red wine.

Name: Canyon Road White Zinfandel
Varietal: White Zinfandel
Region: California
Country: United States
Year: 2017
Price: $8.00

My Review of the Pairing: The last wine we tried was a White Zinfandel. This wine smelled very light and crisp. It tasted sweet and almost sour, and had hints of watermelon in them. We paired this wine with chocolate cake. The chocolate cake was very light and airy, not a very dark and rich chocolate fudge cake. The chocolate cake made the wine taste a little fruitier and sweeter, however the wine and the cake did not really compliment each other.

DTN Lesson #1

Today my friends and I got together to do Drink This Now Lesson #1. The purpose of this assignment was to assess why we drink wine with meals and how food alters the taste perceptions of wine. We purchased a bottle of Chianti from the Vintage Cellar, and some Parmigiano Cheese and Hard Salami from Kroger to complete this assignment.

Name: Chianti Colli Senesi

Varietal: Red Blend

Region: Chianti

Country: Italy

Year: 2015

Price: $9.95

1. For the first step, we opened the bottle and took notes of our observations. This wine was a dark ruby red color. This wine gave off a slightly leathery smell to it, I could not really smell any hints of fruit. When I first tasted the wine, it tasted leathery, and also slightly oaky. Though it seemed like a medium bodied wine, it was definitely harsh tasting. This wine was a dry wine, that I did not expect from a deep red wine like this. It was hard to drink on its own, so I was interested to see how the food would change my opinion of the wine throughout the rest of the lesson.

2. For the next step, we waited 2 hours, allowing the wine some time to open up a little bit. When I tasted the wine again, I could tell that it had softened up slightly. It still had a leathery taste to it, but was not as harsh as it was when we had first opened the bottle. I could start to taste some of the fruity flavors. I sensed some slight hints of cherry. This wine was still not the best, but was slightly more bearable after waiting the 2 hours for it to open up.

3. Finally it was time to pair the wine with food. We paired this wine with a hard Parmigiano Reggiano cheese from Kroger. The cheese was hard and salty, but it made the wine taste more sweet, and bring out some of the fruity undertones of the wine. The cheese definitely helped to soften up the wine and eliminate the harsh tasting tannins present when we had first opened the bottle. The cheese didn't taste great on its own, but paired with the wine, they both brought out the best in each other.

4. Next, we paired the wine with a hard salami from Kroger. The saltiness of the salami helped to bring out some of the spice in the wine and softened the wine up so much more than even the cheese did. The salami helped to cut the bitterness of the wine and made it taste smoother. I think I preferred the meat and wine pairing to the cheese and wine pairing. The salami was more enjoyable on its own than the cheese was. I thought this pairing went well together and was easy to drink.

5. Lastly, we let the wine sit out on the counter for about 6 hours, allowing the wine to open up even more, to see how that affected the flavor. After tasting it again, it had softened up much more than before. It started to lose the leathery smell to it. It was much easier to drink alone. However, I still would prefer to drink it with food, like the meat and cheese we ate it with today.

From this lesson I learned why it is so important to pair wine with food. I have found myself asking waiters at restaurants for their suggestion when out to eat. Old World wines especially need to be paired with food, or else they simply do not have the same effect that makes wine enjoyable to drink.

Tasting- Vina Galina

Name: Vina Galana Sangria

Variety: Tempranillo
Region: La Mancha
Country: Spain
Year: not specified
Price: $6.95

Online Review: This wine is described as being 100% Tempranillo. Natural fruit flavors and succulent red wine all fused together in one bottle. This doesn't require a punch bowl and big ladle, you can chill your bottle in a cooler and head out to the beach or a hike and enjoy a cup of the best sangria anywhere you choose to be.

My Review: This was my favorite wine of the day. This wine smelled kinda spicy to me, like cinnamon. It was a lighter reddish brown colored wine. It tasted sweet, like cinnamon apples. It was very easy to drink. This wine would have tasted better chilled, as it tasted like spiced apple cider to me.

Tasting- Tres Ojos

Name: Tres Ojos
Variety: Garnacha
Region: Calatayud
Country: Spain
Year: 2016
Price: $6.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "Garnacha from 40+ year old vines, fruit focused (tart cherries and raspberries) with a nice background of briary, peppery, spiciness. Easy on the palate and an excellent companion to a wide range of dishes from pasta, burgers &pizza to roasts and hearty cheeses."

My Review: This wine smelled like it had hints of cherry, but also smelled slightly bitter. The wine tasted very full bodied, and had a slightly spicy flavor to it as well. I feel like it would have tasted better paired with cheese and other food, but was still enjoyable enough on its own.

Tasting- Tenuta Rapitala

Name: Tenuta Rapitala
Varietal: Nero D'Avola
Region: Sicily
Country: Italy
Year: 2015
Price: $7.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "Nero D'Avola is Sicily's greatest indigenous grape. This is a medium-bodied wine with juicy, cherry and floral aromas and spice on the palate and a firm structure."

My Review: This wine smelled subtly of fruit and soft berry and cherry flavors. It had a slightly bitter aftertaste, and a dry mouthfeel with almost a burning sensation. I really wanted to like this wine, because it was from Sicily, where many of my ancestors are from as well, but I really could not bring myself to enjoy it.

Tasting- Four Sisters

Name: Four Sisters
Varietal: Sauvignon Blanc
Region: Victoria
Country: Australia
Year: 2013
Price: $4.95

Online Review: The wine label describes this wine as "Edgy. Stylish. Spontaneous... Fresh! Vibrant passionfruit, gooseberry and lemon citrus flavors shine through on the nose and palate with a fresh, crisp finish. A fantastic match with fresh shellfish, sushi or smoked salmon."

My Review: This wine did not smell fresh to me, but rather very bitter, and kinda gross. It tasted very acidic, which I can assume after reading the label may be from the lemon citrus flavors, but I could not taste any citrus, just too much acidity. I did not like this wine at all, and I am not even sure that it would have been better with food, just plain gross.

Tasting- La Mascaronne

 
Name: La Mascaronne
Variety: Vita Bella
Region: Cotes de Provence
Country: France
Year: 2015
Price: $6.95

Online Review: The wine bottle describes this wine as "Vita Bella enjoys an intense nose of white flowers and pear. Well rounded in the mouth with delicious expressions of fruit at full maturity and delicate hint of lemon. Perfect with grilled fish, chicken or fresh asparagus."

My Review: This white wine was a replacement for the original one meant for the tasting today. It smelled sweet and light, but tasted extremely acidic to me, and had a very heavy mouthfeel. I do not agree with the descriptions on the label, it didn't have very floral notes to me, and was not well balanced in my opinion. It was not my favorite. Perhaps it would have been better with food.