Beliveau Estate
What a beautiful day for a winery visit! On April 5th, my sorority hosted a parents weekend for all of our parents to come into town for a weekend of fun festivities. The first event the committee had planned was a wine tasting at Beliveau Estate in Blacksburg, VA. This winery is farely new and just officially opened to the public about a year ago in May 2012. It is 165 acre estate owned by a
former building constructor professor at Virginia Tech. It's location took us through these windy roads to lead us high in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwest Virginia. Beliveau is also an award winning bed
and breakfast place and is very popular for weddings and other private events! There is a beautiful patio with a breath-taking view and I would very much like to attend an event here in the summer.
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Wine Bar |
We sat down at these beautifully set tables shown below each with a sheets of paper consisting of all wines we would be trying during the tasting with a brief description and price included. Two men led the tasting. One was the assistant wine maker and the caterer of the estate and referred to himself as the "food pairing man". The other was the 'wine guy' and told us how each wine we tasted was made and the unique background each wine possessed. Then, the best part... tasting the wines. They had three white
wines and seven red wines for us to taste and we were all excited to start! Throughout the tasting, they educated us all about Beliveau Estate and the individual wines and how it came to be where it is today.
Tasting Room
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Tasting with my two roommates!
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The above picture is the tasting room we had rented out and I thought it was absolutely adorable and antique like. There were strings of lights all over the ceiling and I thought this place was extrememly quaint and warming. I was especially excited to be here because of this wine class and knowing what I should do before tasting each wine, 'sniff and swirl', swishing it all throughout my mouth to get the most flavor, etc. I felt very knowledgeable about what
he was talking about with each wine and loved discussing them with my friends that aren't in the wine class and also with friends that are. I made sure to take good notes on each wine so I would remember them well and even rated them on a scale of 1-10 so I would know which ones I liked and which ones I didn't.
The wines we tasted were as follows:
WHITES:
- "Afternoon Delight": This lightly oaked dry Vidal Blanc has overtones of grapefruit and vanilla. $18
- Green apple on the nose, tasted like a 'hot' wine. Pairs great with seafood. I rated this wine a 6.
- "Destiny": This dry crisp Vidal Blanc is an excellent sipping wine. Serve chilled *BRONZE MEDAL $16
- This wine is the same grape as above, but it is non-oaked. I prefer the non-oaked wine. It smelled of peaches on the nose. This is also the very first wine they bottled
at this winery and pairs well with goat cheese. I rated this wine an 8.
- "Lovers Quest": A semi-sweet Vidal Blanc - a favorite of those who like wine not too sweet and not too dry. $15
- I loved this wine! It has 2.5% sugar, goes great with soft cheeses,
fruit and pestos. There is no oak and tasted similar to a Reisling. This was my favorite white and I gave it a 10 rating.
REDS:
- "Silhouette": Our Cabernet Sauvignon is a cornucopia of light berry flavors topped with a spicy overtone. $20
- A light dry red that goes great with cheeses. Strong berry on the nose with a little spice and peppery aftertaste. I rated this wine a 6.
- "Rainbow": A full bodied zinfandel with the peppery overtones zins are known for - delicious $24
- This red is medium to full body with a sweet sense on the nose, however it was more of a kick in the
mouth with pepper. Definitely not fond of this wine. I rated this wine a 4.
- "Sunset Sipper": Our winemakers chest bursts with pride at the release of this luscious red zinfandel. $24
- We warmed up this wine in our hands, it has a darker color. Made in
American and French oak! It is great to drink alone and very fruit
forward.
I rated this wine a 7.
- "A Cappella": 100% Landot Noir red table wine has distinct berry overtones. A wonderful sipping wine! $16
- This wine is great chilled in the summer. It was a beautiful purple color, and the right amount of sweet. I loved this wine and rated this wine a 9.
- "Warm Glow": Our semi sweet Chambourcin is rich in flavors of plum,
dark cherries, almond and succulent pear. This is velvet to the palate!
BRONZE MEDAL $20
- With a deep intense red color this wine will stain
everything...including the inside of the glass. This wine goes well with dessert and was very smooth. It won the Bronze Medal in the Southeast Mid-Atlantic wine contest.
I loved this red and rated this wine a 10.
- "Summer Rose": A sweet wine of blended reds.YUMMY! $15
- This is 50% Landot Noir and 50% Chambourcin. There is no oak and it
had a very peppery nose. This wine shocked me, I was not expecting the
sweet taste at all with the strong peppery nose it led me to believe it would not be so sweet. This wine is easy to drink alone because it has 6% sugar!
I rated this wine a 9.
- "Serenity": This after dinner favorite is a blend of two
Charbourcins. It's decadent yet mellow flavor pairs fabulously with
chocolate. A perfect hostess or friendship gift. SILVER MEDAL $19
- This wine is 100% Chambourcin and has won two silver medals. It is
5% sugar so not quite a dessert wine, but close to it. They had us try the wine, and then gave us dark chocolate to try with it to taste the difference. Chocolate and this wine complement each other so well and Ioved it.
Excited to be at Beliveau Estate :)
This was such a great experience and I loved visiting this winery. The staff was very helpful and kind and everyone in our party had a great experience trying wines and having good conversation with each other. I would love to come back here another time in the summer and sit on the patio with a glass of wine in hand listening to a live band overlooking this beautiful estate.
Throwing up the KD with my sorority sisters on the patio.