On Friday, March 14th I visited the Williamsburg Winery with my girlfriend over spring break this semester. We were looking for something new to explore and she lives in Newport News (which doesn't exactly have the most exciting attractions during March) so it made sense to go take a tour and taste some of the wine. This was both of our first times visiting a winery in person so it was an interesting experience. Ok, so on to the actual winery visit...
The first thing I saw as we approached the winery were the grape vineyards. Even though I was sad to see they hadn't really started to grow yet (which makes sense because it was March), it was cool to see them for the first time.
After we got the the building, I was most surprised by how big the actual building was when I saw it. We entered into a small store that was a part of the main building (there was a small cafe across the street from the winery). We were able to take a general winery tour and wine tasting for $10.
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| Vineyards at the winery |
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| Winery itself |
The tour/tasting was about 45 minutes long. We started with a quick intro video for about 5 minutes that talked about the history of the winery. The Williamsburg Winery was started during the 1980s and was one of the original ones of Virginia making it one of the oldest in the state. From there we were taken into the cellar downstairs that was used to both store and blend all the red wines. The cellar was quite large, holding hundreds of barrels. One of the more interesting facts our tour guide talked about was the use of not only French and American oak but Hungarian as well. This particular wood had a grain texture in between both of the other two so they use it often for blended red wines. She also told us that most of their grape harvesting occurred during the early weeks of September, with the white varieties always being picked first.
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| Red Wine Cellar |
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| Reserve Cellar |
Next we quickly went by the reserve cellar that contained the specially aged wines that needed greater aging in order for the perfect flavor and complexity level to be reached. It was pretty much just a small basement building that was actually barred off from the rest of the hallway like a jail cell. Interesting method of separating the expensive wines, but effective I guess. Next we got to look at the bottling part of the winery. I had never seen any machines like these before so I thought it looked quite impressive. They produce around 15,000 bottles a year of wine, with around 2,000 reserve wines (pretty much red wines) and use mainly cork tops for their wines.
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| Bottling Machines |
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| Old Wine Bottles |
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| Fermenting Tanks |
After the bottling portion of the basement, we took a quick trip through a very small white wine cellar that was used mainly to age the Chardonnay variety. We then went back upstairs and down a hallway to see the large stainless steel fermenting tanks they use for the wine juice. Believing that it helps the wine process, the winery actually plays Mozart and Beethoven for the wine as it ferments in the tank. Not sure if it works, but it can't hurt I suppose. We then explored a final room that briefly covered artifacts of the wine consumption in the area back from the colonial times. A skeleton was actually uncovered from the site the winery was built. We also got to see some of the old style of wine bottles that used to exist (all of which were still 750ml bottles).
Now to the best part, the wine tasting. We tasted 8 wines overall. They are listed from lightest in body to heaviest.
2012 James River White
This wine was a Sauvignon Blanc aged in stainless steel with fresh, fruity flavors. The main notes I remembered from this wine were of melon and apple, with a very dry, acidic bite.
2011 Matthews Chardonnay
Medium bodied with some aging in oak. It smelled like an interesting combination of cheese and butter. It tasted mainly buttery with a bit of apple tartness. Slightly sweeter than the first but still fairly dry.
2012 A Midsummer Night's White
My favorite wine of all the ones we tasted here. 40% Vidal Blanc, 40% Triaminite, 20% Viognier. It held aromas of fresh fruit, mint, and flowers. The flavor was unique with mint, fruit, and herbs coming across to taste like what immediately reminded me of a mojito. Awesome.
2012 Susan Constant Red
100% Sangiovese aged in stainless steel. Described as light in texture, it was very fruity smelling with plum and cherry coming through the most to me. The flavor was light, with very little tannins and unripe strawberries coming through the most.
2010 J. Andrewes Merlot
Light bodied, fruit forward Merlot. For me, the aromas included smoke, cedar, and sour raspberries. When tasting, I first noticed raspberry and plum that faded to a more bitter, tannic finish. Light bodied for a red wine.
2011 Lord Botetourt Red
Blend of red Bordeaux varietals with an emphasis on Petite Verdot. The color was a very rich purple/red. The smell reminded me of freshly dug up earth and soil with just the slightest hint of red fruit in the background. Once I tasted it, the oak aging was very obvious. It tasted woody and earthy, with a smokey flavor as well. The texture was smooth and rich with strong tannins. Good for this type of wine but not really my favorite type.
Hening's Statute Cabernet Franc
This was the first Cabernet Franc I had ever tried. It was described as having a berry nose and smooth texture. To me, it smelled strongly of both cherry and oak. The flavor profile followed similarly with notes of cherry that faded to a more cedar taste. Medium bodied, medium tannin structure.
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| My girlfriend and me outside the winery shop. |
Overall, it was a fun time and an informational tour. Even better, they ran out of simple tasting glasses that came free with the tour so we got their $12 reserve wine tasting glasses for free. Perfect timing? Who knows.
