We are by no means experts at wine tastings, but there is that proverbial method to our madness which includes meandering through the process, asking about the winery—history, does it grow its own grapes, does it make its own wine, ownership, winemaker, and so on—sipping most if not all of the available samples and making notes such as likes and dislikes.
It’s not a process as much as it is a total experience, absolutely necessary when you’re about to make a purchase, especially of North Carolina wines which are usually priced a little higher than similar brands shipped to our state from California, Oregon, other parts of the USA and from throughout the world.
Touring North Carolina wineries has become a nice hobby, not something of every day scheduling mind you, but one that has taken us to all parts of the Tar Heel State, allowing us to meet some very nice folks, both those who offer their delectables and other who are there for the tasting. We know when to squeeze up to a tasting bar and then we also know when to back away.
“Give me some of that sweet stuff” is when we back off and let the drinkers move in. “Please tell me about how you aged this particular wine” is when we stick with it, wanting to know more.
This past weekend—Saturday primarily—took us on a one of our most interesting and thorough tours of North Carolina wine yet. Not wine country; just North Carolina wine. With all due respect to the Got To Be NC mini-State Fair in Raleigh, if you were looking for a nice sampling of this growing agricultural product, downtown Winston-Salem on a five block run of 4th street was the place to be.
It was the 5th annual Salute! The North Carolina Wine Celebration, featuring at least 30 wineries and samplings of their products. It was a six hour orgy of wine tasting, promptly starting at high noon and ending at 6 p.m., just enough time to casually visit as many exhibitors as you wish, listen and learn and taste.
From the sweetest of sweets to the driest of dry wines, the tasting brought us face-to-face with many owners and operators promoting their wares. We renewed acquaintances, sipped some familiar wine and got to know other fermented beverages and those who enjoy the same.
It would have been easy to purchase some our favorite wines from some of our favorite wineries, but this time, selections were made from two wineries not visited but soon to be on our list of travels, from two where purchases were made too long ago for remembering, and from one toured just last fall.
Never Visited:
Divine Llama Vineyards, East Bend: 2007 Merlot; 2008 Cabernet Franc; and, 2007 In A Heart Beat, a off dry blend (1% residual sugar) of 2007 Merlot and 2007 Franc and named for one of the 40 llamas owned by the vineyard owners. No sampled but offered by Divine Llama is Rita Red Rosé, made from 90% Chardonnay and 10% Cab Franc with 3% residual sugar and named for the llama herd (there’s at least 40 llamas on site) matriarch. This place is due a visit if just for the llamas. By the way, llama do not have a real purpose in life, we were told except to look cute and to once be used as caddies on a golf course in the Southern Pines NC area.
Rocky River Vineyards, Midland: Cabernet Sauvignon; Scarlet, a blend of (primarily) Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah. It is not our policy to purchase wines sans dates such as 2007 Name The Grape or 2004 XYZ Blend, but when tasting at this display, we enjoyed the wine and wanted a kindly reminder to visit the winery. While buying dated wines is preferable, these wines were exceptions but not necessarily exceptional, just good enough to want at a later date.
Visited Long Ago:
Hanover Park Vineyard, Yadkinville: 2004 Michael’s Blend, a delicious mixture of Cabernet Franc and Merlot grapes of that year, aged in oak for four years and then bottled in 2008; 2005 Mourvedre, a blend which includes less than 20% Merlot with the Mouvedre grape; and, 2009 Viogner which also includes a bit of juice from Marsanne and Rousanne grapes. Hanover Park is located in a neat house in a beautiful setting. It’ll be scheduled soon for a return visit also instigated by a little sip of an unnamed red blend which sells for $42 a bottle. Not that it’ll be purchased but it will be sampled again.
Uwharrie Vineyards, Albermarle: Cabernet Sauvignon; Merlot; Noble, and, Red Velvet Noble, a port style wine blend with Cabernet Sauvignon and Noble that’s nearly 17% alcohol. These bottles do not list dates and our earlier visit to the winery was not very informative. While it’s a showcase of a facility that’s used much for receptions, weddings and parties, the tasting, as we recall was fast and lacking. This time in Winston-Salem, the presenter made a better and more informative presentation. So, selections were made even without the dates (though the website lists 2007 for these).
Recently Visited
Sanders Ridge, Boonville: 2007 Big Woods, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah; and, 2008 Roundhill, a sweeter red wine, the only really sweet wine purchased. The last visit to Sanders Ridge included a nice lunch. The setting is nestled in a cool, wooded area; the facility is beautiful.
There’s much more to tell about this festival, but please be of no worry about tasting and driving. In addition to the many wineries lining the streets, Salute! was just a block from the Marriott which offered a very affordable rate, allowing us to park the car and enjoy the day. Salute! is already on our calendar for next May.
For more, visit these websites:
SALUTE! http://salutencwine.com/new
DIVINE LLAMA: http://divinellamavineyards.com/
ROCKY RIVER: http://rockyrivervineyards.com/
HANOVER PARK: http://hanoverparkwines.com/
UWHARRIE: http://uwharrievineyards.com/
SANDERS RIDGE: http://sandersridge.com/
Showing posts with label NC Wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NC Wine. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
NC Wine: RayLen Vineyards & Winery
According to the latest list issued by the North Carolina Wine & Grape Counsel, there are 89 wineries in the Tar Heel State. By last count, we’ve visited 54 of the current inventory and probably 10 or so that have come and gone in the last six or seven years. It’s a tough business for success, but being a vineyard/winery entrepreneur in North Carolina must have more positives than negatives because that list expands at a faster rate than it contracts.
Visiting wineries is one of my favorite pastimes. While wine and its production is a growing business in North Carolina, my preference is to frequent the smaller wineries where you get to know the owners, where you can take your time enjoying the various tasting room decors, where you can actually ask questions about their wine-making techniques and abilities and actually get answers, and where you can enjoy a sip or two of various tastings without being rushed because another group stands on the other side of the room, waiting to be rushed though the process.
A few years ago, by just mapping a strategy and sticking to the Yadkin Valley area, a self-made tour included 14 wineries in two days. To some that’s a lot, but when you plan your travels, starting with selections that open at 10 a.m. on a Friday and Saturday and ending at locations that close at 6 p.m., stopping at seven in a day is not hard to do. In most visits, the entire amount of wine tasted is about a glass full and no more than two. If you’re the primary driver, a taste is enough. What’s left goes into the spittoon.
Not ever small winery is small and not every large one is large. In other words, there are small facilities that produce a lot and have a “big time” look, feel and attitude. On the other hand, there are some larger facilities with huge acreage of vineyards branching away from the tasting room and winery, but the atmosphere is low-key, friendly and inviting.
One of those large but small is RayLen Vineyards & Winery located just north of Mocksville along North Carolina highway 158. Actually, RayLen borders both NC 158 and Interstate 40 (driving east, you can see the vineyards from the highway) between exits 174 and 180. When you turn off of NC 158 and onto the property, you’re confronted by beautiful vineyards, especially now that the leaves have sprouted. The rolling fields offer a calming setting. And, soon the winery and tasting room come into view. It looks large sitting among the vineyards but it’s small in comparison to other large wineries.
However, RayLen is not small when it comes to the wines it produces. It is a favorite winery because of one primary rating rule: From top to bottom, are the wines enjoyable. Likening it to rating a golf course where I include the question “would I enjoy playing the course every day,” I rate wineries with: Would I enjoy drinking any of their wines every day?
For Raylen, the answer is yes. From top to bottom, even the sweeter concoction Pale Red, a Rosé that’s fine in moderation. I’m just not a sweet wine drinker but with RayLen, I’ll go along with it because everything else is so very good.
Especially, Carolinius, a dry red that’s a blend of Cabernet Saivignon, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The experts at RayLen will tell you, and I’ll confirm for you, that Carolinius is good with everything. They’ll even tell you that Carolinius is a red wine that will help convert the determined white wine consumer to red, or to at least have a glass every now and then.
On the other hand, I’m not much of a white wine consumer, but RayLen’s Yadkin Gold, a blend of Riesling, Viognier and Pinot Grigio grapes moves me to have a glass of the blond colored nectar on occasion such as two nights ago when I drank half a bottle. And that may be because it’s semi-sweet and is easy to use as a substiutute for sweet tea.
There are three other blends on RayLen’s menu of 16 wines. Those are: Category 5, a more mature version of Carolinius; Eagle’s Select, a Meritage blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petite Verdot aged in oak for 18 months; and Sparkling Brut, a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Muscat Canelli. Category 5 is not only more full-bodied than Carolinius, it actually gets better with a bit more age. The Sparkling Brut is good for a small glass at that special moment or celebration.
The other selections at RayLen include Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Riesling, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Franc (one of my favorite’s at RayLen) and Cabernet Sauvignon. And, it’s all good. But what’s even better, is the quaintness of the atmosphere and presentation.
RayLen is a great place to visit, tour, taste and learn. It doesn’t matter if you’re on your first visit to RayLen or if you’re a frequent visitor and a member of its Case Club or Wine Club because, when you’re there, your treated as if they want you back. It’s not like going to a theme park and being ushered in, waiting for a tour, and tasting with 20 others. The pours are just the right amount; the presentations are not rehearsed; there’s plenty of time for Q&A. They want you to really enjoy their experience.
I stopped by RayLen last week on my way home from a business trip—same travel during which I had lunch at the Surry Diner in Dobson—and brought home a case: 2 bottles of 2008 Barrel Chardonnay; 2 bottles of 2008 Yadkin Gold; 3 bottles of 2006 Carolinius; 1 bottle of 2006 Cabernet Franc; 2 bottles of 2007 Cabernet Franc; and, 2 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Making its first wine in 2000 and opening its tasting room in 2001, RayLen remains among the list of about 90 NC wineries, and from all indications, it’ll be there for a long time. It offers excellent wines with a very friendly touch. It’s not about big presentation at RayLen, ushering visitors through a tour in large groups and hurriedly pouring tastes to accommodate other visitors. RayLen is a very personable experience with their effort to convince you to return for the pure enjoyment of learning more about North Carolina wines and to encourage you to leave with several selections and return later for more of the same. Enjoy!
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While at RayLen, I picked up North Carolina winepress, a magazine in its infancy with a dazzling appearance and a variety of information about wines and wineries in the Tar Heel State and other stuff related to NC wine. In the May/June issue as in every issue is a map of North Carolina wineries and a listing. To see it on-line, visit NCWinepress. Subscribing is nice, or pick up a copy on your next visit to a North Carolina Winery.
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I’m declaring June as “Take a Bottle of North Carolina Wine To Dinner Month.” Some restaurants allow patrons to bring their own bottle of wine as long as it’s not one on the restaurant’s wine offering. So, when allowed, we always take a bottle or two or three (depending on the number of people in the group) of North Carolina wine. We make sure the owner/manager gets a look at the selection, and we encourage him/her to add North Carolina wine to the restaurant’s list.
It’s just our small effort to promote the North Carolina wine industry. So, in June, if you’re going out to dinner, call ahead and ask about bringing your own wine. A small corkage fee usually applies, but in many instances, when the food bill is significant, the wait person will not add it to the bill. A better tip may be in order. Just make sure your wine is North Carolina wine.
Visiting wineries is one of my favorite pastimes. While wine and its production is a growing business in North Carolina, my preference is to frequent the smaller wineries where you get to know the owners, where you can take your time enjoying the various tasting room decors, where you can actually ask questions about their wine-making techniques and abilities and actually get answers, and where you can enjoy a sip or two of various tastings without being rushed because another group stands on the other side of the room, waiting to be rushed though the process.
A few years ago, by just mapping a strategy and sticking to the Yadkin Valley area, a self-made tour included 14 wineries in two days. To some that’s a lot, but when you plan your travels, starting with selections that open at 10 a.m. on a Friday and Saturday and ending at locations that close at 6 p.m., stopping at seven in a day is not hard to do. In most visits, the entire amount of wine tasted is about a glass full and no more than two. If you’re the primary driver, a taste is enough. What’s left goes into the spittoon.
Not ever small winery is small and not every large one is large. In other words, there are small facilities that produce a lot and have a “big time” look, feel and attitude. On the other hand, there are some larger facilities with huge acreage of vineyards branching away from the tasting room and winery, but the atmosphere is low-key, friendly and inviting.
One of those large but small is RayLen Vineyards & Winery located just north of Mocksville along North Carolina highway 158. Actually, RayLen borders both NC 158 and Interstate 40 (driving east, you can see the vineyards from the highway) between exits 174 and 180. When you turn off of NC 158 and onto the property, you’re confronted by beautiful vineyards, especially now that the leaves have sprouted. The rolling fields offer a calming setting. And, soon the winery and tasting room come into view. It looks large sitting among the vineyards but it’s small in comparison to other large wineries.
However, RayLen is not small when it comes to the wines it produces. It is a favorite winery because of one primary rating rule: From top to bottom, are the wines enjoyable. Likening it to rating a golf course where I include the question “would I enjoy playing the course every day,” I rate wineries with: Would I enjoy drinking any of their wines every day?
For Raylen, the answer is yes. From top to bottom, even the sweeter concoction Pale Red, a Rosé that’s fine in moderation. I’m just not a sweet wine drinker but with RayLen, I’ll go along with it because everything else is so very good.
Especially, Carolinius, a dry red that’s a blend of Cabernet Saivignon, Syrah, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. The experts at RayLen will tell you, and I’ll confirm for you, that Carolinius is good with everything. They’ll even tell you that Carolinius is a red wine that will help convert the determined white wine consumer to red, or to at least have a glass every now and then.
On the other hand, I’m not much of a white wine consumer, but RayLen’s Yadkin Gold, a blend of Riesling, Viognier and Pinot Grigio grapes moves me to have a glass of the blond colored nectar on occasion such as two nights ago when I drank half a bottle. And that may be because it’s semi-sweet and is easy to use as a substiutute for sweet tea.
There are three other blends on RayLen’s menu of 16 wines. Those are: Category 5, a more mature version of Carolinius; Eagle’s Select, a Meritage blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petite Verdot aged in oak for 18 months; and Sparkling Brut, a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Muscat Canelli. Category 5 is not only more full-bodied than Carolinius, it actually gets better with a bit more age. The Sparkling Brut is good for a small glass at that special moment or celebration.
The other selections at RayLen include Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Riesling, Shiraz, Merlot, Cabernet Franc (one of my favorite’s at RayLen) and Cabernet Sauvignon. And, it’s all good. But what’s even better, is the quaintness of the atmosphere and presentation.
RayLen is a great place to visit, tour, taste and learn. It doesn’t matter if you’re on your first visit to RayLen or if you’re a frequent visitor and a member of its Case Club or Wine Club because, when you’re there, your treated as if they want you back. It’s not like going to a theme park and being ushered in, waiting for a tour, and tasting with 20 others. The pours are just the right amount; the presentations are not rehearsed; there’s plenty of time for Q&A. They want you to really enjoy their experience.
I stopped by RayLen last week on my way home from a business trip—same travel during which I had lunch at the Surry Diner in Dobson—and brought home a case: 2 bottles of 2008 Barrel Chardonnay; 2 bottles of 2008 Yadkin Gold; 3 bottles of 2006 Carolinius; 1 bottle of 2006 Cabernet Franc; 2 bottles of 2007 Cabernet Franc; and, 2 bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Making its first wine in 2000 and opening its tasting room in 2001, RayLen remains among the list of about 90 NC wineries, and from all indications, it’ll be there for a long time. It offers excellent wines with a very friendly touch. It’s not about big presentation at RayLen, ushering visitors through a tour in large groups and hurriedly pouring tastes to accommodate other visitors. RayLen is a very personable experience with their effort to convince you to return for the pure enjoyment of learning more about North Carolina wines and to encourage you to leave with several selections and return later for more of the same. Enjoy!
----------
While at RayLen, I picked up North Carolina winepress, a magazine in its infancy with a dazzling appearance and a variety of information about wines and wineries in the Tar Heel State and other stuff related to NC wine. In the May/June issue as in every issue is a map of North Carolina wineries and a listing. To see it on-line, visit NCWinepress. Subscribing is nice, or pick up a copy on your next visit to a North Carolina Winery.
----------
I’m declaring June as “Take a Bottle of North Carolina Wine To Dinner Month.” Some restaurants allow patrons to bring their own bottle of wine as long as it’s not one on the restaurant’s wine offering. So, when allowed, we always take a bottle or two or three (depending on the number of people in the group) of North Carolina wine. We make sure the owner/manager gets a look at the selection, and we encourage him/her to add North Carolina wine to the restaurant’s list.
It’s just our small effort to promote the North Carolina wine industry. So, in June, if you’re going out to dinner, call ahead and ask about bringing your own wine. A small corkage fee usually applies, but in many instances, when the food bill is significant, the wait person will not add it to the bill. A better tip may be in order. Just make sure your wine is North Carolina wine.
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