Winery Visit: Whitebarrel

(Outdoor patio right off of the main tasting 

room/ great room)

Twas' a beautiful and cold day, which meant that it was a great to do a winery tour of a local winery with some friends. we chose to embark on a wine tour to the quaint and local Whitebarrel winery, rihgt down the street in the New River Valley. We took a brief, semi-"express," tour of the facilities. once there we gathered in the beautiful great room adn waited for everyone to arrive in order to start the tour. We started by going to the patio, which was the perfect vantage point to see the majority of the 17 acre property. This smallish winery grows around 14 different grapes, both red and white, as well as figs and hops for other wines and beers. So after our first stop at the patio, we venture out into the field to get a close up of the vines as well as the small fig garden. 

(Cabernet Franc vines as well as a few other varieties)

(The rear side of the main house and the fig garden)

After seeing this, we walked to the main "lab" room in order to see where they stored and fermented the wine. The closer and closer we got to the building, the more and more you were able to smell the sweet aroma of wine floating through the air. Once inside teh facility, we were greated with fancy scientific tools to our right, oak barrels in front of us, and 6000 cases of wine to the left of us. Our tour guide gave a night, quick run down of some of the different types of yeast they use, and the reasoning for the different types or barrels they use. One thing that I thought was pretty cool is how they store the packaged wine bottles upside down in order to keep the wine cork moist. 

(These are the oak and cherry barrels that they store 

fermenting wine in)

(This is the of the building where the finished cases of 

wine hang out upside down)

(This is the mini lab they use in order to mix and 

test different wines)

(Close up of the barrels. They only use their barrels

for 4 to 6 years, in which afterwards they sell to bourbon

produces, or use for decorations around the facility)

(Close up of a marked barrel)

After we took the tour of teh facility, it was time to do a tasting! We tasted 5 differnet wines from grapes grown on the property. The first wine was a Chardonnay. The Chardonnay had a nice green apple and pear aroma that was crisp and light. The wine had a low tannin which made it very easy to drink. Up next was a very refreshing Vidal Blanc. This wine had a simple taste pleasing the palate with light floral and pear notes, with apricot and pineapple notes on the finish. Up next was a Chambourcin that tasted like a wine given to you for communion. There was a not-so-fun strong tartic acid taste, but made the mouth water, quenching your thirst. We had a apple wine next which i did not like at all. The wine was overly sweet and tasted like sour candy with pear notes throughout. Next up we had a peach wine that for some reason, tasted just liek peaches. This wine would go great in a nice sangria, but it was also overly sweet. 

(Tasting room)

All in all, we had a great visit and a great time, and would definitely come back again!