Winery Visit - Trump Winery

The last stop we made on March 10th was the Trump Winery.  This had the best wines and the best view by far of the three winery's I visited.  This winery is owned by Donald Trump and was opened on October 2011.

I was impressed with the amount of wine the trump winery had on its tasting list.  It was $10 the same as the others, but you got to try almost twice the amount of wines.  The selection was rather impressive and featured some of their best wines, such as sparkling wine and rose.  There was also a fortified wine, named CRU,  that had jack daniels blended with a sparkling white wine.  This was my dad's favorite and we ended up purchasing CRU, a sparkling wine and New World Red. 

It was interesting here as well because the wine expert that served us wine goes to Virginia Tech as a grad student.  She mentioned that I was the third person from Geography of Wine to visit the winery that day.

Unlike the other winery's though they didn't brew here, but featured only a tasting room and restaurant. This winery was more crowded than the others and the restaurant definitely helped add to the setting. I plan on returning here in the spring/summer when the grapes are in full harvest.

Tasting - Finca Flichman

Name - Finca Flichman

Variety -  Malbec

Country- Argentina

Year - 2012

Price - $10.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - Malbec for me is one of those average wines.  It definitely isnt my favorite, but its not bad either.  I do enjoy getting these every now and then.  The color of this wine was dark red almost black.  The scent was heavily oaked and dark fruit.  The taste was mildly tannic, full bodied, had hints of vanilla, and a smooth aftertaste. Rating 8/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Trader Joe's Petit Reserve

Name - Trader Joe's Petit Reserve

Variety - Cabernet Sauvignon

Country-United States, Napa Valley

Year - 2011

Price - $5.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - This is another wine I got from trader joe's and i'm impressed with trader joe's selection and value.  They have really nice wines for really affordable prices.  I wish blacksburg had one.  The color of this wine was dark red almost purple.  Darker than most Cabernet's.  The nose was dark cherry and raspberry.  The palate had a dark cherry flavor, midly tannic, medium bodied and was very smooth. Rating 8/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Auslese Rheinhessen

Name - Auslese Rheinhessen

Variety -  Riesling

Country- Germany

Year - 2011

Price - $6.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - I tried this wine when i visited trader joe's one weekend.  it was shockingly good.  i honestly never had much Rieslings in the past, but this one tasted like it was infused with sugar.  The color of this wine was deep yellow.  The nose had hints of lemon, cream and vanilla.  The taste was very sweet, very smooth and had a lemon cream taste.  This wine was one of my favorites and was a surprise due to its unique flavor.  Might have to start trying more German wines outs. Rating 10/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Campos Reales

Name - Campos Reales

Variety -  Red Tempranillo

Country- Spain

Year - 2008

Price - $13.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review -The color of this wine was deep and complex ruby.  I've noticed that Spanish wines tend to be very rich in color, especially with its Riojas and tempranillos.  The Nose was deep oak scent and dark cherry.  The taste had a strong tannic flavor and heavy oakiness.  Rating 7/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Cruze Alta

Name - Cruze Alta

Variety -  Cabernet Sauvignon

Country-Argentina, Mendoza

Year - 2011

Price - $6.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review  Deep ruby red color.  Complex aromas with cassis, mature red fruit and coffee from the oak.  Rich and long lasting on the palate.  The tannic texture provides a smooth and pleasant feel.

My Review -This wine was recommended at Total Wine from one of the sales people.  The color of this wine was a deep garnet.  The nose had a vanilla, toffee and dark raspberry scent.  The palate was mildly tannic, mildly acidic, with a smooth finish.  Rating 7/10.

Food - none

Winery Visit - Blenheim Vineyards

On Sunday March, 10, 2013, my family and I made our second winery visit to Blenheim Vineyards.  This winery was also outside of Charlottesville and is owned by the famous musician Dave Matthews.  He wasn't there of course, but his winery had a very unique design and had a beautiful landscape.

The building was finished in year 2000 and was designed to have minimal impact on the environment   The storage of the wine actually takes place underneath the tasting room.  The tasting room is full of windows and this allows for the natural lighting of the sun to shine through.  The winery actually doesn't even use electricity during the summer due to the amount of light it receives from the sun.

After we received this information, we went to the wine tasting which overlooked a beautiful landscape, pictured below.  

The Wine List at this Vineyard was fairly small and limited and is pictured below.  This winery also had many more people than Keswick had and most of the people were eating crackers and cheese, while overlooking the scenery.  Luckily it was a nice day out and wasn't freezing cold.

Tasting Notes

• White Table Wine - The color of this wine was a pale yellow/greenish tint.  The nose featured ripe fruit and spices.  The palate was lacking in body, semi-sweet and had low acidity.  I think this was the first table wine "blend" I've had I was not impressed.  Rating 6/10.
• Painted White 2011 - The color of this wine was a clear yellow.  The nose featured pineapple and vanilla.  The palate had a strong vanilla flavor, medium bodied and a slight peppery aftertaste. Rating 7.5/10
• Red Table Wine - The color of this wine was dark raspberry.  The nose featured dark fruits and spices.  The palate featured dark fruits, a medium body and a mild acidity. Rating 8/10.
• Painted Red 2011- The color of this wine was a light cherry red.  The nose featured nutmeg, cherry and vanilla.  The palate feature red fruits, oak flavors and a full bodied texture. Rating 8/10.

The wine selection was somewhat of a disappointment at this winery.  The wines we tried didn't even have names and were listed as table wines.  The wine expert said the tastings are much better in Spring, which is why this list was so lacking, but I expected more.  We did buy a bottle that Dave Matthew's designed that had a pig on it, which apparently is one of his favorite animals.

This winery was an enjoyable experience and the wine tasting room was beautiful.  It would be nice to return to this vineyard in the spring/summer when the grapes are in harvest and the wine list has more wines to try.

Tasting - Urban Ribera

Name - Urban Ribera

Variety -  Red Tempranillo

Country- Spain

Year - 2009

Price - $13.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - This wine was recommended by one of the wine experts at Kroger.  I have had a white tempranillo in the past and it was good, so I figured I would try this one.  The color was a dark garnet.  The aroma was very fruity with a small amount of spice.  The palate was mildly tannic, full bodied and had a dark cherry flavor.  This wine was very good and had awesome garnet color that was very rich and complex.  Usually when the color looks that good, the taste follows.  Rating 8/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Borsao

Name - Borsao

Variety -  Garnacha

Country- Spain

Year - 2011

Price - $6.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - This is a wine I picked up at Kroger and it was very highly rated.  It was extremely cheap compared to the others and I never had a garnacha before.  This wine's color was a dark ruby and purple.  Very similar to the malbec I tried right before it.  The aroma featured spices and  dark berries.  The palate was full bodied, softly tannic and had a rich fruit flavor. Overall this wine was very good, especially for the price, Rating 8.5/10.

Food - none

Tasting - Colle Morino

Name - Colle Morino

Variety -  Red blend

Country- Italy, Abruzzo

Year - 2011

Price - $13.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - I really like authentic Italian wines so I picked this one up at Total Wine.  The color of this wine was dark purple.  The aroma was heavily spiced with a strong pepper flavor.  The palate was full bodied, overly dry and very tannic.  This wine was rough in my book.  The dryness kind of overpowered it and the strong tannin flavor was just too strong to be enjoyable.  I really didn't even taste much of a fruit component to it.  

Rating 5.5/10 - not the worst wine I ever had, but I was expecting it to be a lot better.




Food - none

Tasting - Gaetano De Aqino

Name - Gaetano De Aquino

Variety -  Trebbiano

Country- Italy, Orvieto

Year - 2011

Price - $9.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - None

My Review - I've tried two other wines from the Orvieto winery and enjoyed them both, so I figured I'd give this one a shot.  It turns out this one was not nearly as good as the others.  The color of this was a pale yellow.  The aroma was lacking and I picked up a slight pear scent.  The palate was very thin and lacked flavor.  I was very disappointed in this wine, because I was expecting it to taste like the others I had, but it was not very good.  It almost tasted like I was drinking water, due to the lack of texture and flavor. Rating 4/10.




Food - none

Tasting - Tilia

Name - Tilia 

Variety -  Malbec

Country- Argentina

Year - 2011

Price - $8.99

Shop/wine critic/winery review - Tilia Malbec has a dark, blackish purple color. The nose offers ripe black fruits, black pepper spice and floral notes. The mouth-feel is full yet soft and supple, with black raspberry and currant flavors mingled with notes of sweet spice and a touch of leather. The finish is long and persistent with soft, sweet tannins.


My Review -  The color was a deep purple that reminded me of plums.  The aroma had a peppery scent and dark blackberries. The palate was full bodied, mildly tannic and a dark raspberry flavor.  This wine was very good, rating 7.5/10.

Food- None