Wine Visit- Keswick Vineyards

Winery Visit - Keswick, Virginia

On Sunday, March, 10, 2013, my family and I went to Keswick wineries.  This is located near Charlottesville, Virginia and on the way up there we noticed about 6-7 other wineries that were located within 15 minutes of this one.  Of course when we pulled up the grapes had no harvest on them, but it was still the first time I have ever really seen a winery, so it was still cool to see.

Keswick Vineyards is located on a 400 acre estate and had been here since 1727. When we pulled up there was a fork in the road, one way leading to the Keswick owner's mansion, the other leading to the winery.  We obviously went to the winery and decided to taste the wines first.

This is the wine tasting list.  This one cost $10, while the one my parents got cost about $5.  

Tasting Notes

• 2012 Barrel Select Rose - This wine was somewhat dry, mildly tannic and had hints of dark cherry and vanilla.  This was the first wine I tried, Rating 7/10.
• 2011 Viognier - This wine was golden yellow, medium bodied, and had a vanilla/cream flavor. Somewhat lacking in being special, but it was good. Rating 7/10.
• 2011 Chardonnay - This wine had green and light yellow color.  The nose had a strong fresh apple scent.  The palate was mildly acidic, medium bodied rich textured and had an green apple and vanilla taste. Rating 8/10
• 2012 Viognier - This was my favorite wine.  This wine had a specially designed label called "Wings of an Angel" by a lady who recently passed away.  The color of this wine was a clear yellow.  The nose had fresh pears and spices.  The palate was somewhat dry for a white, mildly acidic and had hints of spices.  Rating 8/10.
• 2011 Touriga - This was the first time I've had this type of grape varietal and I received a brief history from one of the wine experts.  It was interesting to hear, but this was not one of my favorite wines.  The color of the wine was dark cherry red.  The nose was dark cherry and pepper spices.  The palate was spicy, acidic, had a medium texture and had a definite vanilla aftertaste.  Rating 6/10.
• 2011 Pleasure - The color of this wine was very dark red, almost black.  The nose featured dark fruits and spices.  The palate had full bodied texture and dark raspberries.  Rating 8/10.
• 2011 Norton Reserve - The color of the wine was a purple plum.  The nose featured spices, plums and vanilla.  The palate was spicy, medium bodied and had dark fruit flavors.  Rating 7/10.
• 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve - This was an expensive wine, only I was allowed to try since I had the $10 list and not the $5 list.  This wine was definitely the best of the bunch.  The color of this wine was black cherry.  The nose featured mocha, coffee and dark fruit.  The palate was medium bodied, very smooth, and had hints of vanilla, mocha and dark raspberries.  Rating 9/10.

My family ended up buying the 2012 Viognier with the specially designed label.  The wines at Keswick were very good, but only the last Cabernet Sauvignon was memorable.

This is me in the tasting room along with my mom.  We were the only ones there at the time, but the old man in the background, literally knew more about wine than many people will in an entire lifetime.  Next we went to the back where the barrels and fermenting took place.  They said that Chardonnay is by far the most produced wine at their winery.

These are the barrels of Keswick. Keswick is a very small winery with about 7 stainless steel barrels and about 50 wooden.  The picture on the lower right is where the grapes are crushed and fermented.  Keswick was not very large, but is pretty rich in in history.  I know this because the old man in the picture above told me all about it.  It was a fun time for my first visit to a winery and I look forward to going back, when the grapes are in harvest.