Winery Visit - James River Cellars

On Friday, February 5, 2016, my boyfriend and I went to James River Cellars Winery just outside of Richmond, VA to tour the facilities and participate in a wine tasting. Neither of us had visited a winery before or done a wine tasting, so we were both very excited for the experience.

James River Cellars Winery in Hanover, VA

The winery is a family-owned and operated establishment offering 14 varieties of Virginia grown wines. Sauvignon Blanc and Gewürztraminer grapes are grown on a half-acre at the winery itself, with another acre of grapes on a satellite site in the next town over. The winery was started by the Batterson family, who thought growing and cultivating their own Gewürztraminer grapes would be cheaper than continually buying their favorite wine. The first grapes were planted in 1998 and were cultivated in June 2001 when the business began. Located directly next to a driving range with several warning signs of loose golf balls, the winery is small and located off of several highways. It consisted of a main building and an on-site warehouse and bottling facility.

The variety of wines available at James River Cellars: We tried most of these varieties.

First, we participated in a wine tasting. We tried 14 varieties listed below:

Whites

• 2014 Reserve Chardonnay - This wine was softly oaked. It was rich in flavors of almond, vanilla, and hints of butter and lemon citrus. It also had some unexpected heat, which was a great way to kick off the tasting.
• 2014 Chardonnay - This wine was produced without oak and was crisp to the taste. It had many hints to fruit flavors like apple and melon with some earthy tones as well. I liked the finish of this wine, which lasted a bit longer than the other Chardonnay. Of the two Chardonnays, this one was my favorite.
• 2014 Gewurztraminer - This wine was a little less sweet than other varietals I'm used to, but I really enjoyed it. It tasted of tropical flavors like grapefruit and lycée and also had a tangy sour note. Only 11 acres of Gewürztraminer are grown in Virginia because of the humidity, with every other location apart from James River Cellars grown in the mountains.
• 2014 Petit Manseng - This wine was light and airy, gravitating towards the sweeter side. The wine exhibited caramel, apricot, and pear flavors with some citrus and honeysuckle notes as well. The wine also had some acidity, similar to the Chardonnays. This was my favorite of the white wines.
• 2014 Vidal Blanc - Awarded the best wine in the South, this wine was a punch of tropical flavors like grapefruit and pineapple. With only 0.8 % residual sugars, this wine packed some heat. The wine was sharp but also balanced, although I'd prefer something a little more sweet.
• 2014 Charnel - This wine had a fresh effervescence and tasted of honeydew and white flower. This wine also packed some heat with 1 % residual sugar.

Reds

• 2013 Rad Red - Consisting of a blend of 43 % Cabernet Franc, 30 % Petit Verdot, 20 % Chancellor, and 7 % Sangiovese, this wine's taste completely shocked me. The wine tasted exactly like drinking tomato juice! I really wanted to try it with some parmesan and red sauce. Although the wine had a very interesting taste, I could not see myself enjoying more than a glass because the wine is so heavy.
• 2013 Cabernet Franc - This wine is a blend of 98 % Cabernet Franc and 2 % Petit Verdot. It contained no residual sugar and had intense pepper notes. This wine would go very well with a steak dinner and is said to change flavors as it oxidizes and age very nicely.
• 2012 Meritage - This blend consists of 45 % Merlot, 33 % Cabernet Sauvignon, 11 % Cabernet Franc, and 11 % Petit Verdot. This common Virginia blend had the driest finish of the reds we tried. The smell was very different from the initial taste, and the finish tasted the most similar to the smell. The wine had a nice complexity with notes of tobacco and leather.
• 2014 Hanover Red - This blend of 48 % Chancellor, 28 % Pinot Noir, 16 % Chambourcin, and 8 % Cabernet Franc was a light bodied red with 2.5 % residual sugar. This wine had delicious notes of plum and cherry with a nice complexity and sweetness. This was my favorite wine of the day, and we ended up buying a bottle.

Sweets

• 2014 Montpelier - This wine is a blend of 63 % Pinot Gris, 20 % Chardonel, and 17 % Chambourcin. Containing 2.8 % residual sugar, this wine contained bright flavors of raspberries and apples. This wine would be great at a barbecue or paired with cheese or chocolate desserts.
• 2014 Hanover White - This wine had 3 % residual sugar and consisted of a blend of 45 % Chardonel, 45 % Pinot Gris, 5 % Petit Manseng, and 5 % Muscat. This wine is less sweet when served at room temperature and embodied sweet flavors of peach and honeysuckle. This is a great summer wine that would be nice on the beach or by the pool.
• 2013 Chambourcin - This sweet wine with 4.5 % residual sugar had many fruity flavors of raspberry, blueberry, and watermelon with underlying tones of truffle. This wine had lots of depth and pairs well with chocolate. This wine can also be served hot, which would lessen the sweetness of the wine.
• 2014 Colonial Red - This wine was a great grand finale to the tasting. Consisting of a blend of 58 % Merlot and 42 % Touriga Nacional, this wine is nicknamed "real santa red" as it is infused with ground cinnamon for 6 weeks before bottling. This wine had notes of baked apples, gingerbread, and apple jacks with an orange peel finish. When served warm, this wine mimics an apple cider. This would be the perfect wine to celebrate the holidays and was a great seasonal treat for the occasion.

During the tasting, we learned some pretty interesting facts about the wine. Our wonderful attendant, Rachel, told us that the wines at the cellar are dried before harvested to minimize the amount of water weight that goes into the wines - this keeps from watering down the wine. She also showed us a decanting tool that oxidizes the wine. For every second the tool is being used, the wine is aged one year. Rachel was great and even let us taste the wines for free.

To end our trip to the winery, we took a tour of the warehouse and bottling facility. As soon as the grapes are picked, they are taken to the crusher to be harvested. The winery used to facilitate ice wines, but one winter the crusher jammed with ice so they no longer do this. After the wine is crushed, it is moved inside to be processed and fermented. The site had many large steel barrels, but also had a room full of oak barrels as well. The oak barrels had a plastic attachment sticking out of the holes, which is to prevent the wine from exploding out of the barrels (which happened once at the facility). When the wines are ready, they are bottled on-site and shipped to be sold.

We purchased a bottle of the 2014 Hanover Red from the winery.

This trip exceeded my expectations and was a great winery to start out at. The staff was very friendly and the winery was small enough to not feel overwhelmed. We liked the 2014 Hanover Red so much that we bought a bottle and drank it that night with some cranberry cheese and crackers. I hope to go back to the winery when the weather is a little warmer so I can sit outside and enjoy their tasty wines - hopefully without being hit with golf balls.