South Carolina Wine Joe

We have visited Burntshirt Vineyards in Hendersonville, North Carolina several times and always enjoyed the wines and the view of the vineyards.  Two years ago, Burntshirt opened their Tasting Room and Bistro at the entrance to Chimney Rock park, near Lake Lure, NC. but we had not visited it until last week.  This is a beautiful facility with a fantastic view of Chimney Rock from the front deck.  We did a tasting to select our wine for lunch. We both enjoyed a pulled pork sandwich accompanied by their seasonal Holiday Red which is a blend of Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc ($24).  Chambourcin is  a French American hybrid grape that grows especially well in North Carolina and it has a very distinctive flavor and aroma that I really like.  I found this wine to be very flavorful with a hint of sweetness.  The wine was released in October, but as of this writing is no longer on the winery website.  I really recommend it but you will have to contact t...

Every once in a while, a wine from a tasting surprises you and is far better than you expected.   That was the case with Shelton Vineyards Two-Five-Nine Petit Verdot.  We have visited Shelton Vineyards several times, but lately only during spring and fall special events.  The tastings offered during those events were noisy, hurried and at least once done with plastic cups.  Those tastings did not include their reserve wines, labeled under the Two-Five-Nine branding and we came away underwhelmed. This time, we visited at an uncrowded morning hour and our server included a few reserve wines in the tasting.  Not only were the estate wines more enjoyable, but the reserve wines were outstanding. Many wineries in the Yadkin Valley grow Petit Verdot to blend with their Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The climate in eastern U.S. growing regions, is just not the same as California and other regions famous for Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.  The wines ar...

Barboursville Vineyards is one of my favorite wineries in Virginia.  It was the first to successfully grow European wine grapes in Virginia, when the Zonin family from Italy purchased the property in the1970's and brought Gabriele Rausse to America to establish the vineyards.  Today, Barboursville is one of the largest wineries in Virginia. Viognier has been so successfully grown in Virginia that it was designated the state grape.  Barboursville ferments the wine in stainless steel and ages it on the lees for 11 months in stainless steel.  This process results in a softer, less crisp wine.  I found flavors of minerality, tropical fruit and honey.  The AVA is listed as Virginia, so not all of the grapes are from the Monticello AVA.  My local wine shop sells this for $19.99.  I know this may not be the best Viognier from Virginia, but it is very good and it is the only Virginia Viognier available in my area.  I enjoyed it and will buy more. ...

The Yadkin Valley AVA in North Carolina is 150 miles from our home and it contains approximately 45 wineries and vineyards.  We usually go for a two day visit, once or twice a year and this time, I was on a mission.  I am presenting a talk and tasting in February 2020 for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Furman University on "Wines of the Eastern United States" and I want to include one wine from the Yadkin Valley. We visited six wineries and these were the wines we liked at each: Shadow Springs Vineyard  2014 Meritage $28 Piccione Vineyards  Sangiovese 2015 Hanover Park Vineyard  Cabernet Franc 2013  $28 Elkin Creek Vineyard  Classico 2016 Adagio Vineyards  Cabernet Franc Reserve 2016  $24 Shelton Vineyards  Two-Five-Nine Petit Verdot Reserve $25 Spoiler Alert for Furman OLLI members!  The wine we purchased for our tasting is the Shelton Vineyards Reserve Petit Verdot. We had a great time with ...