In mid-June, we planned a weekend getaway. We headed to the Hendersonville / Asheville area. The trip allowed us to relax, visit a “new to us” winery, and revisit other wineries in the area. Here are some of the highlights from our visit to Burntshirt Vineyards, our first stop of the weekend.
After we parked, André, the new general manager at Burtshirt, promptly greeted us. He then took us inside to get started on our tasting. Burntshirt always treats the blogging community as honored guests. They’re so hospitable and accommodating.
Tasting
We began our tasting with the 2015 Grüner Veltliner. Burntshirt is possibly the only vineyard growing and producing a standalone varietal from Grüner. The tart apple notes with a bit of peach made for a refreshing start to our tasting. We then moved on to the 2016 Vidal Blanc followed by the 2013 O Cellars Reserve Chardonnay.
Next, we moved to red wines and started with the 2014 O Cellars Reserve Cabernet Franc. We followed that with the 2015 O Cellars Reserve Heritage and the 2015 O Cellars Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. We finished with the 2014 Apple wine.
Our favorite was the Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is 86% Cabernet Sauvignon with Petit Verdot making up the other 14%. It had been aged nearly 2 years in 75% new French Oak. It presented notes of tobacco, cocoa, leather and dark cherry. This cab finished even and smooth! We left with a bottle.
The Horse Barn at Burntshirt Vineyards
Tour
Following our tasting André took us on a little tour of the grounds. We saw gardens, the Vintner’s Cottage (which you can rent for an overnight stay), and the Shed (where you can find unique gifts). We particularly enjoyed the visit to the Horse Barn which has been refurbished into an event space.
Our next stop on the tour was the winery itself. There we met Preston, Burntshirt’s new winemaker. Preston took us on a little tasting tour. We sampled white wines from the tank. These wines were used in a white wine blending event that was held at the end of June. We tasted through the 2016 Vidal Blanc, 2016 Chardonnay, and 2016 Traminette. All were vibrant and crisp with good acidity.
We then moved on to reds. First, we tasted a free run 2016 Merlot from the tank. It had big oak notes with plum and caramel. Finally, we moved to the crush pad were we sampled the 2016 Merlot again straight from the barrel. It showed more fruity and light then the free run merlot.
As a side note, free run is the juice that flows during crushing and de-stemming but just before pressing. Typically free run juice is combined with pressed juice for the final product.
Wine Barrels at Burntshirt Vineyards
We thanked Preston for the tour of the winery and André for being such a gracious host. We made our purchases and headed on to our next stop.
If you haven’t visited Burntshirt, please plan a visit! You won’t be disappointed. Tell them we sent you! Cheers!
