{"id":282,"date":"2014-09-25T21:05:11","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T01:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/?p=282"},"modified":"2024-04-21T15:20:47","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T19:20:47","slug":"brandon-hills-raptor-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/brandon-hills-raptor-red\/","title":{"rendered":"Brandon Hills Raptor Red &#8212; Wine Review"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight we decided to opt for another Yadkin Valley red blend, this time from <a title=\"Brandon Hills Vineyard\" href=\"http:\/\/www.brandonhillsvineyard.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Brandon Hills Vineyard<\/a>. \u00a0The Raptor Red is their premier\u00a0red blend wine that features a different raptor from vintage to vintage. \u00a0The current vintage is the 2008 which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Viognier. \u00a0The story behind the name is one of true adoration for nature. \u00a0The winery partners with the <a title=\"Carolina Raptor Center\" href=\"http:\/\/www.carolinaraptorcenter.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Carolina Raptor Center<\/a> and features one of their birds of prey on the bottle. \u00a0A part of the proceeds goes back to the Raptor Center to help fund a good cause.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Brandon Hills has grown grapes since 2005 and started producing\u00a0wine in\u00a02007. \u00a0This 2008 Raptor Red \u00a0is one of their earlier wines. \u00a0The color is a dark but translucent red clearly through. \u00a0The wine is holding up well for its age, too, showing a rich color in the middle and holding to the edge where it fades slightly into a tawny bronze. \u00a0The nose is light and slightly woody. \u00a0It displays notes\u00a0of cherry mingling with subtle hints of cinnamon and vanilla.<\/p>\n<p>The flavors deep and complex, while keeping a lighter note. \u00a0The addition of the Viognier\u00a0allows the wine to develop character without making it as dry and tannic as a red blend from California might be. \u00a0The light acid profile make the wine feel light and velvety. \u00a0The initial flavors are of red currant and cedar. \u00a0The middle notes are dry and slightly astringent, but not in an offensive way. \u00a0The ending notes are clean with a lingering lactic acids and a hint of orange.<\/p>\n<p>The winery itself is picturesque, perched on top of a hill overlooking the vineyard in the valley. Plan a visit and pick up a bottle of the Raptor Red and help support the wild birds of North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p>Brandon Hills is located in Yadkinville, NC.<\/p>\n<p>[su_gmap address=&#8221;Brandon Hills Vineyards, Yadkinville, NC&#8221;]<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Check out our other NC Wine Month postings:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[su_posts template=&#8221;templates\/teaser-loop.php&#8221; id=&#8221;156, 696&#8243; posts_per_page=&#8221;-1&#8243; post_type=&#8221;page&#8221; taxonomy=&#8221;post_tag&#8221; tax_operator=&#8221;0&#8243; order=&#8221;asc&#8221; orderby=&#8221;id&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight we decided to opt for another Yadkin Valley red blend, this time from Brandon Hills Vineyard. \u00a0The Raptor Red is their premier\u00a0red blend wine that features a different raptor from vintage to vintage. \u00a0The current vintage is the 2008 which is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Viognier. \u00a0The storyContinue reading &rarr;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[379],"tags":[220,131,81,203,130,261,254,154],"class_list":["post-282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-cellar","tag-brandon-hills-vineyards","tag-carolina-raptor-center","tag-nc-wine","tag-nc-wine-month-2014","tag-raptor-red","tag-red-wine","tag-wine-review","tag-yadkin-valley","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11268,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions\/11268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ncwineguys.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}