Charlottesville, VA
Tasted Friday, September 2, 2011 by grayfont with 619 views
On a weekend getaway, we visited the tasting rooms at Barboursville and Horton. What a contrast!
Barboursville is one of the most advanced of the Virginia wineries - they take themselves and their wine very seriously, and some of it is quite good.
If Barbourville is all about the wine, then Horton is all about the fun. Horton's tasting room has over 45 offerings, including 10+ fruit wines (we passed on those). They don't seem to take anything too seriously (except for an apparent obsession with people who steal the tasting glasses...)
All in all, a fun day of tasting even if we found relatively few wines to go on our personal favorites list. The Horton Sparkling Viognier was probably the highlight in terms of an unexpected and very fun find.
2009 Barboursville Vineyards Chardonnay Reserve
USA, Virginia
This is more acidic than fruity and features pretty restrained use of oak, resulting in a nice crispy refreshing wine.
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2009 Barboursville Vineyards Viognier Reserve
USA, Virginia
Elegant, pretty, soft, and floral, after I tasted this I thought this should have been poured before the chardonnay in the tasting order.
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2010 Barboursville Vineyards Riesling
USA, Virginia
This had an offputting sweetness on the back of the palate that was a bit "too much" in terms of overpowering the rest of the experience for me.
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2009 Barboursville Vineyards Sangiovese Reserve
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County
In the tasting room, this showed toast on the nose and presented a very soft palate that we described as refreshing. When we opened a bottle that night in the hotel room, it showed completely opposite - harsh and tinny, almost singing our nose hairs. Now open for a few days, the wine has mellowed a touch but with not much improvement. Bad bottle? Maybe. Reminder that our experience with wine is as much about time and place as it is about what's in the glass? Definitely.
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2008 Barboursville Vineyards Barbera Reserve
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County
This was a touch sharp on both the nose and palate, with some cherry notes and a faint hint of chocolate. medium finish with same flavors.
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2008 Barboursville Vineyards Nebbiolo Reserve
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Monticello
This was utterly captivating on the nose but then harsh like sandpaper on the palate. Always disappointing when that happens, as it feels like wasted potential!
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2009 Barboursville Vineyards Merlot
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County
nice, soft body just right for a merlot with dark purple fruit dominating the palate. clipped finish.
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2009 Barboursville Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
USA, Virginia
This is a very green and herbal cab, with that "Virginia thin" body that shows up in so many of my VA tasting notes...
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2008 Barboursville Vineyards Cabernet Franc Reserve
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County
soft and full with classic "pepper & smoke" cab franc flavor profile. a nice effort.
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2008 Barboursville Vineyards Merlot Reserve
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County
nice structure - much more structured than the 2009 Merlot poured earlier in the tasting. some complexity of fruit flavors and I think this has the stuffing to go a few years to let the flavors evolve.
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2007 Barboursville Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Monticello
a tannic monster of a wine, with lots of pepper (how much cab franc is blended into this cab sav?). Would be a real keeper but for that "Virginia thin" body that keeps popping up in these wines...
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2006 Barboursville Vineyards Octagon 89 Points
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Monticello
have 2 of these left in the cellar so was happy to check in on this in the tasting room. perhaps not quite as good as I had remembered but still quite solid. Full and rich and immediately made me hungry for a well-seasoned steak...
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NV Barboursville Vineyards Rosé Rosato
USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County
this is a syrupy dollop of strawberry compote in a glass. not for me, but certainly there are some who will like that.
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2006 Barboursville Vineyards Malvaxia Passito
USA, Virginia
imagine if you could take calvados and somehow sweeten it until it was a dessert wine but it still singed your nostrils like calvados when you put your nose in the glass. Meet the 2006 Barbousville Vineyards Malvaxia Passito Reserve...
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