Barboursville and Horton Tasting Rooms

Charlottesville, VA
Tasted Friday, September 2, 2011 by grayfont with 619 views

Introduction

On a weekend getaway, we visited the tasting rooms at Barboursville and Horton. What a contrast!

Flight 1 - Barboursville Vineyards (14 Notes)

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.

Flight 2 - Horton Vineyards (8 Notes)

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...)

  • 2009 Horton Vineyards Viognier

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    This had a major cheddar cheese note to it - very unusual but quite pleasant. winery described it as full bodied but I found it to be light and pleasant.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • NV Horton Vineyards Viognier Sparkling

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    This was a "wow" moment in the tasting for us - we had never had a sparling viognier, nor a sparkler from Virginia for that matter. It's not quite like champagne, but they served it almost ice cold and yet the sweet fruit still shone through (ie was not dulled by the cold) and combined with the fizz it was incredibly refreshing. It's an interesting conversation piece, but beyond that it's actually worth drinking in its own right. A very fun wine and certainly worthy of keeping around to celebrate the next time one of life's small victories rolls around...

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2008 Horton Vineyards Côtes d'Orange

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    rhone style is evident, though a less hearty rendition of the style. there's some earth and pepper. At $15, the tasting was good enough to persuade me to buy a bottle to do a more thorough inspection of this at home...

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2008 Horton Vineyards Cabernet Franc

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    typical for the region and varietal. mouthfeel is a bit thin but the pepper notes are interesting and would complement pork or (not too lean) beef

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2009 Horton Vineyards Malbec

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    my taste was sharp and sweet (a malbec?) and if it were not being poured at the winery itself I would have suspected this was an off bottle.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2003 Horton Vineyards Syrah

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    hmm. you don't see a lot of syrah in virginia. this was thin and bright/fruity and I would have passed but for $10 on clearance it was worth a flier to see what I could get out of it at home.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • 2002 Horton Vineyards Tannat 87 Points

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    was blown away by the intensity of flavor of this wine. really packs a punch - very dark fruit with big structure and med/long finish.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

  • NV Horton Vineyards Courage 20 Year

    USA, Virginia, Central Virginia, Orange County

    hmmm not like any port I've had before. This was a mouthfull of caramel sour candy.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Report Issue

Closing

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.

×
×