Winery Visit - Maison Beliveau Estate

On April 7, 2013, my roommate and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful Blacksburg weather and adventure up to Beliveau Estate winery. We hopped in my roommates convertible car, put the top down and started to drive up Mount Tabor Road’s windy, but scenic road. Located only 20 minutes from downtown Blacksburg, this newly established winery boasts of not only wonderful wine, but also a great staff and an amazing atmosphere.

Courtney's car, which we have nicknamed Franny, and our bottle of Afternoon Delight.

Upon arrival at the winery, we noticed a huge building. Unsure of what it was, we followed the signs and found the tasting room. As soon as we hopped out of the car, we were warmly greeted by the cutest little black dog. Although we could have stayed and played with the little pup for hours, we eventually made our way into the tasting room. This time we were warmly greeted by the wine pourer named Amy. Before beginning the tasting, she was extremely kind and asked us questions about our majors and so forth, which I personally really enjoyed. She made me feel extremely comfortable doing the tastings.

Without wasting anymore time, we went ahead and started our tasting. For only $5.00 we got to taste 10 out of their 11 different wines. The tasting consisted of three whites and seven reds. My personal reviews are as follows:

Name: Afternoon Delight 

Variety: Vidal Blanc 

Region: Roanoke, Virginia 

Country: United States

Year: 2011 

Price: $18.00 

Winery Notes: This lightly oaked dry Vidal Blanc has overtones of grapefruit and vanilla. 

Personal Review: The nose of the Afternoon Delight was extremely citrusy and refreshing. When tasting it, the first thing I thought to myself was how crisp it was, but it had a nice, light oaky finish to it. It really had a nice well-rounded palate that tasted like citrus as well.

Name: Destiny 

Variety: Vidal Blanc

Region: Roanoke, Virginia 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011 

Price: $16.00 

Winery Notes: This dry, crisp Vidal Blanc is an excellent sipping wine. Serve Chilled. 

Personal Review: The Destiny Vidal Blanc had an extremely soft and elegant nose to it. Similar to the Afternoon Delight, it had very citrusy nose, but also had a hint of of green apples. This wine was very dry and crisp and also refreshing. As compared to the Afternoon Delight, I preferred this vidal blanc because of the lack of oakiness.

Name: Lover's Quest 

Variety: Vidal Blanc 

Region: Roanoke, Virginia 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011 

Price: $15.00 Winery Notes: A semi-sweet Vidal Blanc – a favorite to those who like wine not too sweet not too dry.

Personal Review: The Lover’s Quest had a strange nose to it. It almost reminded me of vegetables, which I really wasn’t expecting because of the way that Amy had described the wine while pouring. When tasting the wine, I was relatively pleased. It had just the perfect amount of sweetness to it and it had soft, delicate tannins.

Name: Silhouette 

Variety: Cabernet Sauvignon 

Region: Roanoke, Virginia 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011 

Price: $20.00 Winery Notes: Our Cabernet Sauvignon is a cornucopia of light berry flavors topped with spicy overtones.

Personal Review: Before even tasting this wine, I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to be a fan, because I am generally not a very big Cab Sauv fan, nor do I enjoy spicy wines. Regardless, it had a wonderful aroma to it, consisting of vanilla, cherry and berries. When tasting it, I was extremely shocked. It was unbelievably smooth and light with soft tannins. Amy explained to us that this was not like a typical California Cabernet Sauvignon and that they tend to be much lighter on the east coast.  It had a very mildly spiced finish that was just perfect. This ended up being my favorite red from the entire tasting.

Name: Rainbow 

Variety: Zinfandel 

Region: California 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011

Price: $24.00 Winery Notes: A full bodied zinfandel with the peppery overtones zins are known for – Delicious!

Personal Notes: The first thing I noticed about the nose of the Rainbow Zinfandel is that the alcohol was extremely prominent, which is not too surprising seeing as it has 16% alcohol content. There were also hint aromas of berries. This Zinfandel was extremely dry and peppery. It was a little too spiced for my palate, however, I think that a mature palate would enjoy this paired with a nice steak.

Name: Sunset Sipper 

Variety: Zinfandel 

Region: California 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011 

Price: $24.00
Winery Notes: Our winemakers chest bursts with pride at the release of this luscious red zinfandel.

Personal Review: The Sunset Sipper Zinfandel had a nose very similar to that of the Rainbow Zinfandel. The two were very similar in every way except for the taste. It was very dry as well, however, it had more well-rounded flavors and softer tannins.

Name: A Cappella 

Variety: Landot Noir

Region: West Virginia 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011

 Price: $16.00
Winery Notes: 100% Landot Noir red table wine has distinct berry overtones. A wonderful sipping wine!

Personal Review: That nose of the A Capella Landot Noir was bursting with berries! It honestly made me regret saying any other wine had berry aromas because this was the real deal. It almost reminded me of grape jelly as well. It was extremely sweet on the palate and kind of reminded me of a big kids grape juice.

Name: Warm Glow 

Variety: Chambourcin 

Region: Roanoke, Virginia 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011 

Price: $20.00
Winery Notes: Our semi sweet Chambourcin is rich in flavor of plum, dark cherries, almond and succulent pear. This is velvet to the palate!

Personal Review: The plum immediately stands out on the nose. It was soft and smooth when tasting it. This is a weird way of explaining it, but it was just a very calming experience drinking this. It would be the perfect wine to come home to after a long day at work.

Name: Summer Rose 

Variety: 50% Chambourcin, 50% Leon Millot 

Region: Roanoke, Virginia

Country: United States 

Year: 2011

Price: $15.00
Winery Notes: A sweet wine of blended reds. YUMMY!

Personal Review: This wine smelled like a mix of alcohol and cherry. However, it was an extremely interesting wine to taste because it was sweet at first with fruity flavors, but the finish had an unexpected kick to it.

Name: Serenity 

Variety: Chambourcin 

Region: Roanoke, Virginia 

Country: United States 

Year: 2011

 Price: $19.00
Winery Notes: This after dinner favorite is a blend of two chambourcins. Its decadent yet mellow flavor pairs fabulously with chocolate. A perfect hostess or friendship gift.

Personal Review: This was a fun wine to taste because Amy told us to take a small first sip of it, and then gave us a chocolate chip to eat before trying it again. It was really interesting because it was really sweet before eating the chocolate, however, after the chocolate it really helped make it a well-rounded experience. She also told us that it is made from two different Chambourcin grapes that come from two different vineyards. 

The last wine on their list of tastings is called Reflection. It is a traminette, which they describe as “a hearty Traminetter with complex notes of apricot, lychee and lemon. This wine is a luscious bold sipping wine.” Amy explained to us that it really is a great wine, however because it is so popular and they have such a small amount of the bottles left, they are only selling them by the bottle. 

The tasting bar

Beliveau Estates quickly became my favorite winery that I have done tastings for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was amazed at how cheap the tasting was for a very generous pour. After the tasting, I was even more pleased because of how wonderful all of the wines were as a whole. I didn't expect to enjoy as many of the wines as I did, and I feel like they have a very great, well-rounded offering of wines. There really is a wine for every sort of different palate with different flavors, aromas and alcohol levels.

My roomate, Courtney, and I inside of the tasting room

During our tasting, Amy was extremely informative and helpful with all of the questions that we had. We learned that the large building we saw when we first pulled into the winery is actually a bed and breakfast. The owners, one of which is a professor at Virginia Tech named Yvan Beliveau, have owned the property since 2001. In 2007 the bed and breakfast opened, followed by the opening of the winery in 2012. There are over 165 acres of Beliveau Estates. We learned that the wine is made on site, and is actually made in the same building where the tastings are conducted. Amy told us that because the vineyards are so young, the grapes that they used for their first batches come from vineyards offsite. Another interesting fact that we learned is that most of the buildings on campus were built by Yvan Beliveau's building construction students over the years as educational projects. I found that absolutely amazing and honestly couldn't believe it.

The large, open reception hall that was connected to the tasting room

 

We had also mentioned to Amy that we were initially going to go hiking that day, but we changed plans last minute and decided to come visit Beliveau. She lit up when we told her this and she told us that there are hiking trails on the property that have amazing panoramic views. We decided that before we hit the trails, we would buy a bottle of wine and enjoy the warm weather on their inviting covered patio. While I absolutely loved the Destiny Vidal Blanc, my roommate and I both really enjoyed the Afternoon Delight Vidal Blanc, so we bought a bottle and headed outside. We brought along some cheese, crackers, strawberries and chocolate as well and basked in the sunshine while enjoying our wine and snacks for about an hour. While sitting on the patio, we noticed a group of four people sitting at a table near us, and quickly realized that they were the owners. It turns out that they live on site, which I think is really fun and unique. 

 

Enoying our crackers, cheese and strawberries with our Afternoon Delight Vidal Blanc

When we finished up our wine, we headed back into the tasting room to get directions on the trail. We felt that it was only necessary to buy another bottle of wine before heading on our hike. I mean, you have to stay hydrated, right? ;) This time, we decided to do something different, so we got a bottle of the Destiny Vidal Blanc. My roommate and I poured ourselves some big ol' glasses, and Amy held on to the rest of it in the fridge for us while we headed up to the trail. 

View of the patio

The two of us started to head up the hill with steady determination. We got lost in conversation, and finally stopped to look behind us at the view. The sight was absolutely amazing. We felt like we had gotten to the top of the hill in such a short amount of time. The huge bed and breakfast looked like little toy buildings. The hike was definitely the cherry on top of an amazing visit. 

A panoramic view from the top of the hill. The Bed and Breakfast can be seen really small in the left hand corner

After sitting on top of the hill and finishing our wine, we finally decided that we should head back down. When we went back into the tasting room to get the rest of our wine and say goodbye to Amy, I noticed a table with a bunch of items made from lavender. I probably wouldn't have paid much attention to the table had I not gone on the hike. My roommate and I had noticed that there were a number of lavender bushes and thought it was interesting. Amy explained to us that Joyce Beliveau absolutely adores lavendar, and that they not only grow it on the estates, but they also host an annual Lavender Festival. 

A closer view of the grape vines

I can honestly say that Beliveau Estates exceeded my expectations in so many ways. While I enjoyed this visit extremely so, it was very spur of the moment and my roommate and I were just going with the flow. We found out that every 2nd and 4th thursday of every month, they host Wine and Tapas for 20 dollars, and they also do tours of the wine making facilities on appointment. This extremely young winery has so much to offer and I am looking forward to introducing more friends to Maison Beliveau Estates to enjoy all that it has to offer!

Leaving Maison Beliveau Estates, with a view of the bed and breakfast behind me