Winery Visit: Beliveau Estate Winery

     Today my roommate Olivia and I ventured out to the Beliveau Estate Winery in Blacksburg. Believeau Estate Winery is in a beautiful picturesque location that is great for a wedding or relaxing weekend stay at their Bed & Breakfast. We got to do a wine tasting, hear live music, and roam freely around the estate. It was a beautiful spring day, and we got to enjoy our wine tasting before a bunch of large crowds starting showing up.

The vineyard (left) and the winery (right)

I really liked getting to taste wine that is grown and made right here in southwest Virginia. Beliveau does not offer tours of their property, so we did not get to see where the wine is produced. However, we did a self-tour and got to walk through the vineyards to see where the grapes are grown. 

Where the grapes are grown

During our wine tasting, we learned that the estate opened up in the spring of 2012. The wines are handcrafted by Yvan Beliveau, who is also the owner of the property. Many of the grapes are grown onsite and some are shipped in from California. The Beliveau wines have won many medals individually and the winery was voted Silver Best Winery by Blue Ridge Country Magazine in 2013.

Wine menu with descriptions

      We chose to do the "dry" wine tasting, which consisted of seven different wines in this order:

1) Pristine 2013: A dry unoaked Chardonelle. This was crisp and slightly acidic. I tasted sour flavors like lemon and green apple. It was very refreshing and a good wine to start with.

2) Mystique 2012: A dry oaked Chardonnay. This had an interesting underlying taste that was a bit hard for me to describe--kind of like artificial butter.  

3) Mystique 2013: A dry unoaked Chardonnay. I tasted this and immediately thought of ginger ale. I preferred this vintage over the 2012 vintage. 

4) Reflection 2013: An off-dry Traminette. This tasted exactly like a Muscat. It was a little too sweet and fruity for me.

5) The Reserve 2012: A Cabernet Sauvignon. I was surprised to learn this was a Cabernet because it was so light. It was very smooth and tasted a bit watered down.

6) Soul Singer 2013: A Chambourcin Reserve. The various spice flavors were very prominent. The nutmeg flavor reminded me of Egg Nog. I liked this and it was very different from the wines I am used to drinking. 

7) Sunset Sipper 2013: A red Zinfandel Reserve. Delicious! One of my favorites of the day. I tasted flavors of strawberries and cherries mixed with a bit of spice. 

A wall of wines in the tasting room

Olivia and I shared a cheese plate that had olives, nuts, crackers, Brie, a sharp Cheddar, and a cream cheese with tomato sauce. The Brie was soft and creamy--definitely my favorite of the three cheeses. 

The cheese plate-- with Brie (left), Cheddar (right), and cream cheese (top).

After the wine tasting was finished, I got a glass of a 2014 wine called Warm Glow to sip on as we walked around. This was a semi-sweet Chambourcin and my favorite wine of the day. Warm Glow was the first Chambourcin that I have ever tried and I loved it! This was a nice balance between sweet and dry. It was light and had soft tannins. 

My glass of Warm Glow (left) next to Olivia's glass of Sunset Sipper (Right).

I was too busy taking pictures of the mountain views to get any of myself, except for this one that Olivia took...

Exploring the property