Even after being twenty one for a solid ten months, I had yet to visit a vineyard. It only seemed fitting to check out Attimo Winery in Christiansburg. Who knew that there was a winery so close!
My sister was in town for the weekend and so I was extremely excited to take her with me and show her all of my wine knowledge! I found that I really did NOT know a whole lot about what it takes to run a winery. The dedication and planning and knowledge of the vineyard owner was incredible.
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| My sister captured my studious side |
Attimo vineyard was started eight years ago, but the winery became public just three years ago. The 17 acres of land at Attimo Winery, combined with 15,000 vines that are leased, make up the property. I found it extremely interesting that the vines there actually come from New York. We specifically looked at a twisted vine called vida blanc. The owner explained that the section below the soil was a different vine than the top part and meant to help resist worms and diseases the grapes could be threatened by before harvest. He further explained that they mainly use organic spray and chemicals to also help protect the grapes. Normal sprays are only used when absolutely necessary and so the vineyard was estimated to be about 95% organic. Overall, 50-60 tons of grapes are produced per year, which results in about 4,500-5,550 cases of wine. The amazing thing about all those grapes is that they produce the grapes all by hand. Talk about needing "all hands on deck".
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| The beautiful sunset over the winery |
After learning about the vines and what their growing process consists of, the tour group traveled over to where the grapes get crushed. First, food grade shovels are used and then the grapes go through the crusher and stemer. The grapes are then ready to go into the basket press where the pressure used to crush the grapes can be controlled, rather than having an automated machine. For white wine, the grapes are crushed and pressed, but the grapes for red wines are crushed, fermented and then cooled with dry ice. Another difference between the wine making process for white and red is that white wine bottling is done in April, where red wine bottling occurs in July. Both types of wine are put into barrels in September and so the quiet time for the vineyard is normally December through February. It amazed me how much time and energy the entire process takes because simply saying you own a winery sounds like such a casual thing, but the truth is that there is endless work and timing that goes into making it successful.
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| Just some barrels |
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| And more barrels |
Once the grapes are formulated into different recipes and types of wine, the barrels ferment the wine. American, French, and Hungarian oak barrels are used, but it was also explained that oak chips and shavings are also purchased. I expected oak chips were used to create some flavors for various wines, but it threw me off when the owner explained that they purchase 500-600 pantyhose each year to hold the chips and shaving in the barrels. Having plastic containers to hold wine is cheaper and they leave a lower carbon footprint than wood barrels. The plastic containers last 10-12 years, which is the same as stainless steel, but the aging is like a barrel. Regardless of the type of tank or barrel, each is labeled with the PH, bricks (sugar in grapes) and sugar in fermentation.
Even though the area of the vineyard seems close to Blacksburg and various rain, that spot receives roughly 16-18 inches of rain each year. Suprisingly, that amount of rain is about what Napa gets year round too. Although the facts prove that Virginia can be a nice dry spot, it is still hard to show that great wine can come from this state.
I honestly learned so much from going on a vineyard tour and I really want to go back before the school year is over. I have so much respect for the people that love to share their passions and I know this vineyard grew out of the owner's own love for wine. Seeing everything and touring the property, while learning about the vineyard was so interesting. I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to taste wine on my trip to the vineyard, but hopefully if I return I will get the chance. Everyone I talked to was raving about one of their Reserve Wines called Blaze. It is a dry "white" wine, but is actually orange in color because is treated like red wine when they make the wine. I will be back to visit Attimo Winery and all the other vineyards, because I conveniently scooped up a Virginia Winery guide booklet and now all I want to do is visit all of them.
I honestly learned so much from going on a vineyard tour and I really want to go back before the school year is over. I have so much respect for the people that love to share their passions and I know this vineyard grew out of the owner's own love for wine. Seeing everything and touring the property, while learning about the vineyard was so interesting. I unfortunately did not have the opportunity to taste wine on my trip to the vineyard, but hopefully if I return I will get the chance. Everyone I talked to was raving about one of their Reserve Wines called Blaze. It is a dry "white" wine, but is actually orange in color because is treated like red wine when they make the wine. I will be back to visit Attimo Winery and all the other vineyards, because I conveniently scooped up a Virginia Winery guide booklet and now all I want to do is visit all of them.
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| Friends that went on the tour with me! |
