Visited Veritas Winery In Afton Virginia
In February I visited the Veritas winery with my family for my father's birthday. We got to participate in a champagne brunch and we were able to taste eight of their wines. Four of which were considered ready to drink wines and the other four were on reserve, so they had been aged for a bit before being sold. It was a really fun event and I they even had a window where we could look down into the area where they age the wine in steel canisters which was really cool to look at.
For brunch we had:
- First Course: Acai Pot de Crème
- This was a nice creamy and yogurty textured dish. It had some really good granola on top as well as an assortment of fruits on top. It was very good
- Second Course: Sourdough Bread with ham, bechamel, cheese, and a sunny side up egg.
- This was absolutely delicious. The bechamel sauce and the yolk of the egg gave this dish a lot of flavor. The bread was also toasted enough to soak in all of the different ingredients.
- Third Course: Yogurt and Honey Cheesecake with Golden Raisin Coulis and Thyme powder
- The cheesecake was unlike any cheesecake I had before. The thyme power mixed with the honey was a very interesting combo as it combined sweet with savory flavors for the desert of the brunch.
The food was great and we had a fun time spending time together. I am unsure which one of their sparkling wines they used for the champagne brunch, but it could have been either their SCINTILLA 2015 or their SCINTILLA NON VINTAGE. I would assume that they gave us their SCINTILLA NON VINTAGE as it is the lesser expensive one between the two. The sparkling wine had a grassy and lemon or citrusy flavor. Beyond that it was not extremely flavorful and it did not take away from the flavors of the food.
In addition to brunch we participated in a wine tasting. Below I have listed the wines we tried, categorized into reserve and not reserve wine.
Non-Reserve
- Chardonnay 2020
- Rose 2020
- Merlot 2019
- Calret 2020
Reserve:
- Chardonnay Reserve 2020
- Momentarious White Reserve 2019
- Veritas Reserve 2019
- Petite Bordeaux Reserve 2017
Saddleback Chardonnay 2020
Price: $22.00
"The appearance is clear pale lemon. On the nose it is clean with medium and acidity. The wine is youthful. The primary aromas show citrus, ripe Apple, pear, stone fruit, nectarine, minerality, wet stones, and Orange juice." - Reshma Gola on Vivino
Chardonnay: Yellow Apple, Starfruit, Pineapple, Vanilla, Butter (pg 96)
Color: Pale Straw
Alcohol: 13%
My Review:
Aroma: This wine was very citrusy on the nose and it had a slight scent of apples
Taste: The flavor was also citrusy and I could tell it was very soft in the mouth. I could taste the minerality of the wine and it was definitely not sweet.
Rosé 2020
Blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot40% Fermented in Neutral Oak and 60% Fermented in Stainless tanks
Price: $24.00
"Pale salmon in color. Light to medium body. Nose of strawberry, raspberry and melon. Medium acidity. Palate of strawberry, pink grapefruit and melon. Fun, crisp and refreshing wine." - Lori Carmone on Vivino
Cabernet Franc: Strawberry, Raspberry, Bell Pepper, Crushed Gravel, Chili Pepper (pg 86)
Merlot: Cherry, Plum, Chocolate, Dried Herbs, Vanilla (pg 131)
Alcohol: 12%
My Review:
Aroma: The aroma is filled with light fruity flavors, specifically a clear strawberry scent on the nose.
Taste: The flavor matches that of the aroma where it has strawberry flavors. It is not sweet, but it does have an acidic tartness at the end.
Merlot 2019
Price: $27.00
"Medium bodied merlot. Cherry and raspberry mix well with earthy and vanilla notes. Not terribly complex, but a fun sipper. Quite dry with some lingering tannins." - Kevin from Vivino
Merlot: Cherry, Plum, Chocolate, Dried Herbs, Vanilla (pg 131)
Color: Ruby Red
Alcohol: 13.5%
My Review:
Aroma: The scent of this merlot is filled with red fruits. I was able to pick out strawberries and black cherries specifically
Taste: The flavor had more pronounced cherry flavors as well as possibly a dark and fruity plum flavor. It was was medium to high in tannins in my opinion. It was quite bitter and not my favorite wine.
Claret 2020
Blend with 3 out of the 5 classic Bordeaux grapes
60% Petit Verdot, 30% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc
Price: $29.00
"Nice nose, dark fruit, black fruit, and black cherry. Tastes of vanilla cherry coke. Baking spices and vanilla are a bit strong. Strong tannins, medium finish." -Seth P. on Vivino
Cabernet Franc: Strawberry, Raspberry, Bell Pepper, Crushed Gravel, Chili Pepper (pg 86)
Merlot: Cherry, Plum, Chocolate, Dried Herbs, Vanilla (pg 131)
Petit Verdot: Black Cherry, Plum, Violet, Lilac, Sage (pg 146)
Alcohol: 12%
My Review:
Aroma: It has a strong smell of dark fruit and oaky scents that are very pronounced.
Taste: The flavor is a sweet vanilla that I particularly enjoyed, which was also mixed in with the dark fruits of Black cherry and plum. I actually enjoyed this wine, which is not something I expected since I am not a huge fan of red wines.
This is my dad!
Chardonnay Reserve 2020
Price: $30.00
"I think this stands up with the Sonoma we had the same afternoon. lil malolactic notes. Fruity and good acidity." - Matthew Gravens on Vivino
Chardonnay: Yellow Apple, Starfruit, Pineapple, Vanilla, Butter (pg 96)
Alcohol:
My Review:
Aroma: This chardonnay has a more perfumed smell compared to non reserved chardonnay. It has a slight pear scent to it.
Taste: The flavor here is much softer than the other chardonnay and sweet. It has lime and pear flavors, I pick up the lime and citrusy taste at the end. It is overall smooth though and very enjoyable. I actually bought a bottle of this!
Momentarius White Reserve Blend 2019
Blend of barrel fermented Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Petit Manseng
Price: $35.00
"The wine is pale lemon in color with pronounced aromas of white flowers, orange blossom and acacia that precede aromas of Meyer lemon, stone fruit and ginger. On the palate the wine has bright mouth -watering attack that is softened by the unctuous mouthfeel as notes of citrus and fresh green grass lead onto stone fruit, peach, apricot and pineapple; hints of Pina Colada and ginger add to the wonderful complexity of this wine. The finish is complex and long lasting." -Veritaswines.com
Color: Pale Lemon
Alcohol: 13.4%
My Review:
Aroma: The scent had a strong emphasis on pineapple and it also had a slight citrus scent.
Taste: The flavor was very much pineappley and it had a citrus tartness at the end as it went down.
Petite Verdot Reserve 2017
Price: $45.00
"Dark fruit, black fruit, chocolate and smoke. Spice with rich fruit, tobacco, and mocha. Long finish, nice structure, really nice." - Seth P. on Vivino
Petit Verdot: Black Cherry, Plum, Violet, Lilac, Sage (pg 146)
Alcohol: 13%
My Review:
Aroma: This wine smelled of rich dark fruits, specifically blackberry was the main scent I could decipher.
Taste: The flavor had a dark plum flavor and had a bitterness at the end like a blackberry, but overall it was surprisingly sweet. I found it to be super tannic, which is probably why I did not like this one as much as I did the Chardonnay Reserve or the Claret.
I lost the photos of me drinking the wine here some how, so my sister drew a Picasso portrait of me from her point of view at the winery. It truly is a work of art.
Veritas Wine Making Process
At the winery itself they had an open window in the tasting room for people to view the steel canisters that they used that are filled with wine. The workers in the taste room did not know much about how this room fit into the wine making process and because of covid they were not doing tours, however, I did some research outside of the winery. Luckily, they provided some really informative videos on the cards that described the wines.
The 2019 Saddleback Chardonnay is a stainless steel fermented wine. Emily Hodson, the winemaker at Veritas, specifically looks for a strong fruit structure for this wine and has some good acid. She explains that she crushes and squeezes the grapes before fermenting. This wine is meant to emphasize a pear flavor with a zesty citrus flavor as well. She explains that because it has not been aged in oak it will sustain a minerality flavor, which I was surprised to be able to taste as well!
The Claret 2020 wine was named after the term of "Clear red", and the English apparently used the term to describe a light Bordeaux red wine. Techniques of the making of this wine focused on making this wine as fruit forward as possible to show case the grapes rather than worrying so much about structure and barrel aging.
The Veritas Rose 2020 wine gets its color from them letting the juice sit with the red grape skins from 8 hours to 24 hours depending on how much color they want in this wine. Up front it is supposed to smell of strawberries and the flavor has some watermelon rine flavors according to the winemaker.
Veritas Merlot 2019 wine is one of the better vintages in Virginia for the Veritas winery due to its temperate climate. In addition, Merlot loves clay soils, which is something Virginia is known to have. I found this to be interesting because I did not realize that grapes may have differing soil preferences, so having a plant like grapes enjoy a clay soil is something that was unexpected for me.
For the Chardonnay Reserve 2020, they barrel aged it for about a year or more. This is different than most white wines go straight to a stainless steel tank for fermentation after the grapes are squeezed of juice. However, for this wine they add this barrel aging step. They first put the freshly squeezed juice into a stainless steel container to settle it down and then they immediately put it into oak barrels. The winemaker at Veritas, Emily Hodson, explains that the fermentation process in these oak barrels is something that essentially broils the juice in this oak container and as a result extracts a lot of the flavors out of the barrel. Another interesting point she made that I didn't realize is, they specifically pick certain berries that are very fruit forward for this chardonnay because it has to balance out the oak flavors. She also uses 3 different yeasts. One is to bring out a softness of the body, one is to bring out a pear flavor, and the last one is to make the wine fuller in body and more complex.
The last wine Emily Hodson spoke about on the wine cards was about their 2017 Petit Verdot. She explains it is one of the 5 classic Bordeaux grape varietals. In the old world this grape is usually a small percentage in Bordeaux blends, however, Petit Verdot grapes have flourished in Virginia, so they have made this wine a blend that has a high percentage of Petit Verdot in it to showcase its flavors. She explains this grape creates a light floral and forest floor aroma with a strong dark fruit aroma that envelopes it. This wine is also aged in new oak (50%) which gives the wine more layers in flavors and structure. She says that she does a lot of extended maceration, 20-30 days post fermentation. This allows for the wine to extract even more color in the wine.
What I found interesting is Veritas' winery's philosophy is, "to make wine with the classic, old-world principles of viticulture and vinification, at the same time using state of the art technology to capture varietal and regional character. Our name derives from the Roman historian Pliny the Elder’s observation 'In Vino Veritas' – 'In Wine there is Truth.' We believe that the truth in our wine comes straight from our vineyard as an expression of the land where we live and work," I found this to be very true about the wines I tasted there. Most of them were made and thrived off of old-world principles like the Bordeaux blend or using grapes that thrive mainly in Virginia such as the Momentarius White Blend. However, they are able to use this old-world touch with a mixture of new world creativity to makes some really interesting wines.
If your interested in watching the videos yourself here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvRyWU0bVtHP5-LZN7jqMvw
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