Winery Visit- Attamo Winery

On Friday April 19th, three of my friends and I visited Attimo Winery for a short visit and tasting.  I have been to smaller wineries before, and looked forward to visiting one in Virginia.  Attimo Winery is in Christiansburg Virginia (not sure how because it way out there) and their menu offers many a wines.

Upon arrival we got a wonderful view of the grape fields that house a majority of the grapes they put into their wines.  Unfortunately, we would not be getting a tour of the facilities but thus gave us an idea of what we were dealing with.  Entering the premises, we chose a seat close to where John's good friend Mr. Jeff Ownes (aka Sweet Velvet) would be playing music for the night.  Then we got to glance at their selection of wines.  All of them bore special names that we were told each had a story to go along with it.  This in itself got me excited for the tasting as we would not only get to taste local wines but hear stories as to why they are named what they were!  We chose to do the standard tasting plus a few extras to get a nice variety of wines.  After a few tastings we were joined by Anne Ownes, Jeff's wife, and daughter Sarah!  What a cute little baby to join in the festivities.

Anne ordered what she told us to be her favorite wine Off The Cuff.  We had the pleasure of tasting this specific wine not only moments ago and it was my favorite by far thus far.  It is a semi-sweet wine that has 67% Riesling and 33% Chardonnay.  This continues to show the trend that I absolutely love the Riesling grape.





The rest of the wines we had the pleasure are listed below with a short description.

1. Yesterday's Song - Made of 100% Chardonnay it began with a fresh and light apple aroma with a hint of pear.  The taste had a dry, somewhat tart and crisp pear flavor.  Nothing really outstanding here, but overall an enjoyable wine.

2. Masquerade-  Also made of 100% Chardonnay it began with a very light floral scent.  The taste started off dry and very smooth and then came a buttery and creamy flavor.  This wine was interesting as I was not expecting the almost butter popcorn finish.

3.  Sonnet 98- Made of 100% Vidal Blanc, this wine had a crisp fruity aroma with a hint of honey.  The taste was lightly sweet on the tongue but dry on the finish.  It reminded me of a crisp vegetable flavor with smooth honey to balance.  Wasn't a fan of this wine but it wasn't bad.

4.  Off the Cuff-  Made of 67% Riesling and 33% Chardonnay, this wine only had a fruity aroma to start us off.  The taste brought about sweet grapes flavor with a long smooth finish.  My favorite of the bunch.

5  Just Kissed Blush-  Made mostly of Vidal Blanc with a kiss of raspberries for flavoring, this wine had very fruity aroma with the obvious hints of raspberry.  The taste was too sweet, it reminded me of a Juicy Juice flavor with alcohol in it.  Way too over the top, wasn't a fan.

6. After Midnight-  Made of 75% Merlot and Zinfandel and some blackberry for flavor, this wine had a fresh spicy fruit kind of aroma.  The taste was that of light fruit with a sweet twinge, slight spiciness.  Nothing really stood out at me on this wine, not great.

7.  Bull Frog Symphony-  Made of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chambourcin, Petit Bordeauxand Zinfandel, this wine had a rich spicy almost oaky aroma with hints of pepper.  The taste was a good balance of spice and sweet with a light peppery flavor and hints of fruit.  Pretty good wine here.

8. Deep Silence- Made of 100% Cabernet Franc, this wine had a dark berry aroma with hints of pepper.  It was very complex and I thought I got a whiff of smoke?  The taste brought that dry berry flavor and left it with a spicy finish.  Pretty good wine, we got more to have with dinner.

9. Vertex-  Made of 100% Cabernet Sauvignon that was grown in Charlottesville, this wine had a druity jam aroma with hints of oak.  The taste brought a strong oaky flavor that was very dry and had a spicy twinge.  This taste came along with a very light fruity flavor.  Wasn't my cup of tea.

10.  AD 325-  Made from 100% Chambourcin, this wine had a slight sour cherry aroma with hints of other fruits.  This wine really didn't have a lot going for it in the taste department as all I got out of it was a dry taste with a cherry twinge.

11.  Sweet Berry Sunset-  Made of 50% of the Bull Frog Symphony mixture and 50% raspberry, this wine had an extreme berry aroma (presumably raspberry( and almost an outdoorsey smell.  The taste brought that sweet berry with a spicy finish.  Not bad, but not great.

12. Seduction-  Made from Tinto Madera, Touriga Nacional, and Souzao and then fortified with brandy, this wine had a strong brandy aroma with an almost licorice scent.  The taste was like a sweet raisin with hints of raspberry.  Could definitely taste the alcohol in this one, so its a pass for me.


After tasting all of the wines, we ordered some food and a bottle of Deep Silence for the table.  John's appetizer of chips and pineapple salsa came first and we got to try that in combination with the wine.  Drinking the wine in conjunction with the chips not only intensified the flavors from before, but also brought about a sweetness that was not noticeable during the tasting.  This experience makes me want to start pairing more food with wines to be able to have more experiences with wines and find hidden pleasures.

We ate our food, listened to the sweet melodies of Sweet Velvet, and played some bingo!  Overall the experience was amazing.  We got to try out some local wines that had a lot of potential, even tasting several that have won awards!  I wish the weather would have been a little better so we may have been able to get a short tour, but such is life.

On the way out we made sure to get another glimpse at all of their different wines and take a bottle of our favorite home.  I got a bottle of the Off the Cuff as even at the end of the tasting it was my favorite by far.

Food, friends, wine, music, and bingo....what else could you ask for?