Winery Visit – Attimo Winery

Tasting Room/Restaurant

 

   Sign at the Entrance

 Last weekend, my friends and I went on a tour of Attimo Winery in Christiansburg, Virginia. Attimo is a quaint 17-acre property located just past Sinkland Farms (THE PUMPKIN PATCH!) in Southwest Virginia. On the day we decided to do our tour, Attimo Winery was hosting their annual Planting Festival where three other Virginia wineries were featured. Tasting tents were set up and visitors had the opportunity to taste their respective products. Wines and Ciders from Beliveau Estate, Stanburg Winery, Foggy Ridge Cider and Attimo Winery were available to taste. We were only able to get to latter 3, but I know there’s a tasting room for Beliveau in downtown Blacksburg.

Amanda, Courtney & Me
on the patio outside the
Tasting Room

We started with the tastings. Stanburn had a selection of 8 different wines to try. Foggy Ridge had 4 delicious apple ciders and Attimo had 7. Not bad for $20. I really enjoyed talking to each of the proprietors of these establishments. They all talked about the history of Virginia and how it applied to them. They talked about their fermentation techniques and their processes. I learned so much and am looking forward to watching these businesses grow!

My Tasting Notes for the 7 wines we tasted from Attimo:

Sonnet 98: Dry white. Crisp. Floral. Hints of fresh greens. Overall green apple flavor. Rose on midpalate and finish. Drinkable.

Off-the-Cuff: Semi-sweet white. Fruity with mineral and citrus notes. SUMMER WINE. Strong peach nose. Floral: rose? Not too sweet, not too dry. Drinkable.

Just Kissed Blush: semi-sweet blush. Fruity; distinct berry flavors. Blueberry and plum. Violets. Some heat, so not well integrated and balanced.

After Midnight: Semi-sweet red, fruity flavors; velvety texture. BLACKBERRY. Nose and palate are similar. Tastes earthy, like rocks and dirt with sugar on top BUT well blended. Super smooth finish, medium-long finish.

Bull Frog Symphony: Table wine. Dry red blend, peppery, eclectic. Spicy and Peppery. Flat and strong berry profile. Would pair well with Italian food.

Deep Silence: Dry red, intense berry flavors and light smoky pepper finish. Cherry, red raspberries. Deep color. White pepper flavor on the finish, smoked asparagus.

Sudden Downpour: Sweet, apple wine with bourbon notes and earth tones. Cinnamon notes. APPLE APPLE APPLE. Apple juice with fireball liquor?

Our Tour Guide

Training Trimmed Vines

The tour started in the Vidal Blanc vineyard. They had recently pruned and trimmed their vines, so there were vines and twigs between the rows of vines. We also saw that the planted vines are being trained to grow on the structures in the vineyard.13-acres of this 17-acre property will be planted soon in the planting season. The tour guide explained that 80-85% of Attimo’s wines are made with grapes they grow on their property. The other 20% of grapes are grown elsewhere (both in Virginia and outside of Virginia).

Press and De-Stemmer on the Crush Pad

Oak Barrels

FlexTanks

From the vineyard, we moved to the barn (more like a free-standing garage) which housed both a crushing pad and aging barrels. The crushing pad had both a de-stemmer and press. Inside the barn, about 100 oak barrels from France, Hungary and Missouri hold wine for aging. Instead of stainless steel barrels, Attimo has FlexTanks, plastic containers that allows the wine to breathe. An interesting difference in comparison to other wineries I’ve visited. They don’t have their own bottling machinery, rather, they bring in a bottling truck. They bottle almost all of their wine over a series of 14 to 17-hour days. (THEY WELCOME VOLUNTEERS TO HELP OUT!)

When asked about the future of this relatively young winery, the tour guide mentioned that they hope to expand their wine making processes and distribution. At the moment, Attimo Winery only distributes their product in Virginia. They hope to expand their distribution to outside of Virginia; however, they hope to keep the local feeling of their tastings and production.

Posing with the Barrels

This was a great tour of a budding enterprise. Attimo Winery, while still very small, is a wonderful business with great wines! I learned so much about Attimo’s growing and processing. I look forward to seeing how they grow and expand in the future.

Posing with the Entrance Sign