This Week @ Roanoke Vineyards
Enter the wine business, and suddenly looking into the future becomes part of your job description. One gets pretty good at it because it's a necessity. You learn quickly how to imagine what wines will be like in a year, in ten years, and sometimes twenty or more. Patience is essential, and you learn to contain your enthusiasm for the future. However, I find myself surrounded by euphoria as I look ahead to the next couiple of months.
As you enter the Roanoke Tasting Room there is a large sign reminding people of the limited quantity of the 91 point Parker-rated Gabby's Cabernet Franc (to be released September 25th). The wine is incredible even at this early stage, and will continue to develop into the foreseeable future. But what you don't see, or hear about, are the wines that are hidden in case storage until their debut in the months, or years to come. To suggest there are some winners would be a gross understatement, and if you attended the recent wine club reception, you may have already had a brief encounter with this forthcoming greatness (read: 2007 Merlot).
For as much as I'd like to keep a lid on the surprizes ahead, I feel compelled to spill the beans about one wine that you didn't see coming, and probably something you wouldn't imagine would appear with a Roanoke label. Use any superlative you'd like, they all fit.
Rhyme and Meter is the first Roanoke Vineyards' barrel fermented Chardonnay. Harvested last November at 23.5 brix, then artfully tuned by winemaker Roman Roth, Rhyme and Meter possesses an elegant structure reminiscent of a great Montrachet. The wine is creamy, with flattering mineral notes that deliver an ethereal quality. And although there are many great wines in our portfolio ahead, this one will be available soon. There are just 140 cases of Rhyme and Meter, and you'll certainly want to add one to your cellar. Once you have an opportunity to taste it, you too will be surrounded by euphoria.
Watch this spot . . . .
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