Shelton Vineyards Hosts Special Event

Iconic North Carolina winery hosts wine writers and media.

 

Shelton Style And Quality Wines Impress

Story by Dave Nershi, CSW  -   Photos by Corrie Huggins

Eastern wineries have long labored in the shadows of their West Coast counterparts. We get it. As much as we appreciate bottles from Napa, there are stellar wineries on the other coast, right under our noses. One such gem is Shelton Vineyards, one of the largest vineyards on the East Coast. It’s located in North Carolina’s Yadkin Valley and shares a growing season and climate similar to the best wine-growing regions of Europe.

Shelton recently threw open the doors to the winery and tasting room during a special event for wine bloggers, writers, and influencers. The event featured a dine-around throughout the winery. We wound our way from the crush pad to the tank room and the barrel cave before ending in the tasting room. All the while we enjoyed selected wines crafted by winemaker Ethan Brown with tasty small dishes by Executive Chef Mark Thrower.

The winery was founded by brothers Charlie and Ed Shelton in 1999. Today, a wide range of grapes are grown on the Shelton estate, which has more than 400 acres. Varieties include Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, Malbec, Tannat, Petit Verdot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Petit Manseng.

The wine and food pairings were:

Crush Pad: Sauvignon Blanc & Joyce Farm’s Chicken Napa cabbage roll with lemon and basil

Work Room: Cabernet Sauvignon & Slivered peppered “Naked” duck breast, cherry-cab gastrique, Farro salad

Tank Room: Tannat & Lamb lollipop, Danish blue stuffed Castelvetrano olives, roasted tomato coulis

Barrel Cave: Sparkling Riesling & Poached shrimp on Lavosh, honey-lime mascarpone, pickled golden beet, pepper jelly

The food pairings were delicious. Chef Mark oversees the on-site restaurant, the Harvest Grill. We’ve dined at the grill on several occasions and were dazzled each time. My favorite pairing was the lamb lollipop with their smashing Tannat. Of special interest is the sparkling program. Still in its infancy, it’s making some nice strides. We finished the formal program in the cool barrel cave with a toast of sparkling Riesling.

Many thanks to Summer Baruth, Shelton marketing director, for putting together all the wonderful pieces, and to my blogging friends and colleagues. Shelton is a destination winery in North Carolina’s wine county that should be on your next itinerary.

Angela 2015 Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton 1.5 L

I felt so guilty. For many years I have only patronized two on-line wine retailers (as we’ll as my favorite local shops). An ad from WTSO (Wines ’Til Sold Out) caught my attention and I was hooked. Like some other sites, they offer a showcase deal several times a day, where you can snag a $100 Napa Cab for $29.99. They also have some “last chance” and premium wines so you always have a selection. The event that put me over the top was the Magnum Marathon.

For 24 hours, magnums were going to be offered at cut-rate prices with new bottles being offered every hour. I was locked in I also tuned in my wine tasting buddy Arthur, who is now known as the Wine Bandit. I scored four magnums including this single vineyard Pinot from Willamette Valley. This was the most expensive at $43. I also purchased a Sonoma Cabernet from a favorite AVA (Moon Mountain, a Rioja, and a Provence Rosé. The last two bottles were $27!

So this certainly endeared me to WTSO. The Angela 2015 Pinot Noir  is a single vineyard bottling from the Yamhill-Carlton AVA in Willamette Valley. I took it on a weekend reunion with friends in the Asheville area.

This is a real beauty that still is holding together, perhaps it is in a magnum. The magnum has twice as much wine as a normal bottle but exposes about the same amount of wine to air. So, the aging potential is better.

To me this was deliciously smooth with delicate red cherry and strawberry flavors. The body is medium-light with a tad of earthiness and notes of cherry cola. Angela is a project of Ken Wright and Antony Beck, son of Graham Beck, a South African winery owner and business magnate. The value of this magnum is sky high!

Since I have you thinking about magnums, let me share the main reasons you should love magnums:

1. Bring on the party! Magnums are impressive and perfect for entertaining.
2. Right sized. For a dinner party of six to eight people, a magnum is just the right size. For larger parties, it means fewer bottles to open.
3. Better aging. As mentioned above the greater wine to air ratio means better and longer aging than 750 ML.

Magnums can be pricey, but there are bargains out there! Poppppppp…. That’s the sound of me opening another magnum. Cheers!

Little Rock Marriott Wine Tasting A Pinnacle Event

Wines of the world explored at Little Rock landmark.

By Dave Nershi, CSW

A Tip-Top Location

For the last several years I have hosted a wine tasting at the Southern Management Association conference. This year the conference was in Little Rock AR, a wonderful small city overlooking the Arkansas River. The headquarters hotel was the Little Rock Marriott.

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The Marriott has a wonderful location just steps from dozens of great restaurants and shops as well as the capital and the William J. Clinton Presidential Library. Standout restaurants include Flying Fish, Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill, and @ The Corner. Of course, the Marriott has its own pub, which was a great location to grab a cold beverage.

Adjacent to the hotel is Riverfront Park, which encompasses 39 acres in downtown Little Rock on the south bank of the Arkansas River. The park is a stroller’s delight with a semi-formal arrangement of walks, terraces, plazas, and sitting areas. Right outside the Marriott’s Riverfront Room is the Vogel Schwartz Sculpture Garden which uses landscape architecture to showcase more than 90 works of art from sculptors in Arkansas and across the country.

Begin With Bubbly

My tasting took our group of about 25 to the tip-top of the hotel: The Pinnacle Room, which provides a 360-degree view from the 20^th floor. The staff did an outstanding job setting up for the event. I began arranging and icing down bottles.

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I was delighted to see six bottles of chilled Josh Prosecco marching in the door. Although he couldn’t be with us for the event, the Little Rock Marriott GM David Lang is a wine aficionado and he sent the bubbly to start the event on a festive note. Thanks, David!

Josh is a well-known brand, but I didn’t realize they made Prosecco. In fact, I learned, they partnered with Italian winemaker Daniele Pozzi to launch their own Prosecco in 2019. Much like Champagne, the only Prosecco comes from a specific region, in this case, Italy.

This wine was frothy, with a touch of sweetness and apple and pear flavors. Our group raised a grand toast to the Marriott!

The tasting had a Wines Around the World theme. The lineup was

· Gassac “Folie” - NV - France (Pet-Nat style sparkling)

· Verus 2019 Furmint - Stajerska, Slovenia

· Netzl 2019 Zweigelt Classic - Caruntum, Austria

· Noble Hill 2019 Estate Reserve—Simonsberg, South Africa

Folie means madness and it’s also a French sparkling wine with a crown cap. This is in the style of a petulant-natural wine. This wine is bottled before fermentation is over and finishes in the bottle – resulting in fine bubbles with white flower flavors and fresh aromas. The flavor is also more robust than a typical sparkler.

Famous In Slovenia 

The Furmint grape has been present in Slovenia for more than 1,000 years. The Slovenian name for Furmint is sipon. Supposedly comes from the times of the Illyrian Provinces, when Napoleon’s soldiers, upon drinking the wine, exclaimed “c’est si bon” – which was interpreted as ‘šipon’ by the locals. Furmint is the grape used in Hungary's famous Tokaji dessert wine. The Verus version has a palate of tropical fruits like quince and kiwi. The finish is waxy and almost floral.

Zweigelt is a beautiful Austrian grape. The Netzl 2019 Zweigelt is ruby-garnet in the glass, with typical cherry fruit in the nose. This is a young and charming wine with a smooth, elegant palate and some spice notes.

It comes from a blend of several vineyards that enjoy the moderating influence of the River Danube and the Lake Neusiedlersee on their climate. This results in very ripe grapes with good tannins, high ripeness, and intensive and fresh aromas. This winery is in the village of Gottlesbrunn, known for its idyllic taverns offering local foods and wine. It’s a popular destination for day-trippers from Vienna

Key To A Great Wine

The 2019 Estate Reserve from Noble Hill comes from the Simonsberg region of South Africa. It’s a blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 11% Petit Verdot and 8% Cabernet Franc. South Africa represents a blending of the best of New World flavors with Old World winemaking. It truly excels in Bordeaux-style blends. We stayed in the Simonsberg area during our visit to the country and each winery surprised us in a good way.

The label is adorned with four keys, one for each of the varieties used in the blend. The wine has tastes of blackberries, plum, and a wee bit of mint. The oak is light, and the tannins are smooth.

We did have another surprise wine, Pol Solanelles brought a bottle of Spanish Macabeo from his family’s winery. What a treat! Cheers to the Little Rock Marriott for being a great venue and to our guests who made it special.