Wisteria's New Offering: Adonis - a Red Blend

The new vintage.

A few weeks back I made a stop at Wisteria Farm and Vineyard to ask what was on the calendar the next few weeks.  They told me they’d be open for Valentines weekend, and then for Presidents Day weekend.  But they were very excited about the new wine they were getting ready to release – Adonis.

Look for this map near the tasting room.

Mary and I made plans to stop by for another visit this weekend.  We love the farm and the very special place that Sue and Moussa have built back there behind the ridge (my GPS tells me they are 0.7 miles away as the crow flies), but I really was looking forward to trying this new release.

Mary and I both had a glass, and then we decided we’d get a bottle to take home for dinner.  It is a very nice red table wine, a blend of Merlot, Traminette, and Carmine – three of their vintages.  Now, the Merlot speaks for itself, but I have a summary about the other two from last summer’s Page County Grown Farm-to-Table dinner: 

• Traminette is a hybrid grape, including Gewurztraminer as part of its heritage.  It produces a dry but sweet wine with a fragrant aroma and floral taste – and the variety is suited to challenging climates.  Lately, Wisteria has made an effervescent variety, which we’ve been enjoying around the Hawksbill Pines neighborhood for cookouts and visits.  I hope it’s not a limited vintage, because it has really grown on all of us. (an update: They’ve run out of the sparkling Traminette)
• When Moussa and Sue introduced Carmine, Moussa noted that Wisteria may well be the only Virginia vineyard producing this grape, which is a cross between Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Carignane.  It was developed to respond for cooler temperatures where the cabs don’t fare as well, and is described as offering an intense dark color, peppery aromas, and ample tannin flavors.  (Of the three wines that are combined for this blend, I noted the Carmine first.  I like that one!)

Sue gave me a little background piece on the source of the name, Adonis, which was researched on www.phoenicia.org.  The background piece was titled Adonis, Handsome and Young God, and it went into details of the origin of this mythical god, who appears in both the Phoenician and Greek histories, and even has a surprising link to the Hebrew word Yahweh.  

This is not Adonis.  This rooster is often
near the parking area, though.

I’ll leave the discussion at that for now though…but note that the information included a photograph of a beautiful waterfall in Lebanon that is said to be the place of Adonis’s birth.

I’m really excited to see these new offerings from Wisteria – and of course, Mary and I are always in the market for a reason to visit.