Winery Visit: Attimo Winery

On April 16, 2012 me and two of my good friends, Austin Gauge and Spencer Johnson, went on a trip throughout Southwest Virginia to explore some local wineries. Our first stop on the tour was to Attimo Winery which is located just outside of the main part of Christiansburg, which was slightly mind blowing to me as I did not realize that there was a winery in Christiansburg. I got this idea from some of the people I know that work at Vintage Cellar and they said this is a very new and upcoming winery and have some very good wines, as well as a good location. Upon arrival we were very surprised to see how nice of a place this was:

The Tasting room from the parking lot

The tasting room from the outside was a very nice looking and very new looking building. Also from here we were able to get a glimpse of the property and the different rows of vines:

View up the hill from the parking lot

Another view from the parking lot

Another angle up the hill from the parking lot

 The property itself was very beautiful and quite a sight to see. There was nothing growing on the vines as of currently because it was quite cold outside and we were told they were about to plant new vines, and the current vines they had were about to be going into growing season. I want to make a trip back to see the grapes growing in because they would be quite beautiful to see I am sure. After walking around the property a bit and talking to a couple people that appeared to work there, we then decided to venture into the tasting room. We were then told to take a seat and we then were able to move onto the tasting aspect which was quite exciting.

Our table in the tasting room

Us sitting at the table in the tasting room

We then began to sample some wines, but I did not sample all of them because I was driving for the entire day trip. Here are the wines that I tasted and took notes on while there:

• Attimo Winery "I do"- "Semi-sweet, distinct citrus notes" Upon pouring of this wine, it was very similar in color to those that I see commonly with Rieslings. Smell of the wine was also nearly the same as most Rieslings. Upon tasting, it was quite good but overly sweet for my liking, but had a good fruit balance.

• Attimo Winery Deep Silence- "Dry red, intense berry flavors and light smoky pepper finish" This was a very good red in my opinion from top to bottom. I was able to get berry smells on the nose, and then taking a sip brings to light how dry of a wine this was, and I was able to pinpoint the pepper finish in the tasting.

• Attimo Winery Masquerade- "Dry, smooth and oakey" I decided to try this one, because I am definitely a Chardonnay fan, and they can be very hit or miss for me so I decided it was essential to try. The description of Oakey made me worried because I am always afraid of something being an Oak Monster. Upon tasting this wine absolutely blew me away, it was an amazing balance between oak and the fruit. Absolutely amazing Chardonnay.

• Attimo Winery Vertex- "Dry red, rich with black currant flavors and French oak notes" This wine was very intriguing to me because I have always been interested in finding the black currant flavor. I have always heard this as a descriptor but I do not believe I have ever been able to pinpoint this flavor. On this wine I actually was able to, and this wine was absolutely amazing in my opinion. It was well balanced all around, and very oakey. I am usually not a fan of the oak, but in this case it was very well done.

Having only sampled 4 wines, I was unable to get the full tasting, but knew that we had 2 other wineries ahead and had to drive so had to make a sacrifice. I then decided to purchase a few bottles as I had never seen any bottles from this winery before. After buying a few bottles we then headed out of Attimo Winery, and we were very happy and surprised. It was a great stop overall.