Wednesday, November 4, 2009

2008 Norton - Wine Review

The 2008 Norton from Keswick Vineyards is a pleasure to drink. I especially enjoy the strong tannins of this young wine--but truly wish I had bought more so I could enjoy it as it ages. This is a Virginia wine and if you thought only really good wines come from places other than Virginia (as I did once) then you need to spend some time visiting wineries in Virginia. These winemakers know how to make wines which are spectacular for the region.



I opened a bottle the other night and remembered why I bought this wine.


It has magnificent color--a rich, dark, full purple which makes the mouth water even before bringing the glass to the nose to enjoy the fragrant bouquet. Understand--this is not a light wine--but a full body wine for people who like a wine that can stand on its own.


The bouquet is inviting especially with the eucalyptus which draws you deeper into the wine. The taste has hints of raspberry and coffee and spices--but the wines youth, right now, is really in the tannins which will really improve the wines complexity as it ages.


I am going to take one of the other bottles I bought and put a note on it--do not uncork until 2014! I loved it the other evening--I can only imagine what it will be in a few years.


Recommendation: Buy this wine, cellar it and enjoy now and enjoy it more in a few years. At $21 per bottle it has the makings of a great wine for the future!

1 comment:

Kalmia said...

Glad to hear that someone thinks Keswick's 2008 Norton is seemingly a nice selection. This was not the case for us when visiting a couple years back and were disappointed in their 2006 Norton wine. Really pays to go back and compare. The most consistently good Virginia Norton wines we have tasted (bought) so far are Cooper's Vineyard, Chrysalis, Horton, Rockbridge, and Abingdon. Four other Virginia Nortons were bad disappointment. There are 27 Virginia Norton producers now so we've got to get our foot in the road soon to compare. Other than Cooper's Norton, the standard for all Norton wines still resides in the many nice examples that can be found in Missouri. Some surprises for Norton wines can be found in other states; as, Missouri's Blumenhof, Chandler Hill, Robller, Stone Hill's Cross J, and Adam Puchta; Pennsylvania's Stone Mountain Cellars; Kentucky's Elk Creek Winery; Georgia's Three Sisters Vineyard; and Alabama's White Oaks Winery.

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