Posh. Now there's a word that has lost a great deal of meaning in our modern electrified world.
We are not referring to the song sung by Lionel Jeffries in the classic movie "Chitty Chity Bang Bang," but rather the word that indicates the ultimate in opulence.
A classic example of the word can be seen at Biltmore Estate, a North Carolina mansion built by turn-of-the century billionaire George Vanderbilt that was the epitome of grandeur. Today, it has been resurrected as a hotel and spa, which has retained the elegance and opulence of the past. Associated with the hotel and spa is a vineyard devoted to making fine wines carrying the Biltmore name on the label.
Biltmore Reserve 2010 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($24.99)The grapes for this wine came from the Russian River Valley in California, where some of the world's finest grapes can be found.
Starting with these Sonoma-grown grapes, the Biltmore winemakers carefully crafted a wine good enough to be endowed with the Biltmore name.
This wine offers everything that makes for a great pinot noir - an inviting, dark ruby color, a captivating aroma, a full body, a positive and definable flavor and a long, enduring finish, all wrapped in a smooth, velvet-like robe.
The aroma is an ever-changing display of raspberry, strawberry, blackberry and plum with vanilla and oak in the background. The flavor is just as expansive and explosive as the aroma and concentrates on cherry, blackberry and boysenberry. All of these flavors carry over to the finish, where they linger on the palate for quite some time.
Not only is this a great pinot noir, but it ranks as one of the better ones we have tasted from the 2010 vintage year.
Biltmore Reserve 2011 North Carolina Chardonnay ($12.99)Yes, you read that correctly. The grapes were grown on the Biltmore estate in North Carolina.
Can grapes grown in North Carolina make a decent chardonnay? You bet they can, and it reinforces our belief that great wines can come from places other than the West Coast and Europe.
This wine displays a clear, deep golden color and an aroma that is by no means light, flimsy and dull, but rather big, approachable and very powerful. It opens with lemon riding on a dense cloud of apple and tropical fruits of all description.
On the palate, this wine presents a full body, a positive and prominent fruit flavor and an impressive creamy background. Although totally dry, this wine displays a true fruit sweetness that can only be derived from superior grapes and diligent manufacturing. The finish is, as one might expect from a wine of this quality, long, fruity and extremely smooth.
We will tell you now that if you miss the Biltmore Reserve 2011 North Carolina Chardonnay, you will have let a great buy slip through your fingers and a chance to try a fine wine from grapes grown in another part of this country.
Biltmore Estates Blanc de Blancs Sparkling Wine ($24.99)This sparkling wine is made solely from white grapes.
The color is a bright and clear daffodil yellow that begs the first sip. The aromas are very typical of any chardonnay-based sparkling wine, citrus and toast. The flavor continues with the citrus and also shows significant amounts of apricots and honey.
As one would expect from a chardonnay-based wine, this one possess a soft, smooth, velvet-like creamy finish. Perhaps it is the softer carbonation, but the creaminess is so intense that it becomes the dominant feature of the taste and then continues on into the aftertaste.
Biltmore Estates Blanc de Blancs is an imperial wine with great depth and charm and everything that one seeks in a truly great sparkling wine.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and helps manage ArticlesOnWine.com with his wife, Sheila. He can be reached at frojhe@suddenlink.net.
