Veritas Claret (Virginia), 2007
Price: $17.00
Grade: A
Veritas Vineyards is an inspiring place. It is located at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains and has, without a doubt, the most beautiful vista of any winery in Virginia. It is one of those places that makes you say, “Wow.” Clearly, when Thomas Jefferson waxed nostalgically to Europeans about the splendor of the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah basins, he was talking about places like this one. As I ambled across its grounds, I immediately thought, “How is this place not a state or national park?”
The Veritas experience continues when you enter its tasting room, which is the largest and most beautiful tasting room in the region. The room is extremely welcoming. It has several leather couches, tables and chairs and a plethora of outdoor veranda seating. Outside, you can enjoy a glass of wine as you take in a view of the mountains. You can even have a tasting there, while comfortably sitting down — something I have not seen at any other winery.
My awestruck feeling at Veritas grew even more as I learned about the history of the winery and of its staff. Andrew Hodson, originally from Great Britain, decided that his 30-year career as a neurologist was no longer fulfilling. After visiting central Virginia for a medical conference and surveying some of the beautiful Blue Ridge vistas, Andrew had an idea. Acting on his lifetime passion for wine, he decided to retire from medicine and open a vineyard. Andrew and his wife, Patricia, a fellow oenophile, moved to Virginia, bought Saddleback Farm and turned it into a winery. Enrolling in a wine certificate program at PVCC, he taught himself viticulture and fermentation science.
But that is not the end of the story. As Andrew was building his vineyard — named after the Latin phrase, “in vinos veritas,” that is, “in wine, there is truth” — his daughter, Emily, enrolled in a graduate program studying infectious diseases. Feeling unfulfilled as well, Emily took a sabbatical and decided to help her parents set up their winery. Eventually, while working with her father, Emily fell in love with wine science and pursued a master’s degree in enology at Virginia Tech. She is now the main winemaker at Veritas.
Just when you thought that Veritas has more than enough motivated people who are following their dreams, you can then meet the tasting room manager, Thomas Roberts, one of the most impressive and knowledgeable wine enthusiasts I have ever met. At Veritas, he gives wine lectures and facilities tours. Working his way up from a dishwasher as a teenager, Thomas studied to become a certified sommelier and landed a job at a swanky hotel restaurant in Georgia. Through his cunning and enormous knowledge of fine wines and dining, Thomas worked to achieve a five-star rating for the restaurant. As for viticultural knowledge, Thomas is the Oxford Companion to Wine incarnate. He knows his stuff and then some. He is currently studying to achieve his Master Sommelier distinction. Remember when I recommended visiting vineyards to learn about wine? Because of knowledgeable and friendly people like Thomas Roberts, Veritas should be first on your list.
Veritas also has a remarkable selection of wines. The rose sparkling wine called Mousseux — made by Champagne native Claude Thibault — is a delicious juxtaposition of dried cherry, strawberry and cherry attributes with a creamy flavor on the finish. Two other white wines of note are Viognier and an ice wine called Kenmar. The former is a versatile wine with flavors of peach, apricot and white floral blossoms, while the Kenmar shows intense flavors of roses, violets, honey and melon. Kenmar is an awesome wine. At the Virginia Wine Expo held in Richmond, it was widely preferred in a blind tasting against a Grand Cru Clase Sauternes from Bordeaux, France.
For the purposes of this column, I chose to rate the Claret because I feel it is a great value. ‘Claret’ is an English word derived from the French ‘clairet’ to describe the wines of Bordeaux, France. The Veritas Claret is a blend of three Bordeaux grapes: Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. The idea behind blending grapes is that a winemaker can put the best attributes of the grape into the mix while improving each grape’s shortcomings. Cabernet Franc and Merlot are both fruity and aromatic, but very light. Petit Verdot, in contrast, is ink-like and spicy and is used to thicken up the blend with body and flavor.
The Veritas Claret is a very elegant wine. It includes flavors of blackberry, black cherry, coffee, vanilla, caramel and roasted almond. Many of these flavors come from barrel aging in both American and French oak. The Claret is a good example of an emerging trend in which French and American Oak are used in tandem to create great wine. Although American Oak has delectable flavors of vanilla, roasted almond and even coconut, it often imparts overbearing attributes to wine. Those of you who have had a California or Australian red know that drinking a wine with American Oak is like being punched in the face with a vanilla boxing glove. A mixture of French and American Oak, however, can impart a balanced amount of vanilla and almond with light oak and cedar flavors. Such is the case with Veritas’ Claret.
Veritas Vineyards is a world created by the Hodsons to bring them happiness and fulfillment. Whether you are outside watching the sunset behind the Blue Ridge or inside relaxing on a posh leather couch, you cannot help but be inspired. It’s what every winery should be: appreciating the good life with a glass of great wine in hand.
Jeff’s column runs biweekly Wednesdays. He can be reached at j.katra@cavalierdaily.com.
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