YRWT Mini Festival #2 - Divine Llama

Posted by Alan Wright on 11 July 2011 | 1 Comments

If you’ve been reading along with me, you know how much I love the Yadkin River Wine Trail mini festivals. If you haven’t been reading along, let me tell you, I love them. I love the wine and I love the whole idea of these intimate get-togethers. And while I enjoy all of the participating wineries, each for their own unique traits, I particularly love Divine Llama Vineyards.

Why do I love them so much? Mike West and Tom Hughes, friends since architecture school and co-owners of the business, are graduates of Virginia Tech, so like me they are Hokies. The property is gorgeous: The vineyards surround their quaint little tasting room, the hills provide a breathtaking backdrop, and their own beautiful living quarters inspire a little bit of jealousy in anyone who visits. They have llamas — not just a couple for decoration, but over 50 of them. They name them after their wines and name their wines after the llamas; it truly is a divine relationship. They occasionally even let me work there, and while they insist I’m the one helping them out, I think I’m the one getting the better end of the deal. 

Oh, and the wine. Let’s not forget the wine, which includes some of your standard varietals: Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, but also the lesser-known hybrids Chardonel and Traminette. They are the epitome of the small-shop winery, producing right around 1,000 cases per year and taking great pride in each.

So, with July’s mini festival taking place at Divine Llama on the 3rd, I was excited to be going and to have the opportunity to tell you about it. The property is particularly suited to an event such as this. Trees line the lawn in front of the tasting room, offering a bit of shade for the tasting tents, as well as the festival goers relaxing and enjoying the bluegrass tunes of the Misty River Band playing on the front porch. 

It was 90-plus degrees, but thankfully the shade and the ever-present slight breeze lessened the blow. The highlights of the day for me were the cold wines. Flint Hill Vineyards had its take on Sangria, mixing its sweet red, Chambourcin-based Crushed Velvet, with apple juice and orange juice over ice. The Chambourcin, with the added sugar, mixed well with the juice and kept me refreshed as I strolled the grounds. 

You’ve read me wax over the Carlos Muscadine from Sanders Ridge, and I was delighted to fill my glass with that one. The beautiful golden color and spicy sweet smell fill your senses before you ever take a sip. There was a time when North Carolina was known primarily for its sweet wines, and while that’s no longer the case, this is one to be proud of.

Those are just a couple of the tastes I had that day. You can’t go wrong with any of the participants, including Cellar 4201 (Cherokee Red!) and RagApple Lassie (Zinfandel!), and while all the wine was good, the day was really about the host. With more than 250 people attending the event, Mike, Tom, their lovely wives Patricia and Julia, as well as a couple of other helpers, were hopping. 

I’ve talked about Divine Llama’s wines before. In my last post I touted their Chardonel, a hybrid grape crossing Chardonnay and Sevyal Blanc. It’s a slightly fruitier variety and has more cold hardiness than the Chardonnay, and is a nice alternative. Currently they have a stainless Chardonnay and an oaked Chardonel. The Chardonel is produced in seasoned and recouped oak barrels, which give it a mellow buttery flavor. They are down to the last few cases of Chardonnay, and when its gone, they won’t be releasing anymore, choosing to instead focus on the lesser-known varietals.

One of those varietals is the hybrid Traminette, a cross between Joannes Seyve and Gewürztraminer. This is a relatively new hybrid, coming out of Cornell University in 1996. What’s interesting to me is that it manages to retain the spicy quality of the Gewürztraminer, without the aggressive sweetness that I tend to associate with Gewürztraminer. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t feel bad, I hadn’t either — but I’ve grown to love it. They offer three different versions, Traminette, Traminette Gold, and Traminette Divine, each subtly distinct from the next. 

My favorite is the Traminette Gold. Soft, full-flavored, and only slightly sweet, it’s perfect for sitting on the front porch, or accompanying a spicy meal. I’m not the only one raving; the Traminette Gold received a double gold medal and was selected as Best of Class for white hybrids at the 2010 NC State Fair. Do yourself a favor and buy a bottle, or visit the vineyard and try it for yourself. You just might have a new favorite to regale your friends and family with.

As good as its hybrids are, Divine Llama has the best-kept secret in North Carolina as far as I’m concerned, and that’s their 2009 reserve Cabernet Franc. Before 2009, they blended their vineyard-grown Franc grapes with others they purchased from around the state. The result was a perfectly drinkable wine, great with hearty pasta or red meats; I have a couple of bottles in my wine rack right now. But in 2009, they harvested their Franc grapes sooner than most, and the result was a darker, juicier, fuller grape. Their winemaker suggested vinting it on its own and waiting to taste the final product before blending it. That proved to be the right move. The result was a 50-case reserve that is well worth the $24 price tag. I once offered it up to a couple of well-seasoned tasters who purchased a bottle on smell alone. This is one that is beautiful right now, but will be even better after a few years on the rack. If you like Cabernet Franc, run, don’t walk, and buy some before it’s gone.

I’ve described just a few of the wines produced by Divine Llama Vineyards. To learn more about the others, such as In a Heartbeat, Merlot, and the Red Rita Rose, please visit the wine section of their website. Or better yet, go see them on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, and taste them all for yourself!

As with all the mini fests, a good time was had by all. I stayed until folks were packing up their tents and the crowd had started to dissipate. Bentley, a particularly friendly llama, was mugging it up for the cameras as I left, and I couldn’t help but think how lucky I am to live so close to such an interesting place. If you haven’t been, you really should. Take the family, spend some time talking to the West and Hughes families, look at the llamas (you can even go Trekking!), walk the grounds, and even enjoy a meal on one of the picnic benches they provide. You won’t regret it.

Alan Wright is the human in charge of Humans at The Clever Robot, a full service web development company in downtown Winston-Salem working with small, medium and large businesses. He’s an avid locavore and hopes you’ll become one, too.