Burnley Vineyards
by
K. L. Sullivan
Summary: Burnley Vineyards' tasting room with a small wood stove and large windows overlooking the vineyards is a homey facility to taste wines. Here you will discover traditional red and white wines as well as peach wine that will remind you of homemade peach pie. An event room is adjacent to the tasting room. Burnley is a friendly tasting room. Dawn Reeder would like visitors to visit the winery, have a good time and learn a little bit.
The first “staff” member we met was Cooper. A friendly German Shepard, Cooper is in the Winery Dog: USA Edition book. Located on the second floor of the winery, the tasting room is accessed from the outside by a wood staircase. We met Lee and Dawn Reeder in the tasting room. Lee is the winemaker and Dawn guided our tasting.
The vineyards are located across the driveway from the tasting room. On the day of our visit, the vineyards were bright with yellow bins for harvesting grapes. Deterrents for birds, balloons and shiny reflectors blew in the wind. The vineyards currently consist of Chardonnay, Riesling, Muscat, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin and Norton.
The vineyards began in 1977 with a planting of 10 acres. The first harvest was in 1980 and the first vintage was 1984. Today the vineyards encompass 31 acres and the winery produces 5000 cases of wine. CJ Reeder, General Manager, is responsible for creating the vineyards. On CJ Reeder’s last tour of duty, he was stationed in Charlottesville. CJ had grown up on a farm and decided he wanted to make wine and settle in the Charlottesville area. Patt Reeder is in charge of sales.
We tasted several wines including the Barrel Fermented Chardonnay that offered an oak nose and hint of apple. The taste was oak and vanilla and it offered a fruit and oak aftertaste. Rivanna White was 100 percent Vidal Blanc. It had a citrus and tropical fruit aroma. The taste was like a fruit salad and smooth. The finish was fruity with one percent residual sugar that dried on the finish. Rivanna Red was a blend of Chambourcin, Norton, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The aroma was fruity and the taste was smooth, fruity and crisp. There were soft tannins on the finish. The Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 had an aroma and taste of black cherry and blackberries. The finish was crisp and fruity with mild tannins. If you are searching for a sweet fruit wine, try the Peach Fuzz wine produced with peach juice. With a residual sugar of six percent, the aroma will remind you of a fresh peach and the taste of homemade peach pie. You many want to consider Spicy Rivanna for your holiday mulled wines. A number of flavorings were added during production including cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, anise, orange peel and lemon peel.
A number of wine accessories are available in the tasting room along the window areas. We enjoyed the wine glass decorations. Perfect for a glittering event, the curved jewelry wraps around the wineglass stem.
Enjoy your visit to Burnley Vineyards.
Burnley Vineyards
4500 Winery Lane
Barboursville, Virginia 22923
GPS: N 38° 15.855’ W078° 31.701’
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