Cooper Vineyards
by
Kathy Sullivan
Summary: Cooper Vineyards continues to increase production and plans to open a new tasting room located near the current tasting room in 2010. Cooper Vineyards belongs to the Heart of Virginia Wine Trail.
Cooper Vineyards located in Louisa, Virginia is on the Heart of Virginia Wine Trail. The wines are all produced from Virginia fruit. The vineyard manager, Michael Boone, tends the 14 acres of onsite vines that include Chardonnay, Vidal Blanc, Chardonel, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Norton and Viognier. Vidal and Chardonnay are the largest blocks. Michael prunes all 14 acres himself, as he wants to be sure it is done correctly. Regarding pruning he believes, “everybody has different techniques.”
The enthusiastic winery manager, Robert Culley, explained that the winery is expanding. Currently the winery produces 6,500 cases of wine and is increasing production. Wine production has surpassed grape production. Currently the winery has 125 plus oak barrels including French and American. The original tasting room was in the winery and then moved to another building on the property. Soon Cooper Vineyards will add a new tasting room facility that will be solar and geothermal powered. A new winery facility is also planned.
In the tasting room, the wine notes are divided into Whites, Reds and Sweets.
Whites
The Chardonnay 2008 was produced in stainless steel tanks. The result was a wine with green apple nuances. The taste was of pear with apple notes. A perceived sweetness of the wine dried on the finish. Coopertage Blanc 2008 had an aroma of oak and floral notes. There were caramel, pear and apple nuances on the taste. The wine ended with a creamy finish. St. Stephen’s Rose was a blend of Chardonnay, Chardonel, Petit Verdot, Viognier and Concord. The aroma was of red berries. The taste was also of red berries with strawberry notes. The finish was crisp.
Reds
Merlot 2007 offered an aroma and taste of dark fruit. The finish had fruity and earthy nuances with tannins. Cabernet Franc had an aroma and taste of young black fruit. The taste also had spicy notes. The finish provided notes of tannins and fruit. Petit Verdot 2008 had nuances of berries on the aroma and taste. The finish was crisp and fruit forward.
Sweet
Rhapsody was a blend of Viognier, Vidal Blanc and Chardonel. The aroma offered floral notes while the taste was fruity. The finish was sweet and changed to very dry on the finish. Sweet Louisa was a blend of Concord, Norton and Merlot. The aroma and taste were of American grape Concord. There were tannins on the finish. Vidal 2008 was a dessert wine made in an ice wine style. The wine was sweet but balanced. Acid provided crispness on the finish. Noche was produced with Norton and infused with chocolate. The aroma and taste were of chocolate – think chocolate covered cherries. Noche was similar to a Port wine.
The current tasting room has numerous small gift baskets available for the holidays. These are reasonably priced with prices ranging between $20 and $30 dollars. The tasting room also offers Sangria boxes. Anyone who is a fan of Norton may like the NortonVertical Tasting box that includes several bottles of Norton wine from different vintages.
Enjoy a visit to Cooper Vineyards and be sure to watch for the grand opening of their soon to be built new tasting facility.
Cooper Vineyards
13372 Shannon Hill Road
Louisa Va. 23093
GPS: N37º 57.737’ W77º 55.461’
Visit these Virginia wineries and wine tour groups that partner with Wine Trail Traveler.
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