We are honored and excited to welcome Janet Viader from Viader Vineyards to our little South Asheville store on Friday, August 10 for an informal/walk-around tasting of her family’s wines. Founded in 1986 by Argentine-born Delia Viader, the winery specializes in big, rich, long-lived red wines made from grapes grown on the lower slopes of Howell Mountain. Janet is Delia’s daughter and she will be on hand for the tasting to tell you more about her family’s wines and the history of the winery.
The tasting will run from 7:00 to 9:00 and the cost for the tasting includes a substantial selection finger foods. The cost to taste the wines is $20/person or $15 if you’re a Grape Nut. You can come by and stay the whole time or you can taste through the wines, grab a snack and then head to dinner with a bottle of Viader in hand!
We will be tasting five of their wines, including the highly sought after Proprietary Red Wine, which represents the winery’s top Cab-based offering. These are very special wines made with great attention to detail, with respect to the earth and an overriding commitment to quality. All wines will be offered at a 20% discount by the bottle the night of the tasting. Below is the lineup of wines you will get to sample:
1. NV Laurent Perrier Champagne Brut “L-P” – What better to start a tasting of some mammoth red wines than with a refreshing glass of Champagne. Founded in 1812, Laurent Perrier is one of the largest family owned Champagne houses. This is about as good as non-vintage Champagne gets!
2. Viader Dry Rosé “Dare” Napa Valley – The estate’s dry Rosé is composed almost entirely of Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a powerful and slightly structured rosé with bold notes of ripe cherry, strawberry, licorice and cassis liqueur.
3. Viader Cabernet Franc “Dare” Napa Valley – Just over 600 cases of this wine are produced, and it is a wonderful rendition of California Cabernet Franc. Winery owner Delia Viader is actually known as the “Queen of Cabernet Franc” amongst her peers and one taste of this and you’ll see why. Silky but with a firm spine of rather suave tannins to support the ripe red fruit flavors, this full bodied effort reveals lovely notes of ripe raspberry, red currant, plum and raspberry all framed nicely by toasty, spicy oak.
4. Viader Tempranillo “Dare” Napa Valley – A miniscule 300 cases of this wine are produced each year, and the wine is made from a Ribera del Duero clonal selection. The wine is moderately complex, full bodied and full flavored with a lovely core of cherry and raspberry fruit, along with subtle floral and earth undertones.
5. Viader Black Label Napa Valley – Viader’s Black Label is always a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Malbec and it is one big mouthful of wine. Thick, but silky smooth, this wine coats the palate with flavors of super-ripe raspberry, blackberry, rose petal, graphite, leather and herbs. It is a big, blockbuster of a wine that will make many very happy.
6. Viader Vineyards Proprietary Red Wine Napa Valley – This is the estate’s flagship wine, and it is composed of 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Cab Franc. I don’t really need to say much about this one other than that it is awesome!