A blogger's Review
If you've never visited the NCVine.com website, you're missing something. In mid-January, MTGlass visited the tasting room and posted her blog the following Saturday. She also reviewed Childress Vineyards and Weathervane Winery, all of us in Davidson County and part of the Southern Gateway Wine Trail. To read the entire article, go to MTGlass' blog entry:
Junius Lindsay Vineyard, located at 385 Dr. Zimmerman Road, Lexington, ...has a European feel to it's tasting room, a little bit Mediterranean, a little bit French. The wine is all the way French, as is the intent of the owner, Michael Zimmerman. If you want a true sense of a French Vineyard, then Junius Lindsay is the place to go. The wines are evolved and very mature, and the tasting cellar also has a refined feel.
Before I get into the wines, let me take a minute to acknowledge something that may occasionally get overlooked, but is special in its own right: the labels! Junius Lindsay has the best looking labels that I have seen produced by a NC winery, hands down. Other vineyards have good looking logos and pretty designs but Junius Lindsay labels are works of art. I would hang them in my home, no kidding, you could collect them. It's little attention to detail like this that led me to believe that I was in for a treat when the tasting began.
Now let me preface the tasting by saying that all the vines are French clones, and that the owner intends to stay true to the Rhone Valley of France which is a major wine producer of excellent (and expensive) French wine. Junius Lindsay offers guests the French wine experience without the French wine price.
It is important to mention that Michael recently entered two of his wines in the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and walked away with two medals! The 2008 Second Leaf Viognier-Roussanne won the Gold Medal and the 2007 Triomphe Red won the Bronze Medal. The 2008 Second Leaf is a full bodied and bold white wine. It has a strong pepper finish and it has lovely floral aromatics. The 2007 Triomphe is a nice blend that displayed a smoky fruitfulness first but finished smoothly with traditional French spices.
Besides the award-winners, the 2006 Syrah Barrel Select is worth bringing up. This wine has an outstanding color and an intense pepper start followed with a strong oak and leather flavor. I would caution that this wine is made for a mature palette and wine novices may mot be prepared for the strong overtones that this wine has in store, but for those of you with experience in excellent, expensive bottles of wine, this is right up your alley.
Finally I'll mention the Estelle Dessert Wine. If you ever wondered what would happen if they forgot to harvest the grapes, then try this wine. This is the Viognier left on the vine for two extra weeks. After continuing to ripen, the grapes are so much sweeter that the Viognier turns into a dessert wine... Overall, Junius Lindsay is a local look at French flair.