Visiting Vineyards: Attimo Winery

Panoramic of a few of their vines!

My friends and I decided to take this beautiful, 80 degree, blue and sunny skies, Blacksburg day and head off to Attimo Winery. I've had a couple of Attimo's wines at tastings and festivals over the last couple months and enjoyed them!! The owner also has talked in a few of my classes, so it was cool to go to the place where it all happens! Attimo means "In the Moment." Each of their wines has a unique name and backstory and are all dedicated to the making of a distinct wine. Last year alone they had over 34 or 35 thousand people visit last year. Attimo has also been attending a lot of festivals (over 30) in the past year or so. 90+% of their business is through their tasting room, though.

Main Building

Attimo is old school in the way they produce wine. They still hand press all of their grapes which is very labor intensive. They use French, Hungarian, and American barrels to age wine, as well as plastic containers. They use the barrels until they "die" and afterwards repurpose them into wine racks and a couple other things to sell in their tasting room. They are able to use their barrels way longer than most other wineries because they use wood chips to impart flavors into their wines. Fun fact though, the wood chips go into panty hose from the Dollar Store in Christiansburg and then go into the barrels... the owner said he was the largest purchaser of the product! Weird but interesting!

Award winning wines... Every wine of theirs has won awards!!

Rik Obeso and his wife own the winery. Rik has a PhD in microbiology and his wife has a degree in architecture. Rik makes the wine and his wife manages the business. He believes that Science and Art together make good wine. They bottle their own wines. They bring in a tractor trailor every year to expand their space for their bottling process. They have future plans to expand their current vines and possibly get into crafting beer. They are almost at capacity for their current wine production.

Tastings:

Wine #1: Yesterday's Song (Chardonnay)
Price: $18
Description: Dry white, crisp, lightly oaked, pear notes.

My review: This wine was pale with a pear nose. It tasted dry with hints of pear and apple. It had a nice light finish. It was nice that it wasn't overly oaken like so many other chardonnays

Wine #2: Vidal Blanc
Price: $17

Description: Dry white, crisp, floral, hints of fresh greens.

My review: This wine was pale with a slight floral nose. It had a nice texture, a little vanilla, hints of oak, and a little creamy.

Wine #3: Off the Cuff (Riesling/Chardonnay)

Price: $16.50

Description: Semi-sweet white, fruity with mineral and citrus notes.

My review: Pale, sweet, fruity. Tasted like pear, sweet fruits, and had a slight acidity in the finish. I liked this wine because it combined a dry Chard with a sweet Ries!

Wine #4: Just Kissed (Vidal/Raspberry)
Price: $16
Description: Semi-sweet blush, fruity, distinct berry.
My review: Yellow/pale pink color. So sweet and fruity, super yummy! Bought a bottle! So nice!

There were 8 different wines that we tasted but these were my favorite four!

Tasting/Food Menu, Wine Glass, and Information Packets!

Oak Barrels for aging!

Plastic Barrels for aging/storing!