Cardinal Point

The tasting at Cardinal Point reminded me of the best part of going wine tasting in Nelson County: you will drink some good wine and you will meet interesting people.

Melissa, who was conducting our tasting, started off a little reserved and not quite so welcoming.  But, when she settled in with us, was a blast.  She had great knowledge of the wine and the wineries background, which she shared with us.  The name Cardinal Point is not named for the state bird, but is instead tied into the military tradition of the four star general who stared the winery.  The initials, cp, is for “command points” and references the points of a compass.  These compass points are what the wineries emblem on the glass references. 

Melissa also gave an insider hint of making sure to go to wineries during harvest seasons.  Then, you might be able to try some of the grapes straight from the vine.  She also talked about that with Cab Franc grapes, you want to make sure to bite the seed because it is a big burst of pepper. 

Melissa also has pretty fantastic opinions on The Averett Brothers and Mumford and Sons. In talking about how depressed Mumford and Sons music got after hanging around the Averett’s, I told her about a friend whose nickname for Mumford and Sons is“emo Pogues.” 

As for the wines, the tastings at Cardinal Point are $5.00, but that is waived is you are in the military, a teacher, or if you buy a bottle of wine.  We sampled one rosé, four whites, and three reds.  

For the whites, I liked the ’09 Barrel Select Chardonnay, which is made in both French and Appalachian oak and with all VA fruit.  It has apples and lemon and a slight hint of butter on the finish which cuts the tartness.  I also like the ’10 Quattro, but the group was fairly divided on it.  Ellie and Erin really didn’t like it, but Chad and I did.  What I enjoyed the most was that it made my mouth buckle from the tartness on the finish.    

In the red category, I liked the ’09 Ca. F+Vio, which is bold and chewy.  For the ’10 Rockfish Red, we got to try it both chilled and room temperature.  At room temperature, I gave it three stars, but bumped it up to 3½ when it was chilled.  I was undecided about the ’09 Clay Hill Cabernet Franc, and
Chad gave me a better description of it being like BBQ sauce.  It is peppery. 

Cardinal Point was a fun in the middle trip that rallies you on.  They are good size tastings and the wines aren’t too bold so they won’t overwhelm your palette before the next vineyard.  It was particularly a good middle trip for us because we had planned to go to Afton Winery, but found out from Melissa they were closed.  She instead sent us to Pollack, which you will find out about next post.