The Tennessee Waltz

Gretchen Neuman
VinoVerve Editor

You must be thinking at this point, “Hey!  I thought this was a wine blog?”

And so it is…  Though Marguerite and I often like to talk about our adventures on the road as much as the wineries we visit.  Kevin and I wanted to take the girls to Memphis for a little bit of a getaway, but that didn’t mean we had forgotten about wine.  In fact, it was part of our plan the entire time.  The morning after our dinner at Capriccio Grill,  we decided to start meandering our way towards home.

This seemed highly appropriate as the south of Illinois the Mississippi River starts wandering across the river plain.  In fact, as I was mapping out possible locations to check out, I was astounded by how water had shaped the land.  For this reason, I think, there are not many wineries in the western portion of state.  Nevertheless, we headed from Memphis.  The thought was since we were headed that way, we might as well stop if we see something on the way (At least this was what we told the kids.  As I had chosen the route we would be taking home, it was somewhat inevitable that we would ‘discover’ a winery along the route.).

And where did we end up?

The Old Millington Winery
6748 Old Millington Road
Millington, TN 38053-6206
(901) 873-4114

This little winery is less than 20 miles outside of Memphis but it seems much more rural. Or maybe that is just Kevin and I being unfamiliar with rural Tennessee. It was a gray day as we headed out, but the intense greenery and flowering trees more than made up for it. When we pulled into the winery we could see the vines growing next to the tasting room. We learned that the grapes were Chambourcin which is the only varietal grown on site. According to Brandi in the tasting room, juice is brought into the winery to be fermented for the other varieties.

We tried several of the wines, starting with the driest first. The Vidal Blanc was crisp and tasted of grapefruit though was a little lighter than I expected. The Crying Angel Red was named in honour of a local Civil War Memorial. It is a blend of estate-grown Chambourcin and Cynthiana (Norton) grapes. The color was a dark brick red with distinct tannins. The Big River Red was my favorite. It had the deepest flavors of the reds that we tried and was a rich ruby color.

Kevin and I also tried some of the sweeter wines. The Delta White was made with Vidal Blanc grapes but had a richer and sweeter taste. The Muscadine was also sweet but with an earthiness to the flavor. Lastly, Kevin tried the Red Port which was made from grapes grown in Western Tennessee. He enjoyed the minerally richness but we forgot to ask if they were fortifying the port.

While we finished our tasting, the girls enjoyed playing with the vineyard dogs who were checking out the visitors. Old Millington Winery is a nice family run winery which is providing wine and entertainment (most Saturdays from April til October) for Western Tennessee. If you are near Memphis, it is worth a stop to enjoy their Southern hospitality.

Awards (from the Wines of the South Competition):

Vidal Blanc
2008 Bronze Medal
2007 Bronze Medal
2006 Silver Medal

Delta White
2008 Gold Medal
2007 Silver Medal

Muscadine
2008 Bronze Medal

Red Port
2007 Silver Medal
2008 Silver Medal

Dancing Goat Muscadine
2007 Bronze Medal
2006 Bronze Medal
2005 Silver Medal

Tags: Tennessee

This entry was posted on April 29, 2009 at 12:01 am and is filed under Gretchen Neuman, local wines, Win(e)ding Roads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.