Blenheim Vineyards taps Fine Creek Brewing Company for new release
There’s nothing that forges stronger bonds and solidifies friendships quite like collaboration. Whether combining resources, such as different raw materials, or providing an area of individual expertise, it’s exciting to work as a team to produce a new or better result. Blenheim Vineyards and Fine Creek Brewing Company did just that when they teamed up for the release of the Collaboration Wine line.
Charlottesville’s Blenheim Vineyards has a longstanding relationship with Fine Creek Brewing Company, headquartered in Powhatan. In the past, Fine Creek has used barrels from Blenheim, and incorporated different varieties of the vineyard’s grape pressings in some of its beers. Blenheim has hosted pop-up events where Fine Creek poured beer at the winery, and Fine Creek has likewise hosted Blenheim to pour wines at the brewery, where they also feature Blenheim on a list that supports the Virginia wine industry.
That professional partnership led to personal friendships, says Tracey Love, who oversees sales, events, and marketing at Blenheim. “We have become good friends with Mark [Benusa, Fine Creek’s owner], the brewer Brian Mandeville, and the taproom staff,” says Love. “It felt like a natural progression to invite them to sit down with Kirsty [Harmon, winemaker at Blenheim], and work together on these two wine blends.”
Collaboration blends are priced at $20 a bottle, and take the place of Blenheim’s On the Line blends, a limited-release series intended to help provide healthy meals to frontline workers and others in need during the pandemic. With these new wines, as with their recent launch of the Oenoverse wine club, Blenheim is focused on promoting community and inclusiveness.
Collaboration White is a blend of chardonnay, viognier, arneis, albariño, and petit manseng. It was aged 15 percent in oak barrels and 85 percent in stainless steel. On the nose, there are notes of sweet lemon-lime, white peaches, apricot, and beeswax. On the palate, the wine is medium weight and textured, with strong acidity and flavors consistent with the nose.
The Collaboration Red is a blend of merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and petit verdot. It was aged 75 percent in oak barrels and 25 percent in stainless steel. The nose is deep and full of red and black fruit, raisins, and blueberries, with hints of vanilla, smoke, and flint. On the palate, the wine is medium weight in structure with flavors of black plum, fig, raisin, and a long finish with hints of smoke. A bit brooding on first taste, it is best when given time to open up.
“A chance to tie the Virginia beer and wine scenes together in any capacity is a great thing, and getting to do it with your friends makes it that much better,” says Benusa, calling Blenheim’s staff, “some of our favorite folks in the industry.”—Paul H. Ting
Bevvies of fun
Champion Brewing Company has some recent releases that will pique the interest of board game fanatics, mayo lovers, and Hoos alike.
Members of the Champion Beer Club have access to a limited selection of Catan-themed beers, each one modeled after one of the game’s six biome tiles: wheat beer for the field biome, Schwartzbier for the mountain biome, Altbier for bricks and hills, and more.
This year, Champion also introduced a beer to cheer for: the Cavalier Lager. It’s a light, easy-drinking beer that’s made to pair well with salty game-day snacks and relaxing with friends.
And capping off the tie-in trifecta, Champion has a blend of Vienna malt with Magnum and Saaz hops carefully crafted to complement the taste of Duke’s Mayonnaise. That’s right, there’s even a picture of Duke’s on the can.
Kitchen concepts
One of the most innovative projects to come out of the Charlottesville food scene recently is Multiverse Kitchens, a digital food hall that features seven local brands.
Order online take-out and delivery from an array of choices, such as a mother-clucking chicken sandwich from Fowl Mouthed Chicken or Firebox’s grilled oyster mushroom wrap, complete with cucumber salad and yogurt dressing. Or maybe you’re in the mood for a blueberry shortstack from Big H’s Pancakes or a box of fresh-baked cookies from Long Strange Chip. In the Multiverse, anything is possible, (except foods like fries, which don’t travel well).
Founder Harrison Keevil (of Keevil & Keevil Grocery) admits the spot’s name was inspired by Albert Einstein and parallel universe theory. “You can cook a chicken an infinite number of ways.” he says. “So you can create an infinite number of concepts from one kitchen.”
Here’s the scoop
Emily Harpster’s SugarBear Ice Cream has been partnering with restaurants all over the city to offer unique flavors, like Honey Sea Salt Latte and Buttermilk & Jam. And you don’t have to go very far to get them: SugarBear is served at an ever-expanding lineup of local restaurants, including MarieBette, Bowerbird Bakeshop, Feast!, Greenwood Grocery, and several more. “I came into this wanting to keep it simple and creative and collaborative,” says Harpster. “I would love for Charlottesville to have its own local brand so you can pick up a pint from a local market.” Expect SugarBear’s flavor mashups to change frequently—so, if you see one you like, scoop it up.—Will Ham