I often see Zorvino Vineyards wines at the New Hampshire state liquor store. Knowing nothing about the wines or winery, I was hesitant. But just the other day, I was presented with the unique opportunity to visit with them just recently. I was a lovely visit!
Zorvino Vineyards is a family owned and operated winery..Jim and Cheryl Zanello purchased the 80 acre lot in Sandown, NH in 2000 after retiring. 4 years later Zorvino Vineyards was established. The “Zor” in Zorvino comes from the original family name Zorzanello and “Vino” which means wine.
In the first years, 150 cold climate vines, mostly hybrids, were planted. To date, there are roughly 2000 vines on site. The bulk of their grapes are brought in from Italy, California and South America. However, they do have several estate wines. They are known for their “off dry” fruit wines, blends and unusual 100% fruit or vegetable wines such as Pumpkin, Beet and Rhubarb.
Zorvino has a popular wedding venue. According to the website: "The barn like structure was never built with the intention of becoming a function facility. The post and beam design appealed to many visitors and its rustic elegance led to many requests for special events and weddings. This is how the journey into hosting weddings and special events began. The wood work, tasting tables and most of the creative details were thought up and implemented by hand by Jim Zanello utilizing wood from the property. The combination of the beautifully landscaped grounds, rustic ambiance and large variety of wines has not only made this a perfect place for a wine tasting or a wedding but a successful venture as well."
I tasted the whole line of wines at Zorvino. They could not have been more welcoming and more accommodating. I tasted the Skinny Guinea Red and Tempranillo were both made from California sourced fruit. Both were very very tasty. However, in keeping with the mission of this blog, I'll be sticking more closely with those made with estate or New Hampshire grown fruit.
The first and easily most impressive wine was the Zorvino LaCrescent is the winery's second release of their estate New Hampshire grown fruit. A fabulous bright example of the variety. A big nose full of tropical fruit and floral notes ends with a big citrus pop. Only sold in small 375 ml bottles, but well worth it. A very good sign yet again that the Minnesota varieties will do wonders in New England.
Zorvino Sundown's Finest Niagara is made with estate, New Hampshire grown fruit. This was a classic, clean, semi-sweet Niagara with the classic nose and a good finish. Very pretty fruit. Well made! Delicious!
The next wine was the Zorvino Vineyards MapleZ Maple Apple Wine. Now, I have to admit, I was leery of trying this. I like apple wines very much. But the maple aspect of it kinda scared me. Fear not! Nice bright apples, with a lovely Granny Smith taste and acidity. Made with local heirloom apples and sweetened with local New Hampshire syrup. Actually a very lovely, semi-sweet white wine. Very pretty. Perfect for your Thanksgiving table. New England in a bottle!
The Zorvino CranbreeZ was a big surprise. This light red wine was made with Massachusetts grown cranberries. Yes, it had a touch of sugar, but this was a big tart wine, so the sugar balanced out the wine. A lovely, lovely fruit wine. Impressive.
Zorvino Harvest Blush 2017 was a limited bottling that was released June 29, 3018. The wine is made from three of their estate grapes grown on the property. The blend includes Frontenac, Frontenac Gris and La Crescent. This wonderful rose' is an absolute crowd pleaser.
Zorvino Vineyards Blizzard is an estate ice wine made in super small quantity. The winery produces the winery once a year, and keeps its grape blend a secret. Big notes of honey, apricot, and tropical notes finishes with lovely acidity and sweetness. Delicious! Perfect for cheese plates or with creme brulee'.
I was surprised by the quality of the wine overall! And the estate and New Hampshire fruit showed great promise. Would love to see them increase the over all production of estate and state grown fruit, as the estate wines were very impressive. However, they're doing just fine without my advice. Over all, it was a lovely place to visit. An incredible accomplishment! Congrats to Jim and Cheryl and the many people who make this place possible. Oh, and by the way, the wines are damned good!