Shelton Vineyards is a vineyard located in Dobson, North Carolina. Of over 95 North Carolina wineries, Shelton Vineyards is the largest family-owned estate winery in North Carolina. Located in the Yadkin Valley near Mount Airy, the estate is 406-acre acres. Charlie and Ed Shelton bought the property in 1994, They built a 33,000-square-foot winery building and planted approximately 200-acres of vines. The winery is located in the Yadkin Valley AVA, which the brothers helped establish in 2003, becoming the first AVA in North Carolina.
Ethan Brown, a native of Surry County, is a graduate of the Shelton-Badgett North Carolina Center for Viticulture and Enology at Surry Community College. He took over winemaking operations at the Dobson, North Carolina, estate in 2018, bringing his career full circle within the local Yadkin Valley wine region. Brown oversees the production of a number of traditional Bordeaux styled wines such as Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, among others.
I love Tannat. Tannat is a red wine grape, historically grown in South West France in the Madiran AOC, It is also grown in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, South Africa, and Italy. In the United States it has found a home in Maryland and Virginia. California is seeing some growth in the variety as well.
Shelton Vineyards Tannat 259 2021 is 100% estate grown Tannat starts off with big notes of red raspberry and dark cassis. There's also a floral note on the nose, as well as some spice. On the palate the raspberry, cassis, Marionberry, stewed plums, even a hint of fig all come through for a chewy midsection, followed by a layer of spice and vanilla. Grippy acidity and tannins *think sour plum and black pepper) finish the wine beautifully. This muscular wine flexes long after the sip is gone. A terrific red wine.
Two impressive red wines from Shelton Vineyards!
If you haven't heard about the quality wines of Shelton Vineyards - you will soon. Congrats to the whole team!