Augusta Winery is located right in the town of Augusta, Missouri. The tasting room is a long room that also has the gift shop. They have an outdoor wine terrace that you can tell would be great in early summer and late fall. However, in a cool March it would not be a fitting location to hang out having wine. Michael and I have had their wine before, but never have visited the winery location.
Augusta Winery is another winery that was bought by the Hoffman Family. As the same with Montelle Winery, the wine tasting for the core tasting is $15 for 4 wines and the wine glass and the premium tasting $20 for 4 wines of reserve and limited production. Michael and I did the core tasting, while Amanda did the Premium tasting. As we looked over the tasting menu Michael was saddened that the Vignoles was sold out.
I tasted the Dry Muscat, Norton, La Fleur Sauvage, and River Valley Blush. The Dry Muscat had very tropical notes; it was a very refreshing wine that when Michael took a sip, I was worried I wouldn’t get it back. Their Norton tasted like a standard Norton, nothing differentiated it from among the others we have tried. La Fleur Sauvage is a dry rose, which, honestly, to my palate, feels like it is missing something. The River Valley Blush was a sweet fruity wine. Michael had tasted Chambourcin, Gohic, Blackberry, and River Valley White. We have had the Chambourcin before and already knew it was good based on tasting it during our blind testing of Chambourcin back in December. Now Gohic, is something different. It is a blend of Norton and Chambourcin that is aged in port barrels. The three of us really liked this wine. Amanda had the premium tasting. She tried the Reserve Vignoles, Cabernet Franc, Norton Reserve, and Fine Old Tawny Port. The Reserve Vignoles is an off-dry white wine that was really good. The Cabernet Franc is a dry red that was rich in flavors and felt very earthy; this wine was another that the three of us absolutely loved. The Norton Reserve another dry red had heavy notes of licorice.
Now, when Amanda got to the port, the bartender informed us how to properly taste this wine. First you take a sip and hold it on the front of your tongue. Follow by lifting the tip of your tongue to the top of your month so that the wine will drip over the sides of your tongue and mouth. Then wait to ensure the wine coats your whole mouth before finally swallowing. Doing this process enhances the flavors and complexities of the wine. So, the three of us took sips of Amanda’s Fine Old Tawny Port. We got hints of butterscotch and nutmeg. The bartender could tell we enjoyed the experience so poured us a helping of the Vintage Port to show us the differences. The bartender explained that the Tawny Port was more of a holiday port while the Vintage Port is more of a deep winter type of port. She then told us about their Ice Wine and how it was a true dessert wine. As she told us more about the Ice Wine, she pulled out a bottle for us to also taste. It really was just dessert in a bottle with flavors of apricot and honey.
After immensely enjoying our tasting experience, Michael and I decided instead of taking home one bottle of wine we’d take two: Gohic and Cabernet Franc. Amanda took home the same wines. As we jumped in the car to head to our final winery of the day, we discussed how we would rate this winery. In the end we decided to rate them in Tier A.
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