As part of a concerted effort to get out and sample more of our local, North Carolina wineries, we recently took a weekend trip and headed west into the Yadkin Valley, the center of North Carolina wine. We did visit a few producers right after moving to the state years ago, but COVID and a focus on the bigger, more well know wine regions of the world have taken precedence. This was an opportunity expand our knowledge of what our home state had to offer.
We started the trip on a major high point, which really came as no suprise. We had reviewed one wine from Raffaldini Vineyards several years ago as part of a webinar, and it was clearly the best North Carolina wine we had tried to that point. It still is really, but we’ll get to that in a bit. Based on that experience it was on our short list, and as the timing worked out it was first out of the gate.
When you approach Raffaldini you’ve been driving for a while on narrow country roads. The stone framed entrance
is inviting, and at the top of the rise you see the large, stone building that houses the winery and tasting room. It could be sitting on a hill in Tuscany, although the forested hillsides don’t quite match that vision, and there are not many Tuscan Cypresses to be found. Still, the impression is old school, Italian winery. That’s a pretty good way to start.
We met our host, Barbara Raffaldini, and settled in for a very informative, fun and tasty hour and a half with her, some members of the staff and winemaker Chris Nelson. After covering some of the history of the property we tasted through the current wines. Spoiler alert – they are impressive. But let’s start with the place, the philosophy and some of the reasons they are so good.
Raffaldini Vineyards is the dream and brainchild of Jay Raffaldini. He makes all the varietal selections and wine producing decisions with input from the winemaker Chris Nelson and vineyard manager Jason Krug. As we were talking and tasting the wines, the term “House of Tannins” came up in a few places. That is driven by Jay’s vision for what he wanted to achieve, red wines with significant tannic structure. It’s not 
necessarily an easy thing to do considering the climate and terroir of this corner of North Carolina, but ingenuity can make up for a lot. This wine making team knows what they are doing, is always experimenting and is willing to take a different direction when they think it is warranted. Grapes varietals have been planted and pulled as they’ve worked their way through options to find what works best here.
Jay is the majority owner of the winery. His wife Maureen is also an owner. Our host, Barbara Raffaldini, is Jay’s sister, and now the general counsel and general manager of the company as well as a part owner, working the operations side and keeping things on track. She’s the yin to Jay’s yang, working to keep the visionary from getting too far afield and within the bounds of running a successful business. It sounded a bit lke Walt and Roy Disney, albeit on a far smaller scale, a team with greatly complimentary
skills that form a successful partnership.
This is defintely a family business, and not just comprised of the immediate members of the Raffaldini clan. It was a quiet morning that day at the winery, rainy and raw with sleet also falling. We were the only ones there for a time, and many of the tasting room staff were around our group and joining in the conversation. You could tell from the interactions that eveyone here is treated like family. They were all friendly and welcoming. There’s a good vibe here.
Now let’s talk about the wines. Raffaldini has about 100 acres of land, with 28 of those currently under vine. They grow Sangiovese, Sagrantino, Montepulciano, Petite Verdot, Tannat, Vermentino and Trebbiano. In the past that list included Nebbiolo, which didn’t do well (what a shame as it is one of our favorite wine grapes), and Pinot Grigio, which also failed to produce wines to the level the winery demands. There will be new plantings of Greco di Tufo, Albarino, Garganega, Ribolla Gialla and others. As mentioned earlier, they are always expermimenting with new varietals and locations. The vineyards and winery are a laboratory aimed at producing the best possible wines from this land.
The friendly tasting room
Sangiovese, Sagrantino and Montepulciano are the workhorses here. Petite Verdot is used for blending, as is Tannat (although it does form a large percentage of some wines). With the reds, a technique borrowed from the Veneto region of Italy provides the extra advantage which makes these wines special, the appassimento method of wine making. If you like Amarone, then you’ve tried a wine made with this very old technique. In the traditional way, grapes are placed out in the sun on straw mats to allow the water to evaporate and the sugars to concentrate. At Raffaldini they can’t do it quite that way due to the climate, but large drying rooms, stacks of racks to hold the grapes and some industrial dehumidifiers do the trick. As the water evaporates the amount of wine they will produce diminishes, but it is worth it. The result is a richer, more concentrated wine with higher alcohol levels and tannins than you would expect to find in this area. These wines approach the quality level of the great wine regions of the world. Using this method is a major reason why. The amount of grapes which undergo the appassimento technique varies, but the percentage has been growing. It is working. Winemaker Chris Nelson is a big believer and after tasting the wines we are also.
Here are our thoughts on the wines we tried:
2022 Auguri: made in the traditional method, this sparkling wine undergoes its second fermentation in the same
bottle. The wine is a blend of Vermentino, Trebbiano and Sangiovese. The use of about 30% Sangiovese is interesting and different. It does not lend any color, as the juice is separated from the skins immediately, but it certainly brings some red fruit to the profile. It’s fresh and lively, clean through the end, with a nice finish of lemon. You do get just a hint of toast, although this does not spend a lot of time in the bottle with the lees. Think of it as a cross betwen Champagne and Prosecco. The quality is very high. We loved it. $29 at the winery. and a good value there.
2021 Vermentino Rovere: 50% of the juice here is aged in Acacia wood barrels. The wine has a lovely nose, rich
with fruit, including pineapple and tropical fruit, floral notes, clover and honey. It has a light straw color. At the end you get the oak, and it is complimentary and pleasing. A smooth wine, it is light bodied but does have some texture. We loved this as well. If you like lightly oaked Chardonnay you will really lke this wine. $28 and a very good value there.
2021 Sangiovese Classico: here we have a “Chianti in the Carolinas”, and it would be quite a feat to really pull off the same style and flavors as the original in this corner of North Carolina. Somehow they do. The nose is absolutely classic Chianti, with lean cherry, some orange peel and a touch of the new oak coming through. There are three different clones of Sangiovese in here, along with 10% Montepulciano and 5% Sagrantino. Oak aging lasts about 12 months. Medium bodied, the wine also has medium tannins and acid, all in balance. This is very pleasing. $32
2020 Mezzogiorno: “Mezzogiorno” means mid-day in Italian, and is also used to reference everything in the country south of Rome. This is not a traditional Italian blend, comprised of 47.5% Petite Verdot, 47.5% Tannat and 5% Montepulciano. The color is a medium dark ruby. It spent 3 years in large, 2500 liter casks. It brings berries and oak, medium+ tannins, lean fruit, some spice and black pepper. Body is also medium+ and the wine has good length at the finish. All around this is a very good wine. $27
2021 Montepulciano Riserva: This wine was made 75% in the appasimento method. The color is a medium
dark ruby, presenting a nose of berry fruit with just a touch of raisin, oak and an overall earthy presence. Full in body, this has beautiful fruit at the core, spice and orange peel. A very long finish caps off an excellent wine. $37 and good value there. Very delicious.
2021 Sagrantino: Traditional Sagrantino is a big, high alcohol and high acid wine that needs some time to smooth out. Raffaldini grows more Sagrantino than anyone on the east coast, and were the first to really cultivate it here. This wine does not approach the intensity of the Italian version, but it has red fruits, spice, medium+ body and a very, very long finish. Medium+ tannins are nicely integrated. Another really good wine. $39
2019 Patrimonio: this wine is a tribute to Jay and Barbara’s father, who unfortunately never had the chance to see the winery when it was in production. It is made in an old world style, and only in
superior years. The oak here is more aggressive than in any of the other reds, but it is not overdone and does not dominate. A blend of 50% Petite Verdot, 25% Sagrantino and 25% Montepulciano, it is complex with vanilla, red and black berries within the framing oak. It is elegant with medium tannins and just full bodied. Great balance and length complete the experience. This is excellent wine, period, no matter what your comparison point is. It would be excellent in a line up a top Italian wines. $105, so a bit pricey, but truly an outstanding wine.
2021 Grande Riserva: an older vintage of this was the wine we reviewed several years ago. It was a revelation back then, as the few local wineries we had visited made some good wines, and interesting ones as well considering
the growing season, climate and terroir available. They just didn’t match up to a top wine from Napa, or Tuscany, or Piemonte, or Mendoza, etc, etc. You wouldn’t expect that. So imagine our surprise when this North Carolina wine did match up to those comparisons. We didn’t know how, but now we do. The extensive use of the appassimento method, the attention to the terroir and what grows best here and a commitment to excellence make the difference. This particular vintage is a blend of Montepulciano, Petite Verdot and Sagrantino. It is 75% appassimento and sees 30% new oak. The nose just screams fruit, mostly berries, red and black. It is full bodied, very rich with that beautiful core of fruit which makes the great wines great. Medium tannins and a long finish cap it off. This is excellent and world class. Put it in a lineup of wines from Napa and Bolgheri and no one would bat an eye. The label hints at this a little, with a graphic of a bumble bee. The laws of physics say a bumble bee really shouldn’t be able to fly. As a corollary, you really shouldn’t be able to make wine this good in North Carolina. But they do. It’s $65 and worth every penny.
We had a wonderful visit to Raffaldini Vineyards. This place has history, family, a committment to excellence and lots of really good wine. Not just really good North Carolina wine, but really good wine period.
Most wines are just available at the winery, although they are starting to get more distribution.
Next time we’re in the area we’ll stop by to pick up a few more bottles of our favorites. If you are touring the Yadkin Valley and visiting some North Carolina wineries, we suggest you add Raffaldini to the list, somewhere near the top.
You can learn much more about Raffaldini Vineyards from their website: https://www.raffaldini.com/.
There are many wineries in this area, and we have to get back soon to continue our exploration.
A votre santé!
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