BNA Wine Group

I can’t believe I missed two weeks of posting and am writing this post later than usual. I vowed I would not miss another week so I took a few hours off from work. It’s been a hectic and somewhat infuriating two weeks and now I’m taking back my life!

One thing I am truly looking forward to is “springing forward” this weekend. Longer daylight hours in the evening mean wonderful evenings sitting on the front porch, sipping wine, enjoying the surrounding woods and sounds of the country. Before the mosquitos find us that is, but no worries, we’re very close to finishing the wine lounge which will provide a cool retreat from hot humid evenings and free of flying insects. I can see it now, my husband will come home in the evening and will have to decide where to enjoy our evening; will it be the front porch, the wine lounge or just relaxing on the couch? I only see the last option occurring sometime after 8:30 when we’ve completed dinner and it’s time to wind down. I do know one thing that will be a common theme, more 2012 Nanna’s Short Cake Zinfandel from BNA Wine Group.

This wine was like running through a warm summer berry patch. Blackberry, raspberry and blueberry on the nose. Fruit forward ripe juicy dark berries, with peppery and perfumed spice finish.

APPELLATION: Lodi, CA.
WINEMAKER: Tony Leonardini
VINTAGE: 2012
VARIETAL: Zinfandel
ALCOHOL: 14.9%
SRP: $17.50

I first learned of the BNA Wine Group while reading Chelsea Prince’s Rock and Vine, Next Generation Changemakers in America’s Wine Country, click here to read the post. Curious about the wineries I began looking many of them up online. Some were well out of my price range, others had long wait lists just to be part of the mailing list but BNA had affordable wines available to me as soon as I entered my info.

Established in 2010 and headquartered in Nashville, TN the winery is led by winemaker Tony Leonardini, John Hooper and Gary Carr. Tony’s relationship with Tennessee came with the bottling of his first wine, Volunteer. Soon after bottling Tony received several pallet orders which seemed to be selling off the shelf in the Volunteer State. From there Tony partnered with Hooper and Carr taking the Nashville airport code, BNA, solidifying the group’s roots in Tennessee. Although the business end is well established in Tennessee, the majority of grapes are sourced from in Napa and Tony, as the winemaker, holds a satellite office in St. Helena.

The return of Daylight Savings Time reminds me of long sunny days from my youth. I grew up in Florida where during fall and winter months locals stayed away from the beach and all things touristy. Snow birds clogged the beaches and roadways. The time change signaled a migration where locals could regain use of the roads, teens and families headed to the beach on weekends and from age seven to twelve those sunshine filled times were spent with my best friend, riding our bikes, swimming in each other’s pools, having picnics by the river and staying out as long as we could, which meant we just had to be home by the time the street lights came on. I miss those long fun filled days and I hope this summer to recapture some of those times and make new summer memories in my Georgia home.

Well I had the best intention of posting this on time but with the delay I was able to find several more wines by BNA and several others covered in Rock and Vine, Next Generation Changemakers in America’s Wine Country. Looking forward to giving them a try and you know I’ll tell you all about them right here.