Playing along with its location's
mythical ties,
Vampire is a
vineyard in
Romania--most specifically
Transylvania. They advertise with the slogan "Vampire Vinyards: The Taste of Immortality". Their website talks about the Transylvanian history of wine, saying that Transylvania has a long history (as in 400 B.C. long) of winemaking and grew famous for that long before vampire legends came into being. Apparently, in the first century, the order was given to destroy the vinyards to prevent invasions from enemy
nations, but some survived, as well as those who still knew the old
wine secrets.
In modern times "
the blood of the vine" has been rediscovered and is made with old lines of
grapes from the old secret techniques.
Vampire has five wines, which get amazing reviews for their price. Online, no bottle is more than 8 dollars each. Store prices vary.
Cabernet Sauvignon: RED: berry flavors with a touch of oak.
Chardonnay: WHITE : tropical fruit and apple flavors, crisp with a creamy texture
Merlot: RED : plum and cherry overtones and a hint of spices.
Pinot Noir: RED : cherry flavored and gentle.
Pinot Grigio: WHITE : soft peach and melon tastes with clean herbal overtones.
They own both www.vampirewine.com and www.vampire.com
The site gives gives information about the vinyards, their wines and the wines of partner vinyards across the world. The site is a trendy red and black look targeted at a newer generation more concered with the "vampire" part of the name instead of the "vinyards" section. Aside from wine information, it touts some of their other products such as the Vamp energy drink, Dracola, and Dracula supernatural energy drink. They also sell other accessories such as wine glasses, corkscrews, tee-shirts and yes, even Vampire condoms.
The merlot is the only Vampire wine I've personally tasted, but it's one of my favorite wines of all times. It has a delicious flavor with no bitter aftertaste, and it's rich and warm without being overbearing and too heavy. A friend had bought a bottle for my 21st birthday, and out of all the wines I tried during celebrations, this was by far my favorite even though it was by far the least expensive bottle there. She bought the bottle the first time as a joke since it was "vampire" wine and that sort of thing is an ongoing joke among our friends, but has continued to buy it because she thinks it's one of the best wines she's ever tried as well. I haven't managed to find it in West Lafayette yet, but it turns up in odd places--she bought it in a family run grocery store in Houston--and is always available online with a 2 bottle order.