Homage to Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Wines Come of Age

[James Roscoe]

We've long admired Linden's whites, including the '99 hardscrabble cited in the article, plus he makes an impressive dessert wine. Barboursville '04 Cab Fran is exceptional, and their nebbiolo is very good. Naked Mountain - not mentioned in the article - can also make terrific chardonnay in good years, which improves for several years. We've had an impressive natural yeast chardonnay from Piedmont in the past year, though overpriced. Chrysalis and Norton have not been impressive, in my experience, though I know Norton has a loyal constitutency. We've also had surpisingly decent pinot Noir from Afton.

Jim Law seems to be the most inspired and artisinal winemaker, and he has a great business model (he is also a former Peace Corps Volunteer); Barboursville has the most professional organizational approach. Quality and consistency around the state generally, though, is still at an early stage, IMHO.

Ian, your comments are right on the money. I like the Norton, but I find the Chrysalis to be uneven. I tend to favor the Horton. Barboursville is probably the model most wineries should follow. It's a very professional outfit (of course there is some cash there) and I think there are some others such as Prince Michel that are following in their footsteps. I think that the foothills of Virginia, and in fact the entire Blue Ridge, hold a lot of promise. It's exciting to be in the area at the beginning.

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Ian, your comments are right on the money. I like the Norton, but I find the Chrysalis to be uneven. I tend to favor the Horton. Barboursville is probably the model most wineries should follow. It's a very professional outfit (of course there is some cash there) and I think there are some others such as Prince Michel that are following in their footsteps. I think that the foothills of Virginia, and in fact the entire Blue Ridge, hold a lot of promise. It's exciting to be in the area at the beginning.

James:

I've only been to Horton once, and the place had a very winning personality, but so many different wines to taste that no one individual wine made a clear impression. I particularly wanted to taste an old Norton, but failed to get my hands on one.

Barboursville is owned by a large Italian wine producing combine, I believe, which financed the operation for a long time, though it is now self-supporting. An operation on their scale would be beyond the means of most start-up producers, and I think Law's model is more applicable, though you would need to have his lovely scenery to make it work (to say nothing of his winemaking skill).

Whitehall also has a good rep, but, again, my own experience with them has failed to inspire. Prince Michel is kitchy, but they feature one single vintage merlot grown on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay that is pretty good. Afton has great charm and good sincerity, as they say in the movie Tampopo, with a terrific location and commitment to natural wine making, without irrigation.

I've visited a fair number of other VA wineries run by wonderful people whose wines just didn't grab me. There is something to be said for driving through the countryside, though, drinking wines while gazing upon the vines their grapes grew on. And the mountains are beautiful.

Cheers.

[James Roscoe]

Prince Michel is kichy, but they have some good whites and I am a fan of their cab franc. I agree that a few days in the Blue Ridge drinking even mediocre wine is not a bad way to spend a weekend. You can find some jewels out there. Most of it rises well above mediocre thank goodness.

Cheers to that!

Visited the following VA wineries this past Saturday, as mentioned earlier in this thread:

Piedmont Cellars: The wines were the same as I recalled them being back in September when I was there - hideous. Almost undrinkable. The rose was the only one that was bearable, all the others evoked descriptions like soapy, nail polish, depressed, skunk, burnt rubber, urine, and bile. There were 20 of us tasting, and not a single person was able to find anything redeemable about the wines.

Chrysallis:As I experienced the last time I was here, I found their wines to be pleasant enough and split a mixed case with a friend. I don't have my notes on the individual varieties, but I recall enjoying the Reserve Chardonnay, the Reserve Norton, the riesling, and the "Patio" wines, red and white (perfect for sangria). However, I would definitely say that these are not QPR wines, and I kind of regret spending what I did when I probably could have found something comparable for much less.

Swedenburg: Nothing offensive, yet nothing too noteworthy here. The pinot noir was pleasantly burgundian, and I would purchase that. Also noted what I thought was petrol in the chardonnay, but may have been somewhat skunky? I've noticed skunk in several of the VA wines, but not necessarily in a bad way, does anyone know what I mean?

Winery at La Grange: We were able to take a nice little tour of this facility, which I really enjoyed. Chris Pearmond is in the process of helping to expand this facility, which is already quite atmospheric. Lots of brand new baby vines just planted that won't be ready to fruit for 4 years or so, though. I really enjoyed some of the wines here, although it must be said that it was the last stop on the tour so my perceptions may have been diluted. My notes indicate that I would consider purchasing the chardonnay, viogner, vidal blanc, norton, cab franc, merlot, claret and meritage (wow...I never realized how "easy" I am after a full day of wine!). However there's the QPR factor at play again, and I'm glad I didn't. The Meritage and Cab Franc stood out for me for some reason, and the claret was amazingly animaly/gamey with earthy undertones.

Overall I think Virginia has quite a few hurdles to jump if they hope to compete globally, but according to Chris at La Grange, they're starting to pull their act together and he hopes to see some changes soon...