Re-discovering Oakencroft Farm & Winery

After perhaps a 15-year hiatus we finally returned to the 250-acre Oakencroft Farm & Winery as the winery has re-opened and still making wine from some of the oldest vines in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The property is located just outside of Charlottesville and is a relaxing destination with estate and other wines available for purchase along with spreads and charcuterie. The winery first opened in the early 1980s under the ownership of Felicia and John Rogan -- who are considered one of the founding families of the modern Virginia wine industry. The winery closed in 2008 when Mrs. Rogan retired after 25 years in the industry. Over that period she worked with viticulturist  Lucy Morton to transform the Rogan farm into a Vineyard and Winery.  And most importantly, she spearheaded the effort to establish the Monticello AVA, started the Jeffersonian Grape Growers Society, and was chairwoman of the Virginia Wine Growers Advisory Board for a several years.  

Even though Oakencroft Vineyard and Winery had officially closed, the farm continued to operate and the original grape vines were maintained.  A decade later Dorothy Batten purchased the farm and championed many of the sustainable practices currently implemented. One practice is the continued use of hybrid grapes (Seyval Blanc, Vidal Blanc, Chambourcin, De Chaunac, and Merlot Kanthus) which provides broader genetic diversity and requires less pesticides and other chemicals. Former winemaker Phil Ponton spent 40 years maintaining the estate's vines and still shares his wisdom with current Farm Manager Logan Collins. This wisdom included combatting pests by using an integrated pest management system of beneficial plants, animals and insects as well as compost to reduce chemical sprays and industrial fertilizers. Jessica Trapeni is the current winemaker and came to Oakencroft after completing the UC Davis Winemaking Certification program and working at Virginia Wineworks where she was both Lab Manager and Production Manager. 

During our visit we dabbled into two of their estate releases, their 2021 Albemarle County White Wine and 2020 Albemarle County Red Wine. Both were very pleasant expressions of Seyval and Chambourcin and easily pass as more traditional vinifera wines. The Seyval Blanc was fermented under cool temperatures and on its lees, which both preserved the fruit characters and added texture to the body. Lots of racy acidity and minerality. Production of the red wine was more complicated as it is a blend of 64% Chambourcin co-fermented with 11% Vidal Blanc, and the remaining 25% a combination of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine also has bright acidity and ripe cherries leading to very approachable tannins and a long finish. An easy sipper with charcuterie.

The winery also offers several Virginia and international wines and ciders. On our next trip I would be interested in sipping the White Wine next to an Austrian Gruner Veltliner and the Red Wine with a Provence red. 

Finally, the Monticello Wine Week runs from April 26th to May 3rd. Check the Monticello Wine Trail for specific events. 

Discovering Sake at North American Sake Brewery

For the 15+ years I've been operating WineCompass I've visited close to 700 craft beverage establishments, but last month for the first time I visited a sake producer, Charlottesville's North American Sake Brewery.  This brewery was founded in 2016 by Jeremy Goldstein and Andrew Centofante who both experienced different paths toward an appreciation of Japanese culture, and more specifically, toward sommelier-approved sake. Eventually after becoming certified Sake Professionals, home-brewing sake, and visiting numerous sake producers in the U.S. and Japan, they opened North American Sake Brewery on August 25th, 2018, at their current location in the IX Art Park. 

The brewery's sake is made using rice sourced from American farms. This rice is first steamed to soften and gelatinize the grain and then Koji mold is introduced to break down the rice starches into sugars. After a couple of days, the mash is then moved to fermenting tanks and assisted with the freshest water from the Blue Ridge Mountains, cold fermented until an abv between 15-20% is reached.  At this point, the sake is filtered to achieve a "crystal clear sake or cloudy hazy sake".

Both of these styles of sake were available during our visit and among our flight of four. The first sake was the Real Magic Junmai Craft Sake (15%). Junmai translates to "pure rice" and is a standard that signifies that the sake was made from just four ingredients: rice, water, yeast, and koji mold. The rice in the Real Magic was milled to 70% and provides clear pear and apple notes. Very approachable. The second sample was the Serenity Now! Junmai Daiginjo Craft Sake (15%). In order to be classified as daiginjo a minimum of 50% of the outer rice layers must be polished away -- signifying a premium sake. The Serenity Now! is a textured sake, highly aromatic where the rice character shines. The Big Baby Cloudy Style Craft Sake (16%) was the only unfiltered sake in the flight and showed significant textured banana notes as the tasting menu suggested. Finally, the Quiet Giant Extra Dry - Karakuchi Genshu (18.5%) was fermented longer and under colder conditions to completely ferment the sugars producing an extremely dry sake with higher alcohol. The latter is barely noticeable and this sake is very approachable with some earthy character. 

We will definitely make the North American Sake Brewery a regular visit when in Charlottesville, at the very least to continue our foray into this beverage. Cheers. 乾杯

Virginia Wine Month Along U.S. Route 29

October was Virginia Wine Month and we were able to visit a few wineries while traveling along U.S. Route 29 to and from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Known as the Seminole Trail or "29th Infantry Division Memorial Highway", this well-traveled road runs from the Tarheel state through Virginia and intersects several popular wine regions within the Commonwealth. These wine trails include the Fauquier County Wine Trail, Monticello Wine Trail, Jefferson Heritage Trail, and SoVA Wine Trail.  theCompass Craft Beverage Finder can guide you to these destinations with the wineries we visited listed south to north.

Lazy Days Winery
This winery is located in Amherst County right off the highway and resides just a few miles south of Rebec offers ten wines all from 100% estate grapes.  Starting with dry wines, the Chardonnay Reserve 2014 ($20) is just slightly oaked -- providing light butter and texture and a bottle came home. I also purchased the friendly Sweet Lazy Red ($20), a well made off-dry wine that is a blend of Chambourcin and Petit Manseng.  It's sibling, the Sweet Lazy White ($18) is a festival favorite being 2.5% r.s. but plenty of acidity from the majority Petit Manseng and Vidal Blanc grapes. And for dry reds, try the 2013 Petit Verdot ($22).

Rebec Vineyards
This winery resides just a few miles north of Lazy Days and for history enthusiasts, the family home, Mountainview, is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and as a Virginia Landmark. Winemaker Svetlozar Kanev is a native Bulgarian and his signature wine is the Sweet Sofia ($19) - an herb-infused based on a Bulgarian recipe.  Its worth bring a bottle home to experiment with various food or situational pairings. The remaining portfolio is quite extensive encompassing dry to sweet wines using grapes and other fruit. The dry reds are well made and tasty - particularly the Pinot Noir ($26), Cabernet Franc ($24), and Landmark Reserve Sangiovese ($30). Other visitors raved about the semi-dry Riesling ($20) but I preferred the Gewurtztraminer ($23), Chardonnay ($20), and Viognier ($20). These three were very representative of the specific grape varieties and, with the Sweet Sofia, are resting in our cellar.

Brent Manor Vineyards
This is a relatively new winery situated south of Charlottesville and north of Lovingston -- right off the highway in Faber. The winery reflects the Portuguese heritage of owner Jorge Raposo. They even offer several Portuguese wines for sale but for our purposes, we are covering their Virginia made wines.  These wines are made from a combination of French hybrid and vinifera grapes and take my word - do not discount the hybrids. The 2017 Brent Manor Vidal Blanc ($17) is full of grapefruit and melon flavors plus refreshing acids - a solid wine. Similarly, the 2016 Chambourcin Reserve ($29) is full-bodied, with slight spice and leather and the reason for our visit. The representative from Lazy Days had mentioned that it was the best Chambourcin in the Commonwealth and he may be correct.  Another solid and refreshing wine is their 2015 Rosado Virginia Rose Wine ($19) - a blend of Cabernet Franc, Chambourcin, and Viognier.  More raspberry than strawberry for this one.  In order to stay true to Portugal, Brent Manor produces a couple Port styled wines and take a look at the 2018 Vihno Abafado Branco ($29) made from a Petit Manseng base and fortified with neutral grape spirits. The nuts, vanilla, and acidity kill it.

Montifalco Vineyard
Since we were traveling North, Raposo suggested this new endeavor located in Advance Mills, just off Route 29 between Ruckersville and the Charlottesville Airport. The winery's name Montifalco is a play on the Monticello AVA and owner Justin Falco's family name. The estate vineyard is planted with an interesting mix of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Rkatsiteli, and Saperavi - the latter two originating from cuttings from Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars and perhaps available next year. At the top of the tasting sheet is the white Bordeaux 2018 Montifalco Blanc ($22) and the 2017 Montifalco Barrel Reserve Chardonnay ($25). Both are excellent wines, spot on and flavor profiles and I couldn't leave without a bottle of each. The 2018 Montifalco Cabernet Franc ($23)  and 2016 Montifalco Meritage ($35) were also solid wines particularly for the Cabernet Franc considering rain-soaked 2018 was a horrible grape season. Thus, this is a lighter-bodied wine but with enough cherries and acidity to make it interesting. In contrast, the Meritage -- made from all five Bordeaux red grapes -- is full-bodied, juicy, textured, a little dirty, with firm grippy tannins.

#VABreweryChallenge #19 Charlottesville's South Street Brewery

Looking for good food and a good sour (after all I am moving to the sour side), Charlottesville's South Street Brewery was a fitting stop on our #VABreweryChallenge. And why not? The brewery is owned and operated by Mandi and Taylor Smack of Blue Mountain Brewery fame, who purchased their old employer (Taylor was the brewer from late 2001 until early 2007) last year. Located adjacent to the Downtown Mall, the brewpub provides a broad portfolio of beer options including the Slippery When Wit. This Gose\Witbier hybrid was both tart and spicy - combining the pleasant characteristics of both styles. Quite good. I also enjoyed the El Jefe wheat beer and for dessert the chocolatey and heavy Anastasia's Chocolate Fantasy. This is one powerful beer. Of the lagers, the Classic Lager was pale and refreshing whereas the Virginia Lager was more malt forward in an amber ale style. We preferred the Classic. The food was also enjoyable (Pot Roast Grilled Cheese), particularly paired with a Virginia wine, in which they have several on the menu. The Pollak Vineyards Viognier was a favorite with our group. Our group was sad to leave, but fortunately the next day I found the Slippery When Wit in the can. Happy days. Cheers and safe travels while using theCompass Winery, Brewery, Distillery Locator Mobile App.

Three Keswick Vineyards Viogniers for #VAWineChat

Last week we were invited to participate in the monthly twitter tasting #VAWineChat, feauring a trio of 2012 Viognier from Keswick Vineyards.The winery is situated due east of Charlottesville and with 16 acres,  has one of the state's largest planting of Viognier - perhaps the largest.  The three wines were produced from 100% estate fruit and are 100% single varietal. 2012 was a typical growing year for Virginia and winemaker Stephen Barnard also explained that they "backed off on ripeness for racy lower alcohol wines". In the winery, Barnard believes that neutral oak gives the palate some lift and  enhances the texture and using a small percentage of new oak adds to complexity.


We started off the tasting with the 2012 Viognier ($24, 13.5% abv), where 70% of the juice was tank fermented, the other 30% fermented in neutral. The fermented juice then maturated for 6 months on lees.  The result is an assertive fruity wine with a mouthful of citrus cream followed by a clean, refreshingly acidic finish. A rather nice start to the evening.

Next was the 2012 Reserve Viognier ($27.95, 14.2% abv) , where the juice was whole cluster pressed and then fermented wholly in neutral barrels.   This wine possesses more of the peach & apricot notes usually associated with Virginia Viognier as well as more oak creaminess with hints of coconut on the nose. There's a bit of white pepper as well, which initially threw me off, but as the wine breathed, integrated nicely into the overall sensation.


The final Viognier was the 2012 Signature Series Viognier ($34.95, abv), a bold project where the juice was whole cluster pressed and racked straight to barrel without being inoculated with custom yeast strains or primed with sulpher. The hardest part for Barnard was waiting for the various yeast strains moving about the winery to begin fermenting the juice. These yeast strains could be natural strains that exist in all around us or perhaps commercial yeast that is still floating in the winery. 30% of the oak used in fermentation and aging was new French oak; thus the resulting wine is heavier than the other two with more of a toasted vanilla and honey character. The finish is still citrusy with plenty of balancing acidity - definitely the best of the bunch.

The Keswick wines showed why Viognier has great potential to be the Commonwealth's signature grape. If only the grape was not so finicky in the vineyard, more wineries could participate in the Virginia Viognier movement. But cheers to those who do, particularly Keswick Vineyards. Pair with Charlottesville based rock band Sons of Bill and Green PA Broadleaf cigars from Cigar Volante.