Discover Virginia Wine (The Monticello Wine Trail)

Monday October 25th, we were privileged to participate in the inaugural Virginia wide Taste Live twitter event, Discover Virginia Wine (The Monticello Wine Trail) tasting. Our good friend Dezel from @myvinespot and My Vine Spot organized and moderated the event. He invited me to participate at his house along with several other wine bloggers, all who have a better palate for wine then me: @grapevine4wine from The GrapeVine; @Alleigh from A Glass After Work; @SuzieLin from Runningwinegirl's Blog; and @elizabethdehoff from Crushworthy Wines. I learned from just listening to their commentary. Participants tweeted from all corners of the county, from the great northwest, to New York, south to Florida and regions in between. In Charlottesville, CBS 19 also broadcast the event after visiting some of the participating wines. And finally, throughout the evening, the great Virginian wine grape - Viognier - trending on twitter. Which is ironic in that at our table, the Keswick Vineyards 2009 Viognier was the least popular wine.

The tasting involved five wines from central Virginia. We started with theKluge Estate 2007 SP Rose, which I thought slightly off-dry; but my tasting partners corrected as completely dry. The sparkling wine is made in the traditional méthode Champenoise using estate grown 95% Chardonnay (95%) and Pinot Noir (5%) and aged on the lees for 21-24 months. The result is a complex wine, alot going on - plenty of sour cherry; I may have mistook fruit flavors for sweetness, but in general this is a nice sparkler. The only issue is the price; is it worth $25-$30; we shall see.

The aforementioned Keswick Vineyards 2009 Viognier followed and received mixed reviews. Some enjoyed it; others didn't - the presence of oak probably contributed to that outcome. I, along with Dezel, were the contrarians and enjoyed the wine, although I don't think its as good as many offered in the state. Keswick's winemaker, Stephen Barnard, crafts many wonderful wines, this just didn't seem to be his best.

Since our visit to Jefferson Vineyards over two years ago, we have been extremely impressed with Andy Reagan's wines. Normally we prefer his reds, but tonight we sampled his 2009 Reserve Chardonnay. The grapes were sourced from a few different vineyards, 30% were estate grown - harvested from 25 year old vines. The wine starts with a toasty nose, followed by a slight oak flavor ending with nice acidity in the tail. Not only did we think it was a fine wine, but it recently received a Gold Medal at the 2010 LodiWine Awards. Nicely done.

The next wine was a real surprise; the Afton Mountains 2009 Gewürztraminer. We didn't taste this wine on our recent visit to the winery, but it was a hit during the evening - surprising in that an off dry wine was praised by several wine "experts". Gewürztraminer can be translated into "Spice Traminer"or "Perfumed Traminer" so its not a surprise that this wine had a little spice flavor. About a third of the wine was aged in barrels that previously housed their eiswine style dessert wine. I think the acidity makes this wine - it tones down the sweetness and allows the fruit flavors to dominate.

We then moved on to reds, starting with Kirsty Harmon's Blenheim Vineyards 2009 Seven Oaks Merlot. Since becoming winemaker a couple years back - she is finally able to release her own vintages. Now, the first thing to know about this wine is don't fear the screw-cap as Blenheim is one of two Virginia wineries to use that enclosure device on all wines - red and whites. The second is this grapes are 100% Merlot harvested from the Seven Oaks Vineyard near Crozet. After fermentation, 50% of the wine is aged in stainless steel, the other half for 9 months in new French barrels. This is another nicely done wine; complex, but fruit forward and a smooth tail. Maybe Merlot is a Virginia grape.

The final wine for the evening was the Mountfair Vineyards 2008 Wooloomooloo. We had just visited Mountfair and were well aware of this wine. It is primarily Petit Verdot (60%), with Merlot (30%) and Cabernet Franc (10%) added to make this an interesting Bordeaux style wine. The wine is then aged 2 years before bottled and released. And "Wooloomooloo" - that's evidently a spirit that roams the Blue Ridge Mountains. Like any wine composed of Petit Verdot; this wine has some tannins - but the other grapes must contribute enough structure and fruit to tone these down. Regular readers know how much we prefer blends so its no surprise that this is one of my favorite wines tasted this year from Virginia.

Thanks Dezel, the participating wineries, and Taste Live for an entertaining evening.

Discover Virginia Wine (The Monticello Wine Trail)

I've checked in at Dezel's place getting ready for the Discover Virginia Wine (The Monticello Wine Trail) Taste Live tasting. The handles: these handles on twitter: #WW #ttl #vawine @keswickvineyard @benatmountfair @MfVvinotweets @th_jefferson @KlugeEstate @BlenheimWines @AftonMountain @vawine. The wines:

a) Kluge Estate 2007 SP Rosé

b) Afton Mountains 2009 Gewürztraminer

c) Keswick Vineyards 2009 Viognier

d) Jefferson Vineyards 2009 Reserve Chardonnay

e) Blenheim Vineyards 2009 Merlot

f) Mountfair Vineyards 2008 Wooloomooloo

Currently Drinking....

We haven't toured any wineries or breweries lately; instead, we've been clearing out our wine cellar. That means, drinking wine that we have purchased over the years and determining why we purchased it in the first place. Many were from our travels in Virginia. We had two bottles left from our friends at Corcoran Vineyards, their Viognier and Malbec. Both superb. In addition, there was Petit Verdot Veritas Vineyards and Jefferson Vineyards and White Hall Vineyards Petit Manseng from our Monticello WineTrail tour last year. We would purchase each again - no doubt - Petit Verdot is destined for Virginia's vineyards. We also had on hand the Valhalla Vineyards Alicante Bouschet. This grape is normally used in a blend in order to add color, but this winery choose to make a 100% varietal. And initially, we felt this was a poor decision - there didn't appear to be much flavor. But by the second day - the wine had breathed enough to come out of its shell - it turned into a decent wine - slightly spicy - similar to a Shiraz. In total - nice, but we prefer others. The last Virginia wine was a surprise, the Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery Perry- 75% Pear wine and 25% Mead. We were expecting an overly sweet dessert wine - but its actually made dry. The pear flavors take precedence with just a slight honey finish.

Of course we had to bleed through our Norton collection and found an abundance from Mount Pleasant Winery and Stone Hill Winery. These two Missouri wineries have mastered the art of eliminating the grape's inherent acidity and grapey flavor. The Mount Pleasant version was aged slightly longer so is a bit spicier and oak - but for Norton wines - these are perhaps the most consistent.

While traveling to Seven Springs we usually visit Glades Pike Winery - so there were several samples available. The Baco Noir was not very impressive and we are not sure what instigated the decision to purchase. The Diamond was good - we had to be in a sweeter mood - but this is perhaps the most drinkable labrusca grape. We also opened a bottle of their Mountain Mead - and although a little sweet - is a good honey wine. I also blended with Apple Jack made in North Garden for an interesting concoction - talking about keeping warm.

Finally we found a two wines that we should have bothered aging - we must have forgotten about them, but these wines are made to drink now: Marietta Cellars Old Vine Red Lot #44 and Gnarly Head Zinfandel. Sonoma's, Marietta Cellars wines are usually excellent and the Old Vine Red is an affordable everyday wine. The same holds for the Gnarly - there are others that have a better pedigree - but for the price - this is our Zin.

Jefferson Vineyards

From the moment the first colonist arrived in Jamestown, there has been a concerted effort to grow grapes in the new world - either from the English's desire to compete with France - or from the colonist's desire to reproduce life in the motherland. The early colonial governments encouraged planting vineyards by deeding property contingent on planting vines and even passing quotas on individual winemaking. The most famous colonial vintner was Thomas Jefferson who with the assistance of Italian winemaker Filippo Mazzei attempted to grow vinifera grapes around Monticello. Until then the only native grapes had been vinification on a consistant basis since they were generally resistant to disease and pests. Jefferson believed, correctly, that vinifera grapes were the future and hoped to "jump-start" the Virginian wine industry. He granted Mazzei over 2000 acres to plant grapes in addition to 50 acres adjoining Monticello on which Mazzei would build his home, Colle. Although never a farmer, Mazzei encouraged Jefferson's vision by declaring the land the most suitable for grape growing he had seen. However frost killed the initials year's crop and the Revolutionary War soon followed. Mazzei threw away his plow for a musket and the vineyard fell into disrepair. It was completely destroyed after Mazzei rented Colle to a captured Hessian officer. According to Jefferson, “Riedesel’s horses in one week destroyed the whole labor of three or four years; and thus ended an experiment which, from every appearance, would in a year or two more have established the practicability of that branch of culture in America." Event without Mazzei, Jefferson continued to experiment with vinifera vines - but not surprisingly - each effort failed. For without modern vineyard techniques - vinifera grapes would never succeed in this climate. By the turn of the 19th century, Jefferson did find success with the Alexander grape, a chance hybrid between an native labrusca and vinifera. By 1811 his vineyards had been replanted with 165 cuttings of Alexander and he apparently became accustomed to the grape's unique flavor. But no longer were vinifera vine grown around Monticello.

In 1981 the Woodward family decided to replicate Jefferson's vision and with the assistance of a young Gabrielle Rausse, they replanted the vinifera vineyards that Mazzei had first planted over two years earlier. Rausse, by the way, had successfully planted vineyards at Barboursville Vineyards a few years earlier and has been a regular consultant with other vineyards surrounding Charlottesville since. He also has his own brand, Gabriele Rausse Winery, available for purchase in several Charlottesville retail outlets. But back to Jefferson Vineyards, they have been making award winning wine since this first planting. A few years ago, they hired Andy Reagan to "jump-start" the winery, which had become a little stagnate in the preceding years. Reagan planned to use his experience in several East coast wineries (Benmarl Winery & Vineyard and Chrysalis Vineyards) to boost Jefferson wines to national and international class.

Andy met us in the tasting room and lead us on a short tour of the facilities. This is a small operation. They only have 20 acres of grapes planted and produce about 5,000 cases a year. Yet they produce a large portfolio of wines - and primarily the vinifera wines that Jefferson initially attempted. There was Chardonnay, Gewürztaminer, Pinot Gris, Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, and a Meritage blend. In fact Reagan even blends his "100%" varietals, adding just enough wine from other grapes to legally declare the wine a 100% varietal. Some may quibble with this approach, but it works. The wines were fantastic - the closest to Veritas that we had found since we had left that winery. The 2007 Viognier was excellent and a top medal winner. It includes a small percentage of Petit Manseng and Pinot Gris to add balance. The Reserve Chardonnay was also nice - aged sur lies and made from only the best grapes . I was aged in oak where the heads of the barrel were re-toasted; an interesting approach. This provided a slightly buttery finish - but the initial taste was refreshing and acidic. The reds were even more outstanding. The Reserve Cabernet Franc was the favorite of several in our party - it seemed to just melt in the mouth; for us the Merlot was awesome. Others preferred the Reserve Petit Verdot. Or maybe the Meritage. Basically they were all excellent wines - full bodied, oak aged - but still fruity; some had spicier tails, others more tannic; but all drinkable now. This was a fun round of drinking with almost everyone admiring the next sample - although there were a couple of dissenters... But for us, we will return - Jefferson would be satisfied.

Monticello Wine Trail Tour 2009

Last month, at a weekly wine tasting, several of us discussed the various wine regions in Virginia and which, as a region, were producing the finest wines in the state. We concluded that perhaps the Monticello area was sovereign, and to prove our hypothesis we planned a visit to the region. Our excursion was organized by Jim and Lori Corcoran - the proprietors and winemaker from Loudoun County's Corcoran Vineyards. The Corcorans make some of the best Cabernet Franc and Viognier in Loudoun County and they were looking forward to an exchange of ideas with other winemakers. Our party also consisted of other experienced wine professionals including Mary Watson-Delauder, a sommelier who graces the current cover of the Virginia Wine Lover Magazine; her husband Rick Delauder of Australia's Ballast Stone Estate Wines; wine writer Dezel Quillen from My Virginia Vine Spot; Michael Ching, a partner at The Winery of LaGrange; and a few other wine connoisseurs. Our destination was several of the top wineries surrounding Charlottesville: Veritas Vineyards, King Family Vineyards, White Hall Vineyards, Blenheim Vineyards, Jefferson Vineyards, and Keswick Vineyards.

In the upcoming weeks look for separate articles on each winery, but we have several general conclusions we'd like to share. Overall, our initial hypotheses was not validated. Whereas we did sample some tremendous wines, there was enough doubt among us to conclude that many wineries in northern Virginia make comparable wines. Instead, the trip exposed the potential in Virginia wines and introduced us to a new generation of young winemakers who are striving to produce world class wines. In most cases, the wine making was conducted by a young, educated winemaker - we are talking about winemakers in their 20s and 30s - who have both the experience and geographic background to add value to their products. At Veritas Vineyards, Emily Pelton has taken over the daily wine making chores from her father Andrew Hodson and is producing over a dozen still and sparkling wines that were first class. Kirsty Harmon (Blenheim Vineyards) is beginning to inject her experience working with Gabriele Rausse and in France and New Zealand to enhance the winery's portfolio. The same holds true for Stephen Barnard (Keswick Vineyards) who uses many techniques that he learned in his native South Africa to produce excellent wines. And Andy Reagan (Jefferson Vineyards) uses his background at several mid-Atlantic wineries to produce a portfolio of great Bordeaux-styled wines. Matthieu Finot, from King Family Vineyards, was not able to meet with us, but his credentials include working in his native France, as well as in Italy and South Africa. The future is definitely bright at these wineries. In addition, the quality in the wines made by the female winemakers lead many in our party to suggest that, in general, females are better winemakers than men. That's another interesting hypothesis we can discuss at a later date.




More importantly we saw the direction where these wineries want to lead Virginia in terms of wine grapes. In the past, many Virginia wineries have gambled on different varieties, hoping that they would elevate Virginia in the wine market. Some thought Norton, others Chardonnay. In the past few years many wineries thought Cabernet Franc. And over the weekend we tasted several excellent versions of this wine. Virginia wineries make excellent Cabernet Franc - but are they world class wines? We also discovered several excellent Merlot wines and learned from David King that it grows rather consistently from year to year in the state. Normally not pleased with Virginia grown Cabernet Sauvignon, we tasted a fabulous version aging in the barrel at Blenheim. We also sampled good Touriga and Petit Mensing at White Hall and Sauvignon Blanc at Veritas Vineyards. But, as good as all these wines tasted, two grapes clearly stood out, and we believe that these grapes have the best potential to elevate Virginia wines to world class status. We are referring to Viognier and Petit Verdot. The first is not surprising since many wineries have been producing excellent Viognier over the past decade. Interesting, this ancient grape was recently threatened with extinction for as late as 1965 there was only eight acres planted in Northern Rhône. Considering the history of the grape (it migrated to the Rhône region with the Romans) and how well it has rebounded, that would have been tragic. Particularly since it also produces excellent wines. Each winery we visited had a superb Viognier wine - regardless of style - that would hold their own against California and Rhône produced varietals. As for Petit Verdot, this grape is normally used in Bordeaux blends and is a relative newcomer in the state, yet almost each winery we visited choose to vinify it. And as a 100% varietal. The winemakers recognize the potential in the grape and believe that is very suitable for their climate. And in each instance, the wines were fabulous; full bodied with depth and tannins worthy for further aging. We have seen the future for Virginia....and its not Cabernet Franc, or Norton.

Finally, we listened to fabulous discussions on wine making. Stephen Barnard stressed how managing the vineyard was the single most important factor in making good wines. And in a later email exchange, Matthieu Finot reiterated that point. At Veritas Vineyards we tasted how the juice from the same grapes picked from the same lot produce different wine depending on when they were picked. At Blenheim Vineyards and Veritas Vineyards we compared the fruitiness of free run juice against more tannic juice from grapes pressed once or twice. We discussed blending, yeast, malolatic fermentation, racking, and several other principles involved in making wine. And we talked screw caps. Some wine makers wanted to convert their entire portfolio to this closure device in order to eliminate the cork taint caused by TCA, others only the whites. Nevertheless, all hesitate since the general public still associates screw caps with cheap wines. But they expect to release more wines closed with screw caps - at least white wines; but until the public's perception changes - keep the corkscrew handy.

This was the type of trip that every wine consumer should experience. Although we did get special access due to the Corcoran's association with the wineries, the average taster can plan a similar venture. Many wineries hold wine classes that explain their wines and are usually taught by the winery's winemaker. In other instances the winemaker assists in the tasting room, providing an excellent opportunity for interaction. Research before you travel - start at wine-compass.com, find wineries and events in your destination and drill into the winery's website. Contact the winery directly, the information is available; it just takes planning. Next up, Veritas Vineyards.