Virginia Is for Wine Lovers — Here is The place to Go and What to Drink

If somebody shouted “Virginia” in the midst of a word-association recreation, “effective wine” may not be your first response. Even a number of the state’s winemakers confessed to me that that they had, up to now, discovered many Virginian wines forgettable — or, in some instances, undrinkable. Oh, how instances have modified. 

Being an underestimated wine area for therefore a few years has turned out to be one in all Virginia’s superpowers. If all eyes have been targeted on Napa Valley or the Bordeaux area of France, Virginia’s wines land someplace within the center, geographically and stylistically. Younger winemakers, particularly, have been increasing their information and abilities and creating an identification discovered solely there. 

The trade’s development is astounding: within the mid Nineties, there have been about 50 wineries in Virginia; there at the moment are round 300, with greater than 4,000 acres underneath cultivation. Wine contributes greater than $1.7 billion to the state’s economic system, not solely from gross sales but additionally from customer experiences at wineries, motels, and eating places. I needed to seek out out if the Virginia wine story was about extra than simply amount. Everyone knows the slogan “Virginia Is for Lovers.” However is it for wine lovers? 

Each wine journey wants a house base, and for the primary leg of my journey, mine was Salamander Middleburg, lower than 50 miles west of Washington, D.C. Middleburg is not only wine nation; it’s additionally the guts of Virginia’s equestrian tradition, and Salamander— stately and chic, with a patina of outdated cash — is a hymn to all issues equine. The partitions are lined with on-theme art work, and company can journey horses from the absolutely geared up stables. As riders strutted via the foyer in beautiful gear, I couldn’t assist questioning: Have I been transported to a Ralph Lauren vogue present?

However you don’t have to be a member of the horsey set to take pleasure in a keep at Salamander. There’s a fitness center, a spa, bikes obtainable to borrow — and a whole wine area in your doorstep to discover.

I started my journey nearly a mile down the street at Boxwood Property Vineyard. John Kent Cooke, former proprietor and president of Washington, D.C.’s NFL group, has all the time had a love for Bordeaux, so at his property, 26 acres are planted with Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and different Bordelais varieties. In partnership with French wine marketing consultant Stéphane Derenoncourt, the Boxwood group has created a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, in addition to its regionally identified Topiary mix of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot — all varieties that specific the terroir of Virginia.

French wine making was a recurring theme throughout my tastings. “White Burgundy is my go-to,” stated Jim Legislation, founding father of Linden Vineyards. A 35-minute drive west of Middleburg, this vineyard is famend for its single-vineyard bottlings of Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Bordeaux-style blends. 

Legislation’s identify stored popping up in dialog with winemakers, and I quickly realized it’s as a result of he’s thought of one in all Virginia’s most influential winemakers. He’s identified for experimentation — testing new varieties and planting vines in numerous soils or on various slopes. After I arrived in mid-September, Legislation and his group had been within the thick of it: grapes had been being harvested, and time is valuable when the fruit is able to be picked.

Linden shouldn’t be a smooth and glamorous vineyard, and that’s how Legislation likes it. Initially from Ohio, he’s targeted on the grit of farming and, in his phrases, “understanding the persona and nuance” of every of the hills he grows on. He additionally admits to being “emotionally hooked up” to his fruit. That keenness was detectable within the glass of Linden Hardscrabble Chardonnay I tasted later in my journey: I may sense the Burgundian affect within the balanced flavors, however this was no imitation. It was an expression of the steep rocky slopes and granite soils of Hardscrabble, one in all Linden’s three vineyards. 

Past his personal vines, Legislation praised the range and experimental nature of Virginia wine making as a complete. There may be room for everybody to do their very own factor, he advised me. 

Rutger de Vink, a Legislation protégé, is one other winemaker who’s steadfast in his personal follow. After years of looking, de Vink, a former Marine, discovered the best spot to develop grapes: on a former cattle farm within the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He laughed heartily when he shared {that a} farmer had teased him for “shopping for a pile of goddamn rocks.” 

Apparently, de Vink discovered the equal of wine-making gold in these rocks, as a result of, in June, his RdV Vineyards introduced that it had been acquired by Eutopia Estates, the venerable French firm owned by the Bouygues household. Its holdings embrace Château Montrose and Château Tronquoy in Bordeaux. The winery’s new identify, Misplaced Mountain, pays homage to its location on a historic mound the place George Washington surveyed what we now know because the Blue Ridge Mountains. (Misplaced Mountain was additionally the identify of RdV’s flagship wine.)

The identify might have modified, however the rocky land stays the guts and soul of the wine, giving it the character and gravitas essential to carry de Vink’s imaginative and prescient of making an “American Grand Cru” to fruition. At present, the Misplaced Mountain classic has a loyal following: there’s a two-year look forward to its $225-a-bottle mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot. 

After including myself to the record, I made a decision to guide a tour and tasting on the vineyard, the place sommelier Karl Kuhn and founding winemaker Joshua Grainer can usually be discovered sharing their information with company. “We don’t want folks to come back via the door, however we wish to share the expertise,” stated Grainer, who can be a Grasp of Wine, as designated by the Institute of Masters of Wine within the U.Ok. (Solely 416 folks on the planet have this title, which is taken into account to be one of many highest distinctions within the trade.)

After I arrived at my subsequent cease, Early Mountain Vineyards, in Madison, simply outdoors Shenandoah Nationwide Park, I noticed a various group of diners, together with a feisty quartet of senior residents, a mother on the deck with a child in a stroller and a canine at her ft, and a bunch of associates having fun with lunch. Attracting guests past the wine making is a part of the purpose: there’s a full-service restaurant and a sturdy occasions area. With greater than 55 acres, founder Jean Case, a former AOL government and philanthropist, didn’t play it secure when she determined to open Early Mountain. 

Trying on the wine record, I used to be shocked by the variety of grapes Early Mountain works with: I counted 11. The state has some geological benefits that make it a hospitable panorama for a seemingly countless parade of grapes: its vast number of soils, similar to limestone, sandstone, and granite, every impart completely different taste profiles. 

“Mountainside vineyards are key to the standard of Virginia wines as a result of they’re well-draining and supply good airflow,” Early Mountain winemaker Maya Hood White advised me. Her Quaker Run Cabernet Franc 2020 is an ideal instance. It has a grace and traditional type paying homage to Chinon — Cabernet Franc from France’s Loire Valley — however with a contact of New World lushness and vivacity.

The final individual I anticipated to fulfill throughout my journey was a winemaker who hailed from Piedmont, within the mountains of northern Italy — residence of the long-lasting Barolo. Though his household has a historical past within the trade, Luca Paschina needed to pursue the craft his method, and at Barboursville Vineyards, in Virginia’s personal Piedmont area, 30 minutes northeast of Charlottesville, he discovered the right place to do it. The vineyard is owned by the Zonin household, identified for estates all through Italy. Paschina brings a mix of Outdated World and New World flavors to the Virginia scene, in tandem with the Zonins’ mutual enthusiasm for cutting-edge wine making.

Paschina’s roots are additionally revealed within the Barboursville portfolio. He makes a chic Vermentino, a Nebbiolo, and Paxxito, a candy wine within the “Passito” type, from air-dried Moscato Ottonel and Vidal grapes. For the whole Barboursville expertise, guests can guide a room at its quaint 1804 Inn and pair the wines with the handmade pastas at its Palladio Restaurant. 

Barboursville is the vineyard the place I most strongly felt the richness and complexity of Virginia’s historical past. The ruins of a constructing designed by founding father Thomas Jefferson stay on the property, and a portrait of him hangs within the barrel room. As a descendant of enslaved folks, my emotions on Jefferson, a well-documented enslaver of human beings from Africa, are difficult — to place it mildly. I’m certain he may by no means have imagined that somebody like me would sooner or later be concerned in sharing the great thing about wine. However I share his love of the fermented grape and may’t ignore the numerous function he performed within the state’s wine-making historical past. 

Jefferson established two vineyards on his Monticello property and cofounded Virginia’s first industrial wine firm. Adjoining to the portrait, a placard reads: “We may, in america, make as nice a wide range of wines as are made in Europe, not precisely of the identical type however probably nearly as good.” 

I left Barboursville with my abdomen stuffed with house-made pasta and pink wine, and my mind abuzz from every little thing I had realized. When my automotive pulled as much as Keswick Corridor, an opulent resort simply 25 minutes from Barboursville, I felt on the spot reduction.

Constructed in 1912, Keswick Corridor has had many lives: a non-public residence, a rustic membership (with an 18-hole golf course designed by Pete Dye), and a lodge designed by the husband of the floral-print queen, Laura Ashley. Acquired in 2017 by Molly and Robert Hardie, co-chairs of the household funding firm H7 Holdings, this grand manor reopened in 2021 following a multimillion-dollar renovation. A brand new wing that was added to the present Italianate construction elevated the room depend to 80. On Keswick’s plush Duxiana mattress and Frette linens, I slept as if I didn’t have a care on the planet. (The enjoyable Rose Diamond Radiance Facial at Keswick’s spa added to my zen mind-set, too.)

Keswick’s restaurant is Marigold by Jean-Georges, created by none apart from Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The spacious eating room combines rustic woodwork and glass with gorgeous views, and the menu places a inventive spin on acquainted dishes: pizza with black truffles and roasted cauliflower seasoned with turmeric tahini and pistachio. However the wine record is what stands out. Whereas it’s far-reaching, there are a number of key choices from Virginia, together with — lastly — Linden Winery’s Hardscrabble Chardonnay. I had been impatient to style it since assembly Legislation, and it was nicely definitely worth the wait. The wine was balanced and minerally, crisp and juicy, with a lingering end.

The final day of my quick and intense dive into the Virginia wine scene began with a go to to Michael Shaps Wineworks, in Charlottesville. A local New Yorker, Shaps backs his endearing swagger with stellar wine-making credentials. Whereas a lot of Virginia’s winemakers are enthusiastic about Burgundy, Shaps ups the ante: he studied wine making in that area and owns a vineyard, Maison Shaps, in Meursault, France. Along with crafting Virginia wines from the acquainted Chardonnay, Viognier, and Merlot, Shaps is continually innovating. Raisin d’Être, his cheekily named candy wine, is made out of grapes dried in repurposed tobacco barns. And he’s enthusiastic about Petit Manseng, a white grape from southwestern France that he describes as “bulletproof” within the winery. His Petit Manseng has flavors of grilled pineapple and mango.

I ventured west of Charlottesville to Veritas, within the city of Afton. There’s no different approach to put it: on a balmy Friday afternoon, the joint was leaping. Throughout my two-hour go to, I noticed bachelorettes, {couples}, households, co-workers, and lots of extra stream into the massive tasting room and out of doors area, and I noticed from the facet as wedding ceremony preparations had been set in place.

It’s clear from the expansive area and high quality wines that the Hodson household has poured its coronary heart, soul, and sources into the enterprise. This additionally proves true in its collection of wines, such because the Scintilla glowing Chardonnay, made within the conventional champagne methodology. Veritas’s wealthy and earthy Petit Verdot can be spectacular. I booked a specifically curated wine-and-food expertise that paired the Reserve Chardonnay with smoked salmon, caper relish, and preserved lemon. 

From my conversations with wine makers, it’s clear that creativity is on the core of what’s taking place in Virginia. The vintners might discover inspiration elsewhere, however their devotion to understanding their terroir, planting the proper grapes, and perfecting the manufacturing course of has propelled them out of the shadows of different, extra established areas. Whereas its leaders are most likely too well mannered to say “I advised you so” to the naysayers who doubted Virginia’s potential, they’ve actually earned the proper to take action. To Jefferson’s level, take a look at us now. 

A model of this story first appeared within the October 2024 problem of Journey + Leisure underneath the headline “American Classic.”