Our July Fine Wine Divas event took the Ladies on a field trip to Virginia wine country. As most live in the DC area, it was time to immerse them in this great wine region in their backyard. Most came in skeptical … all walked away convinced … Virginia has great things to offer wine lovers!
The Venue
We set out to Early Mountain Vineyards, about 90 miles south of DC, on Saturday. It’s a great spot to take anyone interested in Virginia wine. Not only can you taste Early Mountain’s great wines, but they also have the Best of Virginia program. Best of Virginia is an initiative created to celebrate and champion the finest wines of Virginia by featuring them in the tasting room. This is your virtual tour across the state. Their partner wineries include Thibaut-Janisson, King Family Vineyards, Linden Vineyards, Barboursville Vineyards, Chatham Vineyards, Breaux Vineyards and Ankida Ridge Vineyards. Wines from the partner wineries are tasted in flights, offered by the glass and sold by the bottle, along with the local curated food program of panini, salad, cheese, charcuterie and sweets.
The History
On our ride down, we gave a little on the history of Virginia wine. It dates back four centuries to the original English settlers of Jamestown in 1607. They were required to grow 10 grapevines each of European origin when they arrived in Virginia, but diseased vines prevented anything from coming of it. Thomas Jefferson, with the help of his Italian viticulturist Filippo Mazzei, tried for over 30 years to grow vines at Monticello, but again wine was never produced. The mid-1800s showed promise when the Virginia Norton wine, made from Native American grapes, was named “best red wine of all nations” at the 1873 Vienna World’s Fair and received a gold medal at the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. Unfortunately Prohibition in the early 20th-century stopped all wine production. But in the 1970s with six new wineries, Virginia’s wine comeback began. Watch this great video from Virginia Wine for more details.
The Tasting
Early Mountain put together a fabulous wine tasting and food pairing afternoon for us. The Virginia wine tour included…
- 2012 Early Mountain Pinot Gris
- 2012 Lovingston Winery Seyval Blanc
- 2012 King Family Vineyards Crosé
- 2012 Early Mountain “Block 11” Petit Manseng
- 2011 Ankida Ridge Pinot Noir
- 2011 Early Mountain Handshake
- 2011 Sunset Hills Vineyard Petit Verdot
- 2012 Glen Manor Petit Manseng
And the top 3 favorites…
2011 Ankida Ridge Pinot Noir
- Variety: 100% Pinot Noir
- Aroma: Round black cherry and cassis
- Taste: Fresh cherry and white pepper
- Price: $42
- My thoughts: This is a Virginia stand out. They say Virginia can’t grow Pinot Noir but Ankida Ridge shows they can. One of our Ladies is a huge Pinot fan and said, “Virginia has done well!”
2012 Early Mountain “Block 11” Petit Manseng
- Variety: 65% Petit Manseng, 35% Muscat
- Aroma: Apricot and floral
- Taste: Honey and apricot
- Price: $24
- My thoughts: Everyone loved this wine! It’s fruit forward taste was also a great pairing with the foods.
2012 Lovingston Winery Seyval Blanc
- Variety: 100% Seyval Blanc
- Aroma: Citrus
- Taste: Citrus and white fruits
- Price: $20
- My thoughts: As a cousin of Sauvignon Blanc, this is a great option to that wine. It’s got more floral and fruit notes then the typical Sauvignon Blanc’s grassy and citrus flavor.
This is also the first tasting I can remember that we’ve had several Ladies like each of the wines. Very good news for Virginia wine!
Cheers to Early Mountain for a fabulous afternoon! Mission accomplished..we have more Virginia wine ambassadors spreading the word!
Visit these pages for more on Grape Occasions on Virginia wine and Early Mountain Vineyards.