The Virginia wine industry today is dynamic and impressive; the second largest in the East behind New York, and the fifth largest nationally with nearly 200 wineries and 2,500 acres of vineyards. The year 2007 was the 400th anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement, and the 40th anniversary of the renaissance of the Virginia wine industry.
To mark the occasion, several wineries organized a tasting of Virginia wines for members of the media and trade in London, where it all began for Virginia in 1607. Sixty-four Virginia wines qualified after a blind judging, and were poured at two events in London in May.
Leading wine writers Hugh Johnson (author of the annual encyclopedia of wine and the World Atlas of Wine), Steven Spurrier (who engineered the famous “Judgment of Paris” tasting in 1976), and Andrew Jefford (twice winner of the Glenfiddich Wine and Spirits Writer of the Year) all tasted Virginia wines and were both surprised and impressed.
Spurrier noted that the wines were up to international quality standards, but alcohol levels were “refreshingly not.” Jefford devoted a column space in the Financial Times of London to the event, the wines, and Virginia wine history, titled “Wines to Make a Founding Father Proud.”
In the late 19th century, the native Virginia grape, today known as the norton, earned international acclaim in European wine competitions. Stylistically, Virginia wines have evolved from simple, bold and rustic French hybrids grown 35 years ago to today's mostly vinifera-based wines made with with finesse, integration, balance and increasing regional distinctiveness.
Jim Law of Linden Vineyards, one of the most respected winemakers in the state, says that a decade ago he was using perhaps too much new oak in his wines, and now strives for more integration and finesse, an opinion echoed by other experienced winemakers like Luca Paschina of Barboursville Vineyards.
Chardonnay and viognier are the leading white varieties today, and increasingly, made with little or no oak (or older, neutral oak), and in ways that retain natural acidity and freshness and keep alcohol levels moderate. Viognier has lovely aromatics of blossoms and tropical fruit, but is dry and very food-friendly.
For hybrid varieties, vidal and seyval blanc are still popular, but seyval, which used to be coarse and harsh, is now stylistically very much like Loire Valley whites, with Rappahannock and Lovingston leading examples. Vidal, which used to be the “poor man’s riesling," has a dual identity, as a table wine (which can show some elegance when partially barrel aged), and as a backbone for artificially frozen dessert wines. Officially known as cryo-extraction, this process makes intensely sweet but balanced (high acid) dessert wines at a fraction of the cost of vine-frozen and harvested grapes.
The rare petit manseng resembles the new hybrid traminette in its strong fruity aromatics and mid-palate viscosity, but retains acidity like riesling while yielding fruit character ranging from passion fruit to mango.
Ten years ago, the shift in top Virginia reds was from straight varietal wines to red Bordeaux blends. This category is still the top signature style for Virginia reds, but has gone from being dominated by cabernet sauvignon to merlot and cabernet franc, with a significant amount of petit verdot -- the grape which may well be Virginia’s future signature style in this category. Since the wines of Bordeaux’s Right Bank (St. Emilion and its satellites) are always popular and easy to drink, this stylistic shift means Virginia will be producing supple, subtle, nuanced red Bordeaux blends that avoid the juicy fruit bomb style but are not as tannic as the Bordeaux originals.
Cabernet franc and merlot are still made as varietials, with cabernet franc the most produced red Bordeaux varietal in the state, and while there is a range of styles, there is an increasing focus on neutral oak and clean, vibrant fruit, mirroring the stylistic evolution of Virginia white wines. Those who prefer a happy medium between the rich, high-alcohol and intense style of West Coast red Bordeaux blends, and the more austere, acidic style of Bordeaux, will enjoy today’s Virginia red Bordeaux blends and varietals.
While the syrah, mourvedre, tannat and touriga nacional have long been grown by Horton Vineyards, recommendations by state grape experts Bruce Zoecklein and Tony Wolf have favored increasing acreage of tannat, which is showing up in more Virginia wines, usually as a blend. The only red French hybrid which has performed consistently well in both the vineyard and the winery in Virginia is chambourcin. With its bright cherry aromas and flavors, crisp acidity and low tannin, chambourcin resembles the gamay grape of Beaujolais.
Another new development in Virginia is how both sparkling and dessert wine categories have evolved since the decade began. While respectable sparkling wines have been made in Virginia in the past, sparkling wines have been taken to a new level in Virginia by the work of Claude Thibault, a native of Champagne. Having first worked for Kluge Estate Vineyards with their debut sparkling wines, Thibault now consults for other Virginia wineries including Veritas Vineyards, where he introduced a pale pink dry method champenoise wine of cabernet franc, a delight. His new venture “Thibault-Janisson” brut blanc de chardonnay NV, made from 100 percent chardonnay from the cool 2006 vintage, was served at the first state dinner of the Obama Administration in 2009.
In Virginia, the category of cryo-extraction sweet wines (artificial ice wine) has been fine-tuned to the point where this category can produce some of the best dessert wines in the country. Shep Rouse of Rockbridge Vineyards is an acknowledged leader, blending four grape varieties (vidal, riesling, traminette and vignoles) in his V d’Or, a cryo process wine that balances sweetness with refreshing acidity. Ports are an entire sub-category of dessert wines, and while they have been made in Virginia for a while, they have lacked distinction until now. Veritas’ “Othello” is a bold and creative blend of tannat, touriga and petit verdot. This vintage-style port (2005) is second in quality only to Ficklin in California, for wines of this type I’ve had from American producers. And Cooper Vineyards is making a delicious and tastefully balanced chocolate norton port.
More information about Virginia wine:
• Virginia Wine: The official guide to Virginia wines and winery events.
• Virginia Wineries Association: The site for the state winery trade group.
• Virginia Vineyards Association: The site for the state grape growers trade group.
