Life
Visiting Virginia, America's First Wine Country
Ask any wine lover in Australia, or even California or New York, about wines made in the State of Virginia, southwest of Washington, D.C. and you’re likely to get a blank stare. While it may not be top of mind as an oenophile’s playground, you’d be very wrong not to consider a visit. Since the wines don’t travel widely (most are consumed in the state), you must go to them. And it’s well worth the effort.
Renowned Virginia winemaker, Michael Shaps, who also has a winery in Burgundy, sums up why Virginia wine country is so special, “We have great wine, beautiful family-owned wineries, lashings of history, spectacular fall colours, and we’re close to the nation’s capital.”
Case in point, prominent US wine magazine, Wine Enthusiast, named Virginia’s oldest wine region, Charlottesville and the Monticello American Viticultural Area, as its 2023 Wine Region of the Year, besting out competitors from France, Italy, South Africa and Australia. The award acknowledges the region’s unique terroir, passionate winemakers, and collaborative spirit.
It should not come as a surprise since Thomas Jefferson, the third American President, writer of the Declaration of Independence, and the father of the Virginia wine industry, planted vinifera grapes in 1774 on his Virginia estate at Monticello. Sadly, his endeavours were unsuccessful due to the pressures of the Revolutionary War and damage caused by phylloxera.
This is not, however, the end of the story in what could be called the birthplace of American wine.
The original Jefferson-designed campus of the University of Virginia. The early US president was instrumental in establishing the colony's early vineyards.
After a hiatus of almost 200 years, Gianni Zonin, scion of Italy’s largest family-owned wine company, was looking to expand into the United States in the mid-1970s and asked his only Italian friend in the country to help him select a site. That friend happened to be Mario di Valmarana, then professor of architecture at the Jefferson-created University of Virginia, who took Zonin to a working farm that was once the plantation of an early Virginia governor named James Barbour.
Its now-ruined mansion was designed in the Palladian style by none other than Thomas Jefferson. Zonin thought the undulating landscape looked ideal for viticulture and was so impressed with its historic and architectural pedigree that he put the mansion’s profile on Barboursville Vineyard’s wine labels. But first he had to enlist the help of fellow Italian Gabriele Rausse to graft root stock that could survive the cold Virginia winters.
Today, the Monticello Wine Trail links more than 40 mainly family-owned vineyards that surround the historic town of Charlottesville in the undulating foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains. While you’re here, make time to explore Charlottesville, where the pillars and rotundas of the beautiful University of Virginia echo Jefferson’s legacy.
The Draftsman Hotel makes a great base, within easy walking distance of the campus, the Downtown Mall, which is lined with inviting bars and restaurants, and the Starr Hill craft brewery located in the Dairy Market, a casual dining destination.
Some commentators refer to the Virginia wine industry as the Wild East, where there are no rules and no stipulated grape varieties. Sitting halfway between Europe and California, Virginia wines have been described as lush and layered, aromatic, expressive and beautifully balanced, incorporating the subtlety of the Old World with the boldness of the New.
Many are blends with some of the bit-players of Europe taking centre stage. Virginia’s most promising red blends involve Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc and Tannat, while promising whites include Viognier, and Petit Manseng. These varieties are better equipped to deal with the state’s difficult weather conditions, which include frost after early bud break, high humidity, late summer drought and even hurricanes during harvest.
It’s also worth noting the influence of both French and Italian winemakers who’ve settled in Virginia. Speaking of which, our first port of call is Barboursville Vineyards, where we meet chief winemaker and general manager, the charming Luca Paschina, on a blue-sky autumn day, the reds and golds of the vines framed with the burnished hues of oaks and tulip poplars.
Gianni Zonin lured him from Italy’s Piedmont region in the 1990s. “I came and consulted, planting new vineyards on better sites with better clones. Then I fell in love with the country life here… fly fishing and hiking and mushroom picking... and stayed. It reminds me of home,” says Paschina.
The history of Jfferson Vineyards, co-planted by Thomas Jefferson and Phillip Mazzei.
Michie Taver, built in 1784, is a fine spot to stop for liquid refreshments and lunch.
Lunch at Barboursville’s Palladio Restaurant is an exquisitely executed Northern Italian-inspired feast of house-made pappardelle with Chesapeake Bay crab and crispy leeks with Vermentino sauce, roasted creamed local mushroom soup, and grilled rosemary boneless quails with baked polenta and sautéed fava beans, which go down a treat with Barboursville’s signature rich round Octagon (2014) red Bordeaux blend.
Regularly listed among the top wines made in the United States, Octagon has played a crucial role in establishing Virginia as a world-class producer, such as when it was served at the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
Not far away, we visit the bijou Chestnut Oak Vineyards where young winemaker David Eiserman is experimenting with Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Tannat, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blends as well as Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Petit Manseng. His Petit Verdot was recently awarded a Gold medal by prestigious British wine magazine Decanter.
“Virginia might just be a standout producer of Petit Verdot, especially when summers are hot and dry,” says David. “It’s nice that we’ve been recognised for our contribution as a small producer.”
We’re staying at the atmospheric 1820 Crossroads Inn, listed on the National Historic Register, where Thomas Jefferson was one of its earliest customers. Today, it’s owned by Dean and Lynn Andrews, owners of the expansive Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards next door, where we enjoy a vineyard tour and wine tasting (the Wild Acre Reserve blend of Tannat, Petit Verdot, and Merlot is a standout).
It’s a gorgeous drive through farmland and horse country to King Family Vineyards and the adjacent Roseland Polo grounds. James King guides us through a tasting of their impressive wines, made by their French-born winemaker Matthieu Finot, who is a founding member of the Virginia Winemakers’ Research Exchange.
Not far away, in Afton, Veritas Vineyards has a welcoming tasting room overlooking another spectacular undulating vineyard site. Owner Andrew Hodson gives us a tasting of wines all made by his daughter Emily, starting with his favourite, a minerally Sauvignon Blanc, which benefits from a protected south-facing hillside site.
If you want to stay longer, there’s a lovely farmhouse with in-house chef on the property. Heading eastwards, we visit the winery of the innovative and entrepreneurial Michael Shaps who, after studying winemaking in Burgundy, came to Virginia to be winemaker at Jefferson Vineyards (more on them later). He then created his own brand as well as Virginia’s largest contract winemaking operation.
Nearby is Blenheim Vineyards, owned by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician Dave Matthews who also designed its minimal impact timber-framed tasting room where panelled glass floors offer views of the wine production facility below. Winemaker Kristy Harmon makes an astonishing array of everyday-drinking, fruit-forward wines from 17 different varieties grown on site.
After lunch at the 1784 Michie Tavern, we end up near where Virginia’s first commercial vineyards were planted, at both Monticello and its adjacent property, Colle, which Thomas Jefferson had gifted to his winemaking friend, the Tuscan merchant and horticulturalist Philip Mazzei. Mazzei’s vineyards were replanted in 1981 by Stanley Woodward under the guidance of none other than Italian viticulturalist Gabriele Rausse, while the University of Virginia’s Italian architect professor Mario di Valmarana designed his Simeon Vineyards winery in the Palladian architectural style.
French-trained Michael Shaps became the winemaker. True to the entrepreneurial spirit that pulses through American veins, when Woodward realised that Thomas Jefferson’s name wasn’t trademarked, he changed Simeon Vineyards to Jefferson Vineyards. Coming full circle, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, which owns and operates Monticello, bought Jefferson Vineyards in 2023. Now that’s a lineage.