Yes, Virginia...

A little detour while driving south this past weekend took us through some unfamiliar AVA's. Driving over the Blue Ridge Mountains and across the Shenandoah National Park, we entered the Monticello AVA, where wine has been made for nearly 350 years, and proceeded to our appointment at Blenheim Vineyards.


In this case, low-hanging clouds, not the fog that is common in the area.


A bend in the river... actually, this is Olympic Lake. Not sure why. The soils here are a granite-based clay.


Cherry trees in full bloom... hmm... where's the sake?


Flora...


...and Fauna. That's a big gobbler.


Nous sommes arrivés. It may be of interest to some that Blenheim Vineyards is owned by the Dave Matthews family. It was of interest to R. anyways, thus the choice.


A view of Blenheim's vines. Like others in the area, they grow some, and buy some fruit (mostly from Mount Joliet and Crozet in the same AVA.) At Blenheim, chardonnay, viognier, petit verdot, and cabernet franc are planted. The merlot and syrah is entirely purchased. According to winemaker Kirsty Harmon (in charge since 2008, following one Mr. Brad McCarthy), there is also a single row of pinot noir under vine, largely, she says, because everyone warned her that it couldn't be grown here.


The cellar and tasting room was built off sketches made by Mr. Matthews. The lower building functions as a lab - Kirsty runs a testing service in her "free time."


A glass floor in the tasting room allows one to see the barrels below. The floors, interestingly, are made from oak staves once used in cider vats - sourced from H.P. Bulmer of Hereford! Nice touch!


Kirsty took us down to the cellar, where, while fending off her dog, we tasted a variety of barrel samples and experimental batches. We also learned that the area's humidity and relatively warm temperatures make this a difficult area for growing grapes, such that, in her opinion, it would not be feasible to adopt natural and biodynamic practices (without losing the bulk of any harvest.) Apparently, early winemaking was done with non-vinifera grapes, which were more pest and fungus resistant. We also talked about the economics of winemaking in the U.S., very illuminating, but explains why so many wines from the U.S., the East Coast in particular, are so expensive. Explains, but doesn't justify.


On to the tasting. Having had some pretty disappointing tasting experiences in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, I didn't exactly go into this with high expectations. I was very pleased not to see Chambourcin on the list though. However... I was really very pleasantly surprised! Not only were the wines uniformly palatable, they were well made, with restraint, varietally correct, and with alcohol levels in the 12.5-13.5% range.

Whites

• 2008 Chardonnay - 35% fermented (no malo) and equal amounts aged for 5 - 9 months in French, American, and Eastern European oak. Leafy green nose and good citrus. Creamy entry, but not buttery or oaky at all, moderate cut giving this a bit of verve, and good minerality. Simple but decent.


• 2006 Chardonnay - made by the former winemaker, fully barrel fermented, with natural malo, in French oak, followed by 10 months of aging, 50/50 in new and neutral French oak. With all that wood, I expected this to be a monster, but it wasn't. The nose only betrayed a hint of caramel under smokier peat and pear/apple. It was certainly creamier, but not buttery - good crunchy fruit and mineral, with medium-full body. I did prefer the former.


• 2008 Viognier - sourced fruit, 40% fermented and aged for 6 months in a mix of new French, American, and Eastern European oak, the rest in steel. Medium bodied, lightly creamy, yet tropical and spicy, all in a restrained style. I'm not a huge viognier fan, but this was pleasant.


• Table Wine - this is an annual vintner's cuvee of chardonnay and viognier, made off-dry and aged 5 months in French and American oak. This was not my thing, but not terrible - definitely off-dry and silky, but there was still obvious acidity. Not enough for me to get past the candied apple and shellac tones though.

Reds

• 2005 Meritage - 58% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Petit Verdot, aged in French oak for 16 months. Very soft and frooty, definitely true to the fermented grape juice ideal. Not for us, but again, if this generated the least interest of anything we tasted, I think we did rather well.


• 2008 Painted Red - The "flagship" wine. 37% Cabernet Franc, 32% Petit Verdot, 28% Merlot and 3% Malbec. 70% aged 7 months in new French oak. Blackberry and violets but with the cab franc vegetality coming though assertively, with a touch of orange peel. Tasty. Label illustration (second from left) is by Mr. Matthews.


• 2008 Petit Verdot - we tried two 2009 barrel samples of this, one oaked, the other naked. An interesting contrast, as the unoaked wine is aggressively tannic. A big wine, prominent cola notes and quite a lot of oak (12 months in new French and American oak.) The oak does fade to a spicy peppery finish, with blue and black fruits revealed along the way. Big, but not a Sledgehammer.


• 2008 Cabernet Franc - aged 6 months in French and Appalachian oak. Lovely - vegetal, herbal, spicy, with bright and tart cranberries, good minerality and acidity.


• 2008 Seven Oaks Merlot - named after the vineyard in Crozet, not a highly diversified barrel regimen (50% aged 9 months in new French oak.) Black tea and vegetal notes were prominent, as was the tannin. Needs either time or air, or both.


• 2004 King Family Merlot - unfined, unfiltered, and aged in French oak for 16 months (new or old? Don't know.) Funky and bretty, berries and earth, tomato and aspic. Robust and pleasant. Also, the last of the wines on this property to see cork (everything else is screw-capped - Kirsty says she wants to make wines for drinking, not for laying down.)

Well, that was definitely the best East Coast lineup I've tasted. Certainly if I saw these on a restaurant list, I'd feel comfortable choosing several of these, especially the Cabernet Franc. The prices were also far more reasonable than most of what comes along in New York, much closer to appropriate value.