On a beautiful evening, under the sakura. 
...and after a couple of glasses...
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.
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.
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