From Virginia, with love.
“The fruits of a 400 year old experiment.”
“The best blends west of the Left Bank.”
“A fresh take on the familiar.”
“Old world grace meets true southern grit.”
It’s funny how much emphasis we’ve placed on the premiere wine growing region of California here in the United States. We’ve done so to a point where anyone on the outside looking in would rightfully assume that California was the start & birthplace of American wine history. My recent immersion into the winescape of Virginia with The Veraison Project & Oenoverse served to remind me that this region on the east coast is the true beginning of our storied wine history in the Americas.
Though I’ve been referring to Virginia as an emerging wine region, it really shouldn’t be viewed as such. Virginia wine country is not emerging, rather, it is reintroducing itself to the world. From strategic use of hybrid grapes to refreshingly competitive takes on native varieties of the South, the region is primed to take center stage again when we discuss wine in this country. This moment Virginia is experiencing proves that history does indeed move in a cyclical nature. There are some downright ugly facets to Virginia’s history (some of our country’s first Somms were enslaved men, let that sink in ‘cause we SHALL unpack that in length at some point), but there are moments of pure beauty that get to be at the forefront of this “turn of the wheel”.
My journey with The Veraison Project & The Oenoverse began as an exploration of that aforementioned history which then transitioned beautifully into winemaker visits, dinners & tastings across the region. There are many layers to my experience that I was going to jam pack into this single blog post with little offshoot sections that would dive into each winery to tell the tale of Virginia wine through my eyes. However, I think this entry will serve the purpose of establishing a baseline, a thesis, really, for the narrative I want to weave surrounding the wines of the east coast as a whole. Each ‘a-ha’ moment about the region, each winery visit deserve to be the focus of their own entry here on the blog for you all to reference back to in totality vs piecemeal.
The absolute biggest takeaway from meeting with the many winemakers, grape growers, wine professionals & tastemakers from other facets of the hospitality industry in VA, is that community is at the heart of what makes this region sing. The sense of real, honest community is the very element that is helping drive the ship of Virginia wine into an inevitable renaissance. I leave you with a mini-travel guide to cultivate your own journey into Virginia’s winescape and promise to share more tales from this experience in future entries on the blog. If you find yourself at any of the wineries or operations noted in the guide, tell ‘em the Wino sent ya!
Cheers,
The Certified Wino
