I’ll say it right now – Nicewonder Farm & Vineyards is the best Virginia wine experience that people don’t know about. A year ago if you had told me a Pippin Hill-esque designation winery was planning to open in the far reaches of the state, I would have thought you were crazy. But Nicewonder is prepared to break the mold of your perception.

Part of the reason people haven’t heard of Nicewonder is because of their location in Bristol – a town literally divided between Virginia and Tennessee. While it’s hubris to think that great Virginia wine can only be found in certain parts of the state, the reality is southwest Virginia is better known for its Appalachian scenery than its vineyards.

The other reason is the winery is only one part of a larger set of properties – not all of which have been unveiled. The centerpiece is The Virginian Golf Club, a luxury course designed by Tom Fazio (PS – he’s a big deal; Fazio has made more top 100 golf courses in the U.S. than anyone else in the business). A more recent addition is Taste, their open walled restaurant/tasting room. In 2021 Taste will be joined by a resort hotel which overlooks their 10 acre vineyard.

Top-notch properties need to be paired with first-rate wine, so understandably they turned to Charlottesville-based winemaker Michael Shaps. Despite only making wine since 2016, their Viognier has already won gold two years in a row in the Virginia Governor’s Cup competition. With their attention focused on a thirsty local clientele and future plans, Nicewonder has been happy to keep a low profile within the larger Virginia wine scene.

Tariq Zaidi, who represents the property, and Chef Travis Milton gave me a tour of part of the property. Travis explained how his goal is to “Change the cultural perception of southwest Virginia”. A native of the area, he knows how to create dishes that will knock your socks off yet remains true to the local cuisine.

While Milton talked food and wine, Tariq gave me the rundown of their longer term goals. The Nicewonder family plans on making The Virginian and Taste a self-contained vacation/event space where patrons can enjoy golf, wine, fine dining, even cooking classes all in one spot. Once the main resort is complete, Nicewonder will be set to become a destination hotspot.

We finished our tour and sat down at Taste – and the real fun began.

Travis is all about food and wine pairings, and his creations were amazing. When setting up pairings most often you see them done in a manner that’s complementary, where the food and wine amplify one another. But Travis alternated between complementary parings and contrasting ones where the two would balance each other out. Normally I only write about wine, but during this visit it was impossible to separate the two.

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2016 Chardonnay (and trout dip): Tropical notes on the palate. Paired with trout dip, which provided a strong contrast which balanced out the Chardonnay.

2017 Chardonnay (with Kentucky ham): Lighter, more aromatic than the 2016 with green apple notes and higher acidity. Paired with a fatty Kentucky ham, which diluted the green apple flavors and lowered the perceived acidity of the wine.

2019 Chardonnay (with oysters): Made in steel. I detected notes of melon. Paired with Rappahannock oysters, it was a complementary pairing that intensified both the food and wine. I also loved pairing this with blue cheese.

2017 Viognier (with duck pastrami): This wine had the traditional color and heaviness on the tongue that I’m accustomed to in Viognier, but not the heavy floral notes. We paired it with duck pastrami, which had pepper and fat that rounded out the fat sensation of the food and changed the perception of the wine to something less heavy and more tropical.

2018 Viognier (with beet picked eggs): Softer than the 2017, with more lemon-green apple notes. Paired with beet picked eggs. Seriously – this pairing was delicious. The wine was less round and more tropical with the food.

2019 Rosé (with chorizo): Lots of strawberry notes in this one. Paired with chorizo, which took away the berry notes and emphasized the pepper.

2016 Merlot (with okra): Fairly aromatic as Merlot goes, soft, plus lovely notes of plumb. The wine was definitely rounded out by the food. It was enhanced with pickled okra, then cut by the duck pastrami.

2017 Merlot (with blue cheese): Black pepper and some fruit notes. Paired with blue cheese, which enhanced the fruit qualities while also giving it an almost savory quality.

Before we started, the Chef said that he wanted to “change the cultural perception of southwest Virginia”. Milton – mission accomplished.