During a 4-winery visit weekend last month, a group of friends and I kicked things off with a visit to Mountain & Vine (which for now still goes by its old name, DelFosse).

I’d been to Mountain & Vine a few years earlier, but this was my first stop since they won the 2023 Virginia’s Governor’s Cup for their 2021 Screaming Hawk Meritage. If the chance to taste this wine wasn’t enough, getting to catch up with their new winemaker Stephen Barnard (formerly at Keswick) sealed the deal.

Mountain & Vine is located about 30 minutes SW of Charlottesville in the lower hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It feels like an exceptionally rural area, but the tasting room is pretty and the view from the top of the hill is absolutely killer. They even have a B&B on the property.

Stephen was gracious enough to host my group, but we lucked out we also got to meet with owner Mike Albers.

He and his wife Adrienne purchased the property from Claude DelFosse in 2017. It didn’t make sense to keep the name of the old owner forever, but the Albers weren’t in a rush to change it either. They slowly shifted the name to Mountain & Vine, focusing on rebranding the name on the bottles as opposed to the name of website.

This new labeling proved fortuitous as their Cup win brought a ton of publicity. While the sign at the entrance still says DelFosse, they’ve almost completely pivoted to Mountain & Vine.

As for the vineyard, based on the slopes I saw it was easy to tell this is a great place for winegrowing. The have 17 acres vines using 11 varietals; all vinifera with the sole exception of some chambourcin. At an elevation of 850-1,100 feet, those vines are (for the most part) safely above the frost line.

Mike fully admitted that when he submitted the Screaming Hawk he thought it was a bit too young, but figured he’s submit it anyway just to get their opinion. Well – surprise! The judges obviously disagreed and he came away with the Cup.

Once Stephen came in from the vineyard we sat down for an extended tasting. As he’d only been here for a matter of weeks none of these wines were his, but that didn’t stop him from chatting them up. All in all we easily tried at least a dozen wines, all estate grown.

We kicked things off with the whites, and I found a lot to love. The Grand Cru Reserve is a rich white blend and one of my favorite wines of the weekend. I also loved the sauv blanc and chardonnay. I left with two bottles of the Cru.

For reds, obviously my favorite was the bigger, drier wines, but they had several options that were designed to be served chilled or could satisfy a sweeter audience.

The 50% Petit Verdot, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Malbec Screaming Hawk was the favorite of the lineup. For a PV-heavy wine it didn’t taste overly ‘big’, and neither did I feel it was overly youthful. It was totally drinkable now and had Mike poured me more I would have finished it right there.

The runners up were their “Grinning Fox” (75/25 PV and Malbec), 2020 PV, and “1970” chambourcin. It’s not often that I’m impressed with chambourcin but I really liked the fruity-strawberry notes.

Rounding it out we tried a soft cabernet franc, the “Deer Rock” and the “Hippie Chick” that was more for a sweeter palate. Sadly no 100% Malbec (theirs is one of the few in Virginia); that was already sold out.

All the wines were good-to-great (even ones that normally don’t fit my palate). But if the quality wasn’t enough, I really appreciated how the prices were easily a good 10-20%-ish cheaper than elsewhere in the Charlottesville area. Being remote has other advantages.

To anyone who visits – TAKE PICTURES FROM THE HILL. The view alone is worth the trip.