When Negus Winery opened its doors, it wasn’t just the start of Alexandria’s newest winery. It was owner/winemaker Gize Negussie’sway to introduce Tej, or Ethiopian honey wine, to the world.
Honey wine is a cultural staple in Ethiopia, with a history going back to the Queen of Sheba. While it’s an alcoholic beverage related to mead, don’t expect to taste something you’d find at a renaissance festival.
“Think of Tej as a cousin of mead”, Gize explained. “To make an Ethiopian honey wine, you need the right kind of honey and yeast.
The fermentation process is also different. Mead gets a lot of its flavors from fruits and spices, but we don’t add anything to our honey wine, not even sulfites. If you ask members of the Ethiopian community if Tej and mead are the same, they’d disagree.”
While Ethiopia has tasting houses dedicated to this beverage, Gize is proud to say Negus Winery is the first such establishment in the U.S. But the road to opening his own tasting room was a winding one.
Originally from Ethiopia, Gize arrived in San Francisco in 2011. His time in California exposed him to the wine industry.
“I grew up in a business-oriented family. I started a tour & travel company which explored California wine country, and that allowed me to make connections in the wine business. Winemakers encouraged me to introduce Tej to the United States, since it’s completely different.”
Gize first opened a brewery in D.C., which included a honey wine on the menu. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit and the business didn’t survive.
Speaking with his family, Gize came up with an idea that was both new yet familiar; opening a honey wine establishment in the D.C. area, with beverages using his family’s recipe.
“When we celebrate in Ethiopia, honey wine is a must-have on the table. It used to be reserved for royalty but now every family makes it. My recipe came from my mother, but we modernized the production process.
I knew if I opened a tasting room here, people will fall in love with it. While there are other honey wine producers in the United States, none of them have their own tasting room. So far we’re the only one.”
Negus produces three kinds of honey wine; semi-dry, semi-sweet, and non-alcoholic. In keeping with tradition these are served in a “berele”, a colorful Ethiopian flask-like vessel.
While these are Negus’s flagship beverages, guests have additional options.
“I don’t want to close the door to people who want to try something else”, Gize explained while pouring another serving of honey wine. “We wanted to support local, so we also serve several grape wines made in Loudoun County. Hopefully next year I’ll be making wine on premise.”
Negus Winery is located at 5509 Vine St Suite A, Alexandria. Extra parking is available behind the building.
Visitors are welcome to bring their own food or enjoy snacks purchased on premise. A food truck will be available in the spring.
This event was something of a ‘first’. I’ve made steady progress in writing comparative tastings for most of Virginia’s major varietals, and only occasionally felt the need to revisit a grape. Yet this didn’t stop me from doing my 3rd comparison of Petit Verdot; the most I’ve ever done with a single variety.
For those not familiar with Petit Verdot, the ‘little green’ (the English translation of ‘petit verdot’) is one of Virginia’s signature grapes. A high-acid variety, PV can retain that acidity despite Virginia’s hot summers. It’s also fairly weather resistant, making it popular for vineyard managers.
PV also provides color and tannin to blends. In many ways PV has become a blending replacement for Cab Sauv, which is a difficult grape for Virginia to grow. That the two most recent Virginia Governor’s Cup winning wines were PV-heavy isn’t a coincidence.
These traits have allowed PV to become the 3rd most planted grape in the state, widely used both as a stand-alone varietal and a blending partner. PV’s main drawback is its berries are small, so there’s not a lot of tonnage (as one would expect from a grape with the name ‘petit’ in it).
Most wineries would agree that 2019 was a good to excellent vintage, particularly for reds. It was a hot summer so alcohol levels were slightly on the higher side, but it also delivered on ripeness.
Just as importantly, doing a horizontal tasting of 2019 vintage wines meant the only differences came from the vineyard and winemaker, which evened the playing field.
I can’t confirm that every bottle was 100% PV but I strongly suspect they were.
Tasting & Scoring Methodology
A group of friends & I blind tasted 9 wines in 3 flights. All the flights were bagged; even I didn’t know which-was-which, as I bagged them randomly.
We didn’t have a fancy scoring system. The goal was to pick a ‘favorite’ every round, as opposed to rating them and determining the one we thought was the ‘best’.
I will say this was one of the most even playing fields I’ve ever had. We had bottles from 9 exceptional wineries from an exceptional vintage. EVERY one of these wines were good-to-excellent.
Moreover, by the end of the night there was a lot of people who insisted their favorite wine of the night didn’t make it to the ‘finalist’ round. Although my selection process forced us to choose a ‘favorite’ every round, that’s not to say the final ones were “everybody’s” favorite. More than a few excellent bottles simply got out-voted by our group of 7.
The Contenders:
DuCard Vineyards 2019 Petit Verdot (100%)
Chateau MerrillAnne 2019 Petit Verdot (100%)
Arterra Wine 2019 Petit Verdot (100%)
Wisdom Oak Winery 2019 Petit Verdot (100%)
Ingleside Vineyards 2019 Petit Verdot
Linden Vineyards 2019 Petit Verdot (100%)
Cave Ridge Vineyard 2019 Petit Verdot (100%)
Hark Vineyards 2019 Petit Verdot (100%)
Pollack Vineyards 2019 Petit Verdot
Round 1 / Flight #1:
Bottle #1: DuCard Vineyards
Bottle #2: Chateau MerrillAnne (Round winner)
Bottle #3: Arterra Wine
This arguably was my favorite round, and it demonstrated how hard it was for us to pick a ‘favorite’. I’m convinced #1/DuCard could easily have been the best of the day, but the randomness of these tastings put it against the wine that went on to win the event. Even so, I was tempted to give #1 a “Wild Card” advance.
In terms of coloration #2 was the lightest and #3 was the darkest. #1 and #2 opened up nicely as the round went on. None of them were overly expressive on the nose; the nose opened up a little but PV isn’t an overly aromatic variety.
We spent a lot of time on wine descriptors during this round, just go get people comfortable speaking their mind.
Bottle #1 DuCard Vineyards: Lots of tasting notes, if only because the group was opinionated, and this bottle was speaking to us.
On the nose I got lots of violet. On the palate the most popular descriptors were dark fruit (especially cherry or strawberry), pepper, spice notes, plus grippy tannin. Someone mentioned notes of cedar.
It was a very drinkable and balanced wine. #1 opened up nicely about halfway through and the fruit became more pronounced, which made it REALLY hard for me to not pick it as my round favorite.
Bottle #2 Chateau MerrillAnne: On the nose people mentioned notes of tobacco, blackberry or black fruit in general. On the palate, red fruit.
I also heard someone say it had a “Dr. Pepper” note to it. Another said there was some heat on the nose, plus maybe notes of mocha. Overall, it was a balanced, complex wine.
Bottle #3 Arterra Wine: We didn’t realize it at the time, but at 16.5% this was the highest alcohol wine of the day. That percentage gave #1 the perception of sweetness, despite zero RS. This would have rocked with a spicy dish though.
The color was especially dark. Of the trio, we felt it had the least amount of oak treatment. The group mentioned notes of black cherry, chocolate, or blueberry, plus tartness on the back end. My favorite descriptor was it was smokey, or even had a ‘old library’ note.
This soon became a contest between #1 and #2 for round favorite, and most voters only narrowly went with #2. The general consensus (but with two exceptions) is while people liked #3, the high alcohol made it a ‘one glass’ wine, while #1 and #2 were wines you could more easily enjoy.
Votes:
Alex: 2/1/3. Mentioned the #1 (DuCard) reminded him of a Russian River Valley pinot.
Ashley: 2/1/3.
Brandon: 2/1/3. Felt #2 (Chateau MerrillAnne) was the most complex.
Emily: 3/1/2. Felt #3 (Arterra) was ‘cozy’ and stood out, and especially liked the aroma.
Frank: 2/1/3. Felt #2 was the most complex, reminded him of a cigar box.
Isabel: 3/2/1
Matt: 2/1/3. Was torn between the complexity of #2 or fruit-forward notes of #1, which once it opened up was very lovely.
Round 1 / Flight #2:
Bottle #4: Wisdom Oak Winery (Round winner)
Bottle #5: Ingleside Vineyards
Bottle #6: Linden Vineyards
What I liked about this round is how different these bottles were from the previous one. It was a real demonstration of the diversity of Petit Verdot. Even the coloration was different.
#4 and #5 quickly became the favorites. Once it opened up we liked #6 more, but it was in a tough group.
This round also showed me how difficult it would be to do a ‘wild card’ advancement, because guests kept talking about how much they loved #5 (we had the same issue with #9). I couldn’t advance “all” the great runner-ups, so I went with what we had.
Bottle #4 Wisdom Oak Winery: Most fruit-forward and acidic of the group. I found notes of tobacco and earthy, backed by some bright red fruit.
Other notes included “jammy chocolate” (one of my favorite descriptors of the day), black fruit and cherry (with hints of raspberry), hint of spice on the palate. “Smokey cedar”, with grippy tannin.
Bottle #5 Ingleside Vineyards: Lots of notes here!
I thought the earthy nose really stood out. Bright; notes of red fruit, although it tended to have more tertiary flavors. Someone mentioned dark chocolate, chewy, ‘plush’. Another said notes of bell pepper, cardamom, even cinnamon stick.
Bottle #6 Linden Vineyards: Violet or tobacco on the nose. Notes of dark chocolate, mushroom, forest floor. Another said they found a plum note.
It was also soft and the least acidic of the group (perhaps because it was made in steel, not oak).
Votes:
Alex: 5/4/6. Liked the tobacco and tannin profile of #5 (Ingleside)
Ashley: 5/4/6. Liked the long finish of #5, beautiful complexity on the nose and palate. Noted the nose and palate didn’t line up but that was a good thing.
Brandon: 4/5/6. Liked the fruitiness an tartness
Emily: 4/5/6. Thought #5 was ‘sultry’ but chose #4 (Wisdom Oak) for the fruit profile.
Frank: 4/5/6. Liked the layers of flavors on #4.
Isabel: 4/5/6
Matt: 4/5/6; liked the fruit on this one.
Round 1 / Flight #3:
Bottle #7: Cave Ridge Vineyards (Round winner)
Bottle #8: Hark Vineyards
Bottle #9: Pollack Vineyards
This was our ‘classic’ round, at least on the nose. As our palates got tired we had fewer notes, but that doesn’t mean we enjoyed the wines less.
Bottle #7 Cave Ridge Vineyards: We felt it was one of the higher alcohol wines of the grouping (unfortunately I couldn’t find the alcohol level on the bottle).
The nose was savory. Not an especially fruit-forward wine (except maybe cooked fruit); it was more about the body. Someone mentioned it has a ‘meaty’ note on the nose. Descriptors of musty and savory kept being thrown out. Another said it had a chili note.
Bottle #8 Hark Vineyards: For several participants, “vegetal’ was the key descriptor on the palate. Maybe notes of asparagus? Someone mentioned they found a pine tree/evergreen note. The vegetal characteristics diminished the next day, when I finished it up.
Another participant found notes of blueberry on the nose, maybe licorice.
Bottle #9 Pollack Vineyards: Alcohol on the nose but an overall complex wine. Notes of red cherry or dark chocolate were mentioned. Smooth; balanced.
Votes:
Alex: 9/7/8. Thought #9 (Pollack) was smooth and drinkable
Ashley: 7/9/8. 7 (Cave Ridge) and 9 were almost tied, but thought #7 had more body
Brandon: 7/9/8. Thought it was balanced and liked the funky notes to it.
Emily: 7/9/8. Thought #7 was ‘very Virginia’
Frank: 9/8/7. Favored the red fruit and thought it was less oaky.
Isabel: 9/7/8. Thought #7 was very drinkable and had more body.
Matt: 7/9/8. Was really torn between #7 and #9.
Finalist Round:
Bottle #2: Chateau MerrillAnne (Event Winner)
Bottle #4: Wisdom Oak Winery (Runner Up)
Bottle #7: Cave Ridge
We took a food break after the first 3 rounds before moving to the ‘finalist’. I didn’t do a round-robin of tasting notes. People spent some time with this trio then went to judging.
As we had so many great wines that could have advanced, I took the extra step of asking people what their favorite wine of the entire event was. That was enlightening; it showed how many of people’s personal favorites didn’t make it to the last round.
In the end Chateau MerrillAnne’s 2019 Petit Verdot was the favorite of the day. I reached out to them and learned this bottle was 100% PV, saw 16 months in oak, 33% of which was new French oak w/ medium+ char. Made by Michael Shaps using fruit from Honah Lee vineyard.
I also insisted they save me a bottle for when I visit next (hopefully soon).
Ashley: 2/4/7. Liked the heat and complexity of #2 (MerrillAnne) but still thought #5 (Ingleside) was her favorite of the day.
Alex: 2/4/7. Thought #2 was the most complex and had the greatest depth of flavor. But ‘favorite’ of the day was #2 or #5.
Brandon: 2/4/7. Thought #2 was ‘sexy’, and thought it was his overall favorite of the day.
Emily: 7/4/2. Thought #1 (DuCard) and #7 (Cave Ridge) were great.
Frank: 2/4/7. Thought #2 had complexity and layers of flavor, but still thought #9 was the best of the day.
Isabel: 4/2/7. Still thought the ‘slutty’ #9 (Pollack; and yes, that was the term) was her favorite. But thought #4 (Wisdom Oak) had character.
Matt: 2/7/4. I still think my favorites were an almost even toss-up between #1 and #2. I hogged the DuCard towards the end of the night, when we were socializing.
Lessons Learned
I kept emphasizing that I don’t pretend that my events identify the ‘best’ wine; only the consensus favorite of a large group. On another day or with a different group, I’m certain the results would have been different.
That statement is always true but seemed especially true this time. I think my format of 3 flights of 3 followed by a ‘finalist’ round is fair but it also leaves out some excellent bottles, as not all rounds showcase equally good wines (they are bagged blind, after all). I sometimes try to even that out by advancing the ‘favorite runner up’ as a ‘wild card’…but #1, #5, and #9 were so liked, ANY of them could have been a wild card.
If there’s a ‘lesson learned’, it was that Petit Vedot has range. We had 9 wines and all of them were different. While #3/#6/#8 didn’t get as much attention as the others, that’s not to say we didn’t enjoy them as well.
Many Virginia wineries offer a sparkling wine, but no other Virginia wine region has embraced bubbly with the same vigor as the Shenandoah Valley. Around half of the valley’s wineries make a sparkling wine, many using the same méthode champenoise (aka the traditional method) process found in Champagne.
Sparkling wine pairs well with the region’s terroir. Shenandoah Valley vineyards are often located at relatively higher altitudes, which allows for greater diurnal temperature shifts. This allows grapes to maintain their acidity, one of the key components of sparkling wine.
Shenandoah Valley vineyards also benefit from what Linden winemaker Jim Law would call a strong ‘water to vine relationship’. Virginia vineyards often struggle with excess moisture, which not only lower wine quality but spark disease pressure. But grapes grown in the Shenandoah benefit from well-drained limestone soils, as well as lower overall rainfall (thanks to surrounding mountains which block incoming rainclouds).
Tasting & Scoring Methodology
A group of friends & I blind tasted 9 wines in 3 flights. All the flights were bagged blind.
We didn’t have a fancy scoring system. The goal was to pick a ‘favorite’ every round, as opposed to rating them and determining the one we thought was the ‘best’. Often the best indicator of a favorite was simply seeing which bottles people selected first for refills.
The favorite of every round went to a second ‘finalist’ round with the top 3 wines. After finishing the finalists, we unveiled all the wines and crowned the overall favorite of the day.
While all my events include wine lovers, this particular one was something of the “A Team” of my wine-tasting friends. All had extensive industry experience, or at a minimum a very experience palate.
That said, only a few had a deep familiarity with Virginia wine, and even fewer were familiar with the Shenandoah Valley in particular. That made for an exciting tasting since I specifically wanted to see how Virginia wine would fare in an audience who might not otherwise have tried these bottles.
This time I changed up my usual format by pre-selecting all the wines myself (almost half were gifted by their respective winery for this event; thank you Briedé Family Vineyards, Rockbridge Vineyard, Muse Vineyards, Jump Mountain Winery, and Cave Ridge Vineyard) instead of asking by guests to bring something.
My guests only knew an overview of the theme of the day. Except for our starter wine from Cave Ridge, everything we tried was made in the traditional method.
The Contenders:
Barren Ridge 2019 Blanc de Blanc (Chardonnay) ($35-40?)
Ox Eye NV Blanc de Blanc (Chardonnay) ($35)
Bluestone 2017 Blanc de blanc (Chardonnay) ($34.50)
Rockbridge 2020 Blanc de Noirs (Pinot Noir) ($35)
Briedé 2020 Sparkling Winchester (Cayuga) ($57).
Jump Mountain 2021 Grüner Veltliner ($30)
Muse NV Blanc de Blanc (Chardonnay) ($35?)
CrossKeys 2019 Blanc de Noirs (Pinot Noir) ($38)
Midland Wine 2018 “Zero” Blanc de Blanc (Chardonnay) ($45)
We also kicked things off with a Cave Ridge NV Sparkling Riesling, made in the Charmat method. Very bright & tart! Lots of apple notes.
Round 1 / Flight #1:
Bottle #1: Barren Ridge 2019 Blanc de Blanc
Bottle #2: Ox Eye NV Blanc de Blanc
Bottle #3: Bluestone 2017 Blanc de blanc (Round winner)
By coincidence, we had three Blanc de Blancs back-to-back. As I had a newer group I kept the tasting dialogue going on for longer than I normally do, so my notes in this round are more extensive than later ones.
In terms of style and especially color, all three were fairly closely matched.
This round became a duel between smoothness (#2/Ox Eye) and complexity (#3/Bluestone). Eventually, Bluestone’s complexity won. That said, the first one from Barren Ridge was also well enjoyed, so being most people’s 3rd pick wasn’t an indication people didn’t like it.
Bottle #1: Barren Ridge 2019 Blanc de Blanc: Our tasting notes were largely centered on citrus notes, especially lemon and green apple. Someone mentioned it had some Malo, which made sense as another taster commented they got some slight butter notes.
There was disagreement about how much minerality it had, with some not being able to detect it and others saying it was there. An overall pleasant wine.
Bottle #2: Ox Eye NV Blanc de Blanc: Someone noted this may have been the most champagne-like of the lineup. Some weight and toastiness; notes of lemon, green apple, and orange peel were mentioned. One person mentioned grapefruit pith, another said it was “grippy”, even a little tannic. It may have had a little RS.
Notes on acidity were all over the place with some saying it was round and others saying it was acidic. My favorite descriptor was it tasted like an ‘abstract painting’.
Bottle #3: Bluestone 2017 Blanc de Blanc: Lots of fruit on the nose and palate. Someone mentioned it had a jolly rancher quality to it but not sweet, perhaps even bretty. Another participant said they found an herby-spice note. The general consensus was this was the most complex of this lineup.
We didn’t know it at the time, but this was the oldest vintage of the entire event. You could tell the difference in the complexity.
Votes:
Alex: 3/2/1: Thought #3 was the most complex, while #2 was the smoothest.
Chrisa: 2/3/1: Liked the complexity of #3 but gravitated towards #2.
Kathy 2/3/1: Thought all of them were clean. Thought #2 was well balanced but #3 was complex.
Lieven: 3/2/1. Thought #3 had the most depth; found notes of butter toast, peaches, and white blossom. Thought #1 was subdued but also found citrus notes.
Matt: 2/3/1:
Richard: 3/1/2: Liked the fruit and brioche notes of #1 but liked the brightness and acidity of #2.
Sharneen: 2/1/3. Gravitated towards #2 as it was the most champagne-like and felt it was easy sipping.
Round 1 / Flight #2:
Bottle #4: Rockbridge 2020 Blanc de Noirs (Round winner)
This round was our most diverse lineup of the day, as we had a Pinot Noir, Cayuga, and Grüner Veltliner side-by-side.
People kept coming back to the color of the Rockbridge Blanc de Noirs, which was possibly the prettiest wine of the day. I contacted winemaker Shep Rouse and learned it was all from the initial press.
As you might expect from a diverse lineup, our tasting notes were all over the place. It didn’t help that I overly-chilled these wines, so they took extra-long for our bottles to warm up (note to self; don’t leave your sparkling in the fridge too long).
Bottle #4: Rockbridge 2020 Blanc de Noirs: Too many different notes to capture! We were very curious what it was as it had one of the prettiest colors of the day. For the most part, the nose followed the palate.
Nose reminded someone of daffodil; a few mentioned it had a lovely toastiness with some orange peel. Others got some caramel and honey butter. Maybe there was a little RS here. One person mentioned ‘dissected red apple’.
Bottle #5: Briedé 2020 Sparkling Winchester (Cayuga): Lot of notes here as well, although leaning more towards herbal notes than fruit ones. Being served overly cold didn’t do it any favors. One of the highest acid wines of the day.
“Chicken bullion” nose. Thin; maybe some herbs including thyme and ginger. Notes of yellow flower and chamomile. “Ripping acidity”. Maybe notes of Myer lemon.
Bottle #6: Jump Mountain 2021 Grüner Veltliner: “Intriguing” was often used. More approachable on the palate than the nose. I felt it needed food and time to open up.
Various descriptors included a brioche nose; notes of vanilla, almond, and lime were also mentioned. A few felt it had a Riesling-like petrol nose (which was close; Riesling and Grüner are related). Another person said it had an apple juice quality to it (but in a good way).
Votes:
Alex: 4/5/6. Felt #4 was ‘artisanal’
Chrisa: Thought #4 was delicious and complex but preferred it on its own, not with food.
Kathy: 4/5/6 but it was a close call.
Lieven: 4/6/5. Thought #5 was too herbal for him.
Matt: 5/6/4. Liked the acidity on #5
Richard: 5/4/6
Sharneen: 4/5/6. Loved the color of #4, although #5 opened up over time
Round 1 / Flight #3:
Bottle #7: Muse NV Blanc de Blanc
Bottle #8: CrossKeys 2019 Blanc de Noirs (Round winner)
Bottle #9: Midland Wine 2018 “Zero” Blanc de Blanc
This round took us back to Chardonnay, with the CrossKeys Blanc de Noirs added in.
Loved the nose of #9/Midland, but people’s favorites were all over the place. This being the last round my notes were getting shorter and shorter.
Bottle #7: Muse NV Blanc de Blanc: Had an herbal nose, maybe with some mushroom and minerality. Little reductive. Musty barnyard quality to it (PS – this isn’t a negative; that’s an official tasting note!).
Bottle #8: CrossKeys 2019 Blanc de Noirs: Notes of candied apple, more RS. Palate different from the nose. Little reductive but people didn’t treat that as a negative. Nice minerality and salinity. High acid, apple tart nose. Others said they found “orchard fruit” notes.
Bottle #9: Midland Wine 2018: There were many compliments about its nose. Good complexity, although the nose and palate were different. Good ‘muse’. Notes of fennel, apple, pear. Some bitterness.
Votes:
Alex: 9/8/7. Found some creaminess on #9.
Chrisa: 8/9/7
Kathy: 8/9/7. #8 was simple but enjoyable.
Lieven: 7/8/9
Matt: 8/7/9. 8 had the best palate but 9 had the best nose.
Richard: 8/9/7
Sharneen: 8/9/7. 8 improved as it opened up and liked the salinity.
Finalist Round:
Bottle #3: Bluestone 2017 Blanc de blanc (Runner Up)
Bottle #4: Rockbridge 2020 Blanc de Noirs
Bottle #8: CrossKeys 2019 Blanc de Noirs (Finalist)
No new tasting notes here, as we had plenty of notes from earlier. Now that the wines had time to warm up, we were able to enjoy them more.
#3/Bluestone and #8/CrossKeys were generally the favorites, although “where did this color come from?” on #4/Rockbridge seemed to elicit the most discussion as it was the most ‘intriguing’ for several participants, not just for the color but overall tasting profile.
The top two were generally ‘classic’ in profile and was almost a toss-up, and we went with CrossKeys’ 2019 Blanc de Noir as the day’s favorite.
Alex: 3/4/8. Liked the creaminess of #3.
Chrisa: 8/4/3. #8 was round, liked the candied apple notes, acidity and balance.
Kathy: 8/ 3 & 4 tied.
Lieven: 3/4/ 8. #3 was more classic, #4 was intriguing.
Matt: 8/3/4. Thought #8 was the most complex.
Richard: 8/3/4. Chose #8 but was tempted to go with #4 because thought #4 was the most interesting and artisanal.
Sharneen: 8/4/3. #8 was better as it opened up.
Lessons Learned
I wouldn’t say there were a lot in terms of ‘lessons learned here’. The entire point was to taste wines from the Shenandoah Valley side-by-side as opposed to comparing it to a different wine region, as well as giving exposure to these wines to some local industry folks.
But if there was a ‘surprise’ of the day, it was the Rockbridge Blanc de Noirs. I asked several people what wine ‘most surprised them’, this was often the most mentioned bottle. That color just stood out, plus the tasting notes kept people talking.
The overall favorites of the day were either CrossKeys 2019 Blanc de Noirs or the Bluestone 2017 Blanc de Blanc; not surprisingly these were the #1 and #2 choices in our tiered tasting.
The Bluestone was 100% Chardonnay, 4 years en triage (the stage where a still wine slowly converts into a sparkling one), made in all stainless. Lee explained how the first time he made his sparkling he had assistance from Veritas for the disgorging, but now he does everything by hand.
That the CrossKeys Blanc de Noirs was the favorite is hardly surprising, as this was selected by Atlantic Seaboard Competition as their 2022 Best in Show. This wine was fermented and aged for 8 months in barrel with continuous lees stirring then fined, filtered, and bottled, then aged in bottles for another 16 months to develop mature.
This is also one of the relatively few vineyards that grow Pinot Noir (2.5 acres) in the state, which makes it extra special for a Virginia wine lovers.
My latest ‘Virginia wine in review’. To see my other ‘Years in Review’, check out my 2020, 2021, and 2022 articles as well.
I did my best to identify the major trends and most interesting stories from the last year. Honorable mentions go to the expansion of breweries in wine country, reporting on the spotted lanternfly, and greater diversification in the industry (PS – around 17% of head winemakers in the state are female, and we now have several Black head winemakers and owners).
As 2023 closes, Virginia currently has 276 wine tasting rooms, 33 cideries, and 13 meaderies, plus 25 wine brands, cideries & meaderies that lack tasting rooms. Here is a link to my winery roster:
This article is entirely my personal opinion and doesn’t reflect the Virginia wine marketing board or any other entity or person.
2023’s Major Trends and Events
1. Openings and Closings: 12 new wineries and 2 meaderies joined the industry this year, and 4 left the business.
While Crimson Lane, Commonwealth Crush, and Southwest Mountain Vineyard probably made the biggest splash, also joining us are Dobbins Hollow Winery & Cidery (Pilot), Good Spirit Farm (Round Hill), Haunted Hills Winery (Jetersville), Mattapony Reserve (West Point), Rassawek Vineyards (Columbia), River Dog Winery (Richmond), Seven Lady Vineyards at Dover Hall (greater Richmond), The Vines at Oakdale (outside Richmond), and the return of Oakencroft Farm & Winery (Charlottesville).
Two new meaderies also joined the fun; Funktastic Meads (Midlothian) and Negus Winery (Alexandria).
Four locations closed; Aspen Dale, Merriweather Vineyards, Maggie Malick Wine Caves, and the Capitol Hive meadery.
2. 2023 Vintage. Put simply, this vintage looks outstanding. A few owners have gone so far to say, “Perhaps our best ever”.
Sure, we’ve heard this story before. Every year there’s a fair bit of booster-ism, not to mention it’s tough to make an overarching pronouncement on a state as geographically diverse as Virginia.
Even so, it’s hard to ignore the almost-universally positive feedback. The least enthusiastic description of the quality of this year’s fruit was “very good”, while many long-time growers say it’s rivaled only by the superb 2009 or 2012 vintages, which likewise featured warm, dry summers.
If there’s one negative about this year’s vintage is it’s not quite as bountiful is it could have been. The Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia suffered spring frost damage which reduced yields. Even more vineyards suffered drought stress, causing the vines to shut down. You know it was a dry year when vineyards that normally complain about too much rain wished for a few more inches of it.
3. Softening economy & changing consumer tastes: From 2018 to 2022, the Virginia wine industry saw 16-21 new wine, mead, or cider tasting rooms open per year.
That market growth slowed in 2023, which saw 14 such openings.
It’s tough to say if this slowdown is due to market saturation or the economy; probably a mix of both. But if Carlo DeVito’s predictions of a market correction in the craft brewery industry are on target, then wineries may be up for its own correction, or at least a prolonged slow-down in new openings.
4. Grape glut: It’s with no small degree of irony that praise for this year’s vintage is also coupled with an understanding that Virginia is growing more grapes than it can sell (at a profit, that is).
Virginia has long seen volatility in grape supply and demand, as anyone who saw crop losses to 2018’s rain and 2020’s frost can attest to. But more recently, several good harvests in a row have given many vineyards too much of a good thing.
Vineyards that rely on selling fruit will feel the worst of this pinch, especially smaller producers that sell 100% of their harvest. Yet the impact will be felt across the spectrum, especially when coupled with falling demand.
5. Wine Incubators: Over the past year or so Virginia has recently seen the opening of two ‘incubators’; Commonwealth Crush and Eastwood Farm.
This term probably requires a bit of explaining. The start-up costs to winemaking are high and serve as a bar for new entrants. These incubators provide the equipment, make it easier for new winemakers to get started. Given how some of my favorite winemakers don’t even have a tasting room (looking at you, Joy Ting and Jake Busching) I hope such incubators will give micro-producers a chance to join in, sparking greater creativity and diversity in the industry.
6. Wine bars/Urban tasting rooms: The Virginia wine experience is very much tied to visiting scenic locations in the countryside. But in 2023 a trio of VA wineries, namely Bluestone’s ‘Rootstock’ wine bar in Harrisonburg, Rogers Ford Winery’s ‘Curio’ in Fredericksburg, and October One’s Leesburg-based tasting room, bucked this trend.
The first two provide a mix of Virginia and non-Virginia wine. October One serves as that business’s only tasting room, plus offers wine from several other Virginia wineries. Until this year, only Morais’s “Aroma” and Lost Creek’s ‘Echelon” urban wine bars/tasting rooms offered Virginia flights.
I’m hopeful this concept gets traction. Virginia wine is somewhat limited to those who are adventurous enough to drive a good hour or so to visit wine country. These locations make it easier for your average consumer to drink local wine without traveling far to find it.
7. VA Wine in the News: This was a good year for raising Virginia wine’s national profile. Wine Enthusiast magazine designated Charlottesville as its 2023 Wine Region of the Year. If that’s not enough, they also listed Keswick Vineyards’ 2021 Chardonnay and Barbourville’s 2019 Octagon as amongst their Top 100 wines.
Press like this not only raises the profile of these individual wineries, but the Virginia wine scene as a whole. I’m hopeful this will show that Virginia isn’t an ‘emerging’ region; in terms of quality, it’s well-established.
One not-so-great news item was how the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (which runs historic Monticello and neighboring Jefferson Vineyards) dismissed “Virginia’s Wine Godfather” Gabrielle Rausse this past October, claiming ‘his position was eliminated’.
8. Winemaker musical chairs: Every year you see winemakers come and go, although this year this seems especially prevalent.
Rappahannock Cellars’ Theo Smith purchased Capstone Vineyards and is now making wine there. That allowed…
CrossKeys Vineyards winemaker Steve Monson to move to Rappahannock, which in turn allowed…
DelFosse‘s Andrew Bilenkij to take Steve’s head winemaker job at CrossKeys. Which allowed an opening for…
Keswick Vineyards winemaker Stephen Barnardto move to DelFosse (now Mountain and Vine).
Got that? Because I had to review this 3 times to make sure I got it right!
Wine Trails and Wanderlust 