Barboursville Chardonnay, 2005

Hugh Johnson and Michael Broadbent like Virginia wines.  So do I.  At least the relatively few I've had a chance to taste; even in Richmond, they are a little hard to find. 

When I was in Richmond a couple of weeks ago I did find a decent selection of Virginia wines in the Kroger supermarket at Willow Lawn.  I bought a Veritas Cabernet Franc which broke in the rough handling my lost Goyard bag suffered (got it, stinking of red wine, which had ruined all my clothes, two days after returning to New York.  Thank you, Delta Airlines.  The fucking flight was 2 hours late.  You could have got my bag on the plane.  Are these pathetic jokers still getting Federal subsidies, "bail-outs", corporate socialism??)

Allora...

One bottle did survive the long, bumpy ride, and it was a 2005 Chardonnay from Barboursville, long one of the premier vineyards in this emerging wine region and -- ta-da! -- owned by none other than Gianni Zonin, or his empire.  It was one of the pioneering wineries in the Old Dominion, and its wines are among the state's most respected.  Under winemaker Luca Paschina, the reputation of Barboursville has only grown.

This steel-fermented Chardonnay cost only $10.99, and it was sensational for the money -- and with the baked salmon we had tonight.  Dry, crisp, with a slightly yeasty aroma that always pleases me, this wine is a beauty for the price and of the type.  It's like a good Macon but less expensive.   
And, by the way, it's less astringent than the unoaked Long Island Chardonnays that I also like.  There seems to be a bit more residual sugar, but not so much as to muffle the vibrant quality of the grape. 

To produce a wine this good for this price, Virginia (and Paschina and his team) must be doing a lot that's right.  Let's hope Virginia keeps on doing these good things with wine...maybe the wines'll pull the often deplorable cuisine along with 'em.

Comments

[Richard]

Terry,

This was the Virginia winery I mentioned to you over this spring. I had time for only one winery visit on the way from Northwestern VA to visit Thomas Jefferson's beautiful Monticello in April. I did a little reading and chose Barboursville. I went to the Winery for a tasting and brought home several bottles. I did get to some other VA wineries a different day, but Barboursville was the best. In my opinion, they have some of the best east coast wines. The winery is a great place to visit. They have a very nice tasting room and charged very little for a lot of tastings and allowed follow up tastings. They also have ruins from a Governors mansion designed by Jefferson. I heartily recommend visits to this winery. I think you liked the bottle we had together.

[Terry Hughes]

I think I did. As you pointed out tonight, however, it was after the brat mitzvah and I was feeling noooooo pain.

I would agree with your assessment of Barboursville as a top-notch East Coast winery. **Good** stuff at very reasonable prices. Their cab franc is very nice too.

[Alfonso]

available in NYC....if you got a recent email from Andrea about the Illuminati tasting, he'll be able to tell you where to find all the Barboursville wines in NYC

-AC

[Alfonso]

Available in NYC
If you received a recent email from Andrea about the Zanna vertical tasting @ Il Buco, he can tell you where to find the wines in your city, he's also their distributor...

-AC

[Dezel]

Hello Terry,

So happy to hear you enjoyed the Baboursville Chardonnay; they are one of the older producers that have passed much of the trial and error stages as proven on the palate. Their wines are all enjoyable indeed and reasonably priced for the most part.

The winery itself is a wonderful place, boasting a wonderful high end gourmet restaurant, and a B&B on the property that boarders along the height of fashion. As mentioned by a previous reader, you can also view and walk about the ruins of a mansion designed by Jefferson.

We look forward to going back sometime during the week because the winery attracts such a large crowd on weekends tastings are often rushed.

I suggest, that you also get your hands on some Linden Vineyards selections if you can. Many say he produces the best wine in the state hands down; everything is always done righ there!

We will have two Finger Lake cabs at our tasting, from Dr Franks (Salmon Run label) and Seneka Shores.

Have a wonderful day!

Dezel

[Terry Hughes]

Alsfonso, thanks for the tip. (I can't attend the Zanna tasting, much as I'd love to. the youth of America and all.)

Dezel, I will be on the lookout for Linden. I don't think I've seen it before though. Thanks for expanding my VA wine horizons!

[Richard]

Is Linden on a major highway going south towards Barboursville? I wanted to stop there also, but I had children with me, so I had to limit my wine visit to one place.

[Dezel]

Hi Terry,

You might be speaking of Horton Vineyards; well established, and the father of Viognier. Story has it that it was only 310 acres of it planted in the world when Dennis Horton first planted it in VA. Now, some years later almost every grower has Viognier. Horton is what I call the Baskin and Robins of wine, they have over 31 flavors indeed (about 40 wines), and all the taste are complimentary. Needless to say they are the top producer in the state at about 30K cases per year.

Happy Sipping!

Dezel

[Dezel]

Sorry, I meant the above comment for Richard; Now that I think about it more Richard, if you took Rt 29 up to Barboursville, on your right hand side would be Prince Michael, that sits right off of Rt 29. Not as many wines as Horton, but quality producer as well...both of which can be found in stores up and down the coast.

Linden is not near Barboursville, but both are top seeded local wineries.

Happy Sipping!

Dezel

[Richard]

Thanks Dezel.

Terry,

It's just come back to me. We had an Italian grape wine (I saved for you)from Barboursville back in spring. I think it was Sangiovese. I believe you weren't crazy about it, but thought it was a good effort. Ken loved the Barboursville Cab or Merlot we had when he was here without you, before your visit.

Richard