What’s the Deal with Virginia Wine?

When we first moved here, VAWineDiva and I weren’t totally sold on local wine. It seemed like a novelty- sure, grapes will grow here, but how good could it be? As it turns out, Virginia wine is great- some of it. There are wineries that aren’t just good examples of local wine, but good examples of wine, period. As it turns out, there are similarities between our climate here and the south of France (did you know that you can grow black truffles here?). That’s led to Virginia becoming a really competitive wine region, with some absolutely outstanding wineries.

There are also some wineries that clearly exist as tourist traps. It’s not bad enough that their wines are unapologetically crap, but we blame them for people who say “you know, I just don’t like Virginia wine.”

So how can the weekend wine taster tell who’s good, and who’s not? Unfortunately, there’s not an objective set of standards you can use. Wineries will boast of the medals that their wine has won. Some of those medals mean something; some of them basically mean that they showed up to be judged. The size of the winery isn’t a reliable guide either. There are some big producers whose wine won’t stand up to Two-Buck Chuck, and some small producers who make such great wine, I refer to them as “the great and powerful Oz” of Virginia wine.

The only way to know is to get out there and do the tastings. It’s how we developed our palates, and it’s a fun way to get out and see Virginia. Detailed notes are the key. Almost every winery gives you a tasting sheet and a pencil; take advantage of this, and be specific. I’ve seen people rank the wines on a scale of 1 to 10. While that may help you pick a wine to buy that day, it doesn’t do much for you once you leave, especially if you bought the wine. Two months later, you’ll pull out the bottle and yell to your partner, “hey honey! Why did we buy this wine from ______? Was it for scallops, Thai food, mac and cheese, or just getting lit around the campfire?”

You can also check in here, because we won’t pull our punches. We take our wine very seriously. If you think we’re wrong, that’s what the comments are for. Don’t be shy- we’re not!

The What’s the Deal with Virginia Wine? by Swirl, Sip, Snark, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.