Monticello Area Outing

So, to stick with the order of that days events we shall start off by looking a bit more at Jefferson Vineyards. Located pretty much right next to Jefferson's amazing estate, this vineyard has been in operation since around 1981. The land itself was originally worked by the Mazzei family in 1774, as Jefferson's business partner, and was resurrected in the 80's fulfilling Jefferson and Mazzei's dream of a successful vineyard in the area.

Today Jefferson Vineyards produces around 13 wines and has quite the reputation in the area. The tasting room itself is fairly small, compared to some of the larger vineyards like Barboursville, but is a lovely environment with a knowledgeable staff. As for their wines, you really get a good feel of their selection and get some fairly generous portions (and of course second helpings on wines you'd like to taste again). Now, they do have a great variety of wines at Jefferson, and a good few award winners, but for me probably one my favourites has got to be their Petit Verdot as it just so very delicious. Though don't get me wrong they do have a lot of other great wines like their Terre Rouge. Even though we didn't really stay all too long here, due to packing in 5 vineyards into a day, we did get a good taste for their selection and even a taste of their new 2008 Viognier (released the week of our visit).

The second stop on our trip was the lovely and beautiful Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard. Established in 1999, Kluge began with the monolithic notion of becoming one of the East Coasts most prestigious wineries. Just down the road from Jefferson's Monticello you find an amazing landscape with an astonishing 2,000 acres which make up this great estate. For all of this grandeur It's actually quite amusing to me that this winery holds their tastings in a small building, separate from the winery, called the farm shop. In reality though this “farm shop” is really anything but quaint and boasts a beautiful area to sit and enjoy a top notch glass of wine with some amazing finger foods, either outdoors on a nice day or indoors next to the fireplace on the dreary ones. The staff is fairly hands off, as you order your food and wine and take a seat, but they do provide you with knowledge if asked and give a fairly informative sheet for your tasting. The tasting itself is done in these interesting flights of 6 wines, with your choice of either their Kluge or Albermarle brand wines. I personally went for the Kluge selection as it has their 4 wonderful sparkling wines. The most memorable of these wines was the Sparkling Rose which had an amazing floral smell and a taste of cherries to it. Though I must say that their New World red is equally as good, though it is at a higher price point.

Our next stop, even farther south from Charlottesville, was the always fun First Colony Winery. Founded by Randolph McElroy in 2000, the winery has quickly grown and claimed a multitude of awards both domestically and internationally. Now the drive up to this vineyard is definitely not as nice as Kluge, but once you get past the houses you are greeted by a young vineyard being overlooked by the nice looking winery facility. The tasting room here, unlike at Kluge, is right up against the winery and is a lot more homey, even boasting a winery cat named Fritz. Now on the day of our outing we discovered a wonderful surprise, this being that we had come on their potato festival day. This was great for a lot of those in our group as it meant we could get some food into us after what probably equated to a bottle of wine each so far, at the least. After a short break of potatoes, with all the fixings you could ask for, we proceeded to the wine tasting. The tastings here are always quite enjoyable as the staff is always very friendly and extremely knowledgeable, with some great stories to boot. As for the wines they tend to be of a classical European style, which I enjoy, so you don't get these over bearing fruit heavy wines. Of these wines I really enjoyed their amazingly berry filled Rose, which was surprising as I don't normally enjoy as many rose's as I did on this outing. Besides that they also make an amazing Viognier and Tannat wine which I also adore quite a bit.

After First Colony we made our way down a short, winding dirt road to Virginia Wineworks. Out of all the wineries and vineyards we visited that day Virginia Wineworks was definitely the least grandiose of them. After making your way down the aforementioned dirt road you are welcomed by what is essentially a small industrial complex, you have no vineyard or beautiful winery building just a warehouse of sorts.

Now don't let this fool you, it may not be touristy but it boast wines made by probably the most well renowned wine maker in Virginia, Micheal Shaps. Together with partner Philip Stafford, Virginia Wineworks was founded in 2007 after Micheal had spent 18 years making wines in France and Virginia. This talent and experience came together in their project to create the Micheal Shaps and Virginia brand wines there at Virginia Wineworks. Now the actual tasting of these wines was quite interesting as you had to walk through the bottling room and into the barrel room to do the tasting, at what can only be described as a picnic table really. Now again you can't judge the wines by that as this was probably the best tasting I've ever had. To start our wonderful pourer was extremely knowledgeable and friendly, with lots of great stories, and was also Grammy nominated folk singer Adrienne Young. Aside from the amazing server, we had even more amazing wines, such as one of my favourites the Wineworks White as well as the Norton.

Our final destination on this journey was the Vineyard of Sugarleaf and their new boutique winery in the Monticello area. Now technically the vineyard their has been around since 2001, selling their fruit to other wineries in the area, but they didn't have their own winery facility till 2006. Being the new kids on the block was an interesting task for them at Sugarleaf, but one which they quickly overcame with their amazing wines made from their consistently spectacular fruit. Like Virginia Wineworks you have to make your way down a small winding dirt road to make it to their facility. Though unlike Wineworks you are greeted by a lovely vineyard, with an impressively high fence to keep out dear, and a small winery facility once you finally reach the end of the road. The wine tasting room is quite small compared to many of the other vineyards around the area, but is actually quite cosy and perfectly functional for dishing out a bit of wine. The staff at the tasting room where helpful and knowledgable about the wines they served, though not extremely talkative which would have been nice. But that didn't matter too much once you actually got into the wine thoroughly. For me one of their most interesting was their Neubia Nectar which was a spectacular dessert wine that thankfully wasn't too syrupy. Though other notable wines of theirs would have to include the Petit Manseng and their Cabernet Franc.

All in all this was an amazing day out at a variety of absolutely awesome vineyards with a great group of friends, really what could be better in life. We got a bit of history at Jefferson vineyard, along with some superb wines. Then were warmed by the fire at Kluge with a flight of great sparkling and still wines. After that we got a great potato lunch and some wine at First Colony Winery on our adventure farther south of C-ville. Then made our way to the amazing wines, served by a grammy nominated singer, at the industrial site that is Virginia Wineworks. And Finally concluded our day after a stop off to try the new selection at Sugarleaf Vineyards. All of this combined to make for a great time with great friends and a day you should try and replicate if you are ever in the Charlottesville area.