I think Virginia wines have been a topic of conversation in the past.
A little over a week ago we spent a few nights in Charlottesville, VA.
So much history there - Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others.
Also, lots of wineries, but the snowstorms in almost all of the
eastern U.S. caused lots of problems and hindered our visits to more
of the wineries. We did, however, visit Barboursville Vinyards, home
of the award winning Octagon cabernet. We sampled many of the wines
at the wine bar including the 2006 Octagon and found them to be
quite nice. No samples of the 2004 Octagon - it sells for over $70
per bottle. Purchased a few modestly priced bottles and vowed we'll
visit more Virginia wineries next April.

Dick (From Minnesota, but presently in Hilton Head, SC where my thoughts
turn to good seafood - and a bit of wine)

On Mar 11, 11:54�am, "Dick R." > wrote:
> I think Virginia wines have been a topic of conversation in the past.
> A little over a week ago we spent a few nights in Charlottesville, VA.
> So much history there - Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and others.
> Also, lots of wineries, but the snowstorms in almost all of the
> eastern U.S. caused lots of problems and hindered our visits to more
> of the wineries. We did, however, visit Barboursville Vinyards, home
> of the award winning Octagon cabernet. We sampled many of the wines
> at the wine bar including the 2006 Octagon and found them to be
> quite nice. No samples of the 2004 Octagon - it sells for over $70
> per bottle. Purchased a few modestly priced bottles and vowed we'll
> visit more Virginia wineries next April.
>
> Dick (From Minnesota, but presently in Hilton Head, SC where my thoughts
> turn to good seafood - and a bit of wine)

I've made a few visits to the Borboursville over the years. I found
their lower priced wines a much better product, dollar for dollar,
than the Octagon. I think that the less expensive wines stack up very
well to similar wines from California, Washiington, etc but much
better wines can be found at the same price point as Octagon. I'm
heading back north on Sunday after being in S.W. Florida since
January.....hmmm.

wrote on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:30:08 -0700 (PDT):

> On Mar 11, 11:54�am, "Dick R." > wrote:
>> I think Virginia wines have been a topic of conversation in
>> the past. A little over a week ago we spent a few nights in
>> Charlottesville, VA. So much history there - Thomas
>> Jefferson, James Madison and others. Also, lots of wineries,
>> but the snowstorms in almost all of the eastern U.S. caused
>> lots of problems and hindered our visits to more of the
>> wineries. We did, however, visit Barboursville Vinyards, home
>> of the award winning Octagon cabernet. We sampled many of the
>> wines at the wine bar including the 2006 Octagon and found
>> them to be quite nice. No samples of the 2004 Octagon - it
>> sells for over $70 per bottle. Purchased a few modestly
>> priced bottles and vowed we'll visit more Virginia wineries
>> next April.
>>
>> Dick (From Minnesota, but presently in Hilton Head, SC where
>> my thoughts turn to good seafood - and a bit of wine)

As a neighbor and one who actually knows the owner of a vineyard in
Virginia, I'd say VA wines can be good, especially Barboursville, but
they have a job competing on price with the West or New Zealand. I had a
bottle of Virginia champagne a few months ago and it was very drinkable.
Unfortunately, I can't find my notes of the vineyard.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On Mar 11, 2:14*pm, "James Silverton" >
wrote:
> *wrote *on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:30:08 -0700 (PDT):
>
>
>
> > On Mar 11, 11:54 am, "Dick R." > wrote:
> >> I think Virginia wines have been a topic of conversation in
> >> the past. A little over a week ago we spent a few nights in
> >> Charlottesville, VA. So much history there - Thomas
> >> Jefferson, James Madison and others. Also, lots of wineries,
> >> but the snowstorms in almost all of the eastern U.S. caused
> >> lots of problems and hindered our visits to more of the
> >> wineries. We did, however, visit Barboursville Vinyards, home
> >> of the award winning Octagon cabernet. We sampled many of the
> >> wines at the wine bar including the 2006 Octagon and found
> >> them to be quite nice. No samples of the 2004 Octagon - it
> >> sells for over $70 per bottle. Purchased a few modestly
> >> priced bottles and vowed we'll visit more Virginia wineries
> >> next April.
>
> >> Dick (From Minnesota, but presently in Hilton Head, SC where
> >> my thoughts turn to good seafood - and a bit of wine)
>
> As a neighbor and one who actually knows the owner of a vineyard in
> Virginia, I'd say VA wines can be good, especially Barboursville, but
> they have a job competing on price with the West or New Zealand. I had a
> bottle of Virginia champagne a few months ago and it was very drinkable.
> Unfortunately, I can't find my notes of the vineyard.

[Delurking after long absence] We're big fans of VA wines; but never
really of Barboursville. Linden is maybe our favourite, with Afton
Mountain (whites) and White Hall (reds) also up there. If you find
the sparkling wine notes I'd be interested :-).

Ewan

Ewan wrote:
> On Mar 11, 2:14 pm, "James Silverton" >
> wrote:
>
>> wrote on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 09:30:08 -0700 (PDT):
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>On Mar 11, 11:54 am, "Dick R." > wrote:
>>>
>>>>I think Virginia wines have been a topic of conversation in
>>>>the past. A little over a week ago we spent a few nights in
>>>>Charlottesville, VA. So much history there - Thomas
>>>>Jefferson, James Madison and others. Also, lots of wineries,
>>>>but the snowstorms in almost all of the eastern U.S. caused
>>>>lots of problems and hindered our visits to more of the
>>>>wineries. We did, however, visit Barboursville Vinyards, home
>>>>of the award winning Octagon cabernet. We sampled many of the
>>>>wines at the wine bar including the 2006 Octagon and found
>>>>them to be quite nice. No samples of the 2004 Octagon - it
>>>>sells for over $70 per bottle. Purchased a few modestly
>>>>priced bottles and vowed we'll visit more Virginia wineries
>>>>next April.
>>
>>>>Dick (From Minnesota, but presently in Hilton Head, SC where
>>>>my thoughts turn to good seafood - and a bit of wine)
>>
>>As a neighbor and one who actually knows the owner of a vineyard in
>>Virginia, I'd say VA wines can be good, especially Barboursville, but
>>they have a job competing on price with the West or New Zealand. I had a
>>bottle of Virginia champagne a few months ago and it was very drinkable.
>>Unfortunately, I can't find my notes of the vineyard.
>
>
> [Delurking after long absence] We're big fans of VA wines; but never
> really of Barboursville. Linden is maybe our favourite, with Afton
> Mountain (whites) and White Hall (reds) also up there. If you find
> the sparkling wine notes I'd be interested :-).
>
> Ewan
It was James who had notes on the Barboursville bubbly.
Afton Mountain and White Hall are close to Charlottesville?
We'll be returning there to visit more wineries next April when it's
not snowing.

Dick

On Mar 13, 2:29*pm, "Dick R." > wrote:
> Ewan wrote:
> > [Delurking after long absence] We're big fans of VA wines; but never
> > really of Barboursville. *Linden is maybe our favourite, with Afton
> > Mountain (whites) and White Hall (reds) also up there. *If you find
> > the sparkling wine notes I'd be interested :-).
>
> It was James who had notes on the Barboursville bubbly.
> Afton Mountain and White Hall are close to Charlottesville?
> We'll be returning there to visit more wineries next April when it's
> not snowing.

Dick -

- yes. Afton Mountain is just west, up under the eponymous mountain;
White Hall is the closest winery to C'ville, I believe. I also like
Horton - which had slipped my mind - also close, and a very pleasant
drive from C'ville; their ports are perhaps the best offering, but the
Norton also deserves attention. I hate to think of what my moves have
done to the carefully gathered vertical of Nortons which I really
really need to find time and company to drink.

Ewan wrote:
> On Mar 13, 2:29 pm, "Dick R." > wrote:
>
>>Ewan wrote:
>>
>>>[Delurking after long absence] We're big fans of VA wines; but never
>>>really of Barboursville. Linden is maybe our favourite, with Afton
>>>Mountain (whites) and White Hall (reds) also up there. If you find
>>>the sparkling wine notes I'd be interested :-).
>>
>>It was James who had notes on the Barboursville bubbly.
>>Afton Mountain and White Hall are close to Charlottesville?
>>We'll be returning there to visit more wineries next April when it's
>>not snowing.
>
>
> Dick -
>
> - yes. Afton Mountain is just west, up under the eponymous mountain;
> White Hall is the closest winery to C'ville, I believe. I also like
> Horton - which had slipped my mind - also close, and a very pleasant
> drive from C'ville; their ports are perhaps the best offering, but the
> Norton also deserves attention. I hate to think of what my moves have
> done to the carefully gathered vertical of Nortons which I really
> really need to find time and company to drink.
>
Thanks for the suggestions, we'll check them out next year!

Dick wrote on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:52:13 -0400:

> Ewan wrote:
>> On Mar 13, 2:29 pm, "Dick R." > wrote:
>>
>>> Ewan wrote:
>>>
>>>> [Delurking after long absence] We're big fans of VA wines; but
>>>> never really of Barboursville. Linden is maybe our
>>>> favourite, with Afton Mountain (whites) and White Hall
>>>> (reds) also up there. If you find the sparkling wine notes
>>>> I'd be interested :-).
>>>
>>> It was James who had notes on the Barboursville bubbly.
>>> Afton Mountain and White Hall are close to Charlottesville?
>>> We'll be returning there to visit more wineries next April
>>> when it's not snowing.
>>
>> Dick -
>>
>> - yes. Afton Mountain is just west, up under the eponymous
>> mountain; White Hall is the closest winery to C'ville, I
>> believe. I also like Horton - which had slipped my mind -
>> also close, and a very pleasant drive from C'ville; their
>> ports are perhaps the best offering, but the Norton also
>> deserves attention. I hate to think of what my moves
>> have done to the carefully gathered vertical of Nortons which
>> I really really need to find time and company to drink.
>>

I still can't find my notes but I think, after searching the web, that
the Virginia sparkling wine that I drank was "Prince William" but I
don't remember the vintage year.I have a URL whose title will gladden
the hearts of patriotic French Champagne drinkers: "Virginia's so-called
champagne." http://tinyurl.com/djavxy Eight wineries are mentioned
including one whose prices have to be delusional.


--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not