WTN: Blenheim Vineyards (Virginia Part 2 - Best wines of the trip)

[David M. Bueker]

Part 2 - Blenheim

After a brief stop for a snack post-Veritas we headed south of Charlottesville to visit Blenheim, a newer winery co-owned by UVA grad and jam band king Dave Matthews. (It is funny to note that Blenheim sits atop Carter Ridge, which is not named for Dave’s drummer Carter Beauford.) Winemaker Brad McCarthy is doing very good things with his own vines, as well as sourcing some fruit from other vineyards.

Unfortunately some of the wines were already sold out, but the six we did get to try ranged from very good to excellent.

2004 Star Label Chardonnay – ($14, 12.5% alcohol) Fresh pears and subtle spice on the nose and plate. Fresh and easy to drink, if a bit spicy for my taste.

2005 Blenheim Farm Chardonnay – ($20, 13.5% alcohol) Pineapple and spice, with a crisp but spicy finish. Oaky (fermented in oak per their website), but not heavy at all. Very good for its type (full disclosure: I’m not a fan of oaky chardonnay).

2005 Viognier – ($25, 13.8% alcohol) Smells and tastes like a fresh peach. Some floral accents, but mostly dominated by that fresh peach. This is slightly oily in texture and has a longer finish than either of the Chardonnays. Very good. Yet another example of successful Viognier in Virginia.

2003 Star Label Cabernet Franc – ($14, 12.5% alcohol) Cherries, spice and herbs all melded together and supported by solid acidity. Light bodied and refreshing, with very soft tannins. Excellent for a lighter style red wine.

2004 King Family Vineyards Merlot – ($25, 13.2% alcohol) Deep, supple cherry fruit flavors, as well as some herbal elements. Soft palate feel, and a longer finish than most any red I tasted all day. Very well done, even if I’m not a fan of Merlot.

2005 Meritage – (58% merlot, 40% cab franc, 2% petit verdot, $20, 13.2% alcohol) Raspberries, blackberries, herbs and smoke combine to make this the most complex red I tasted all day. Very well made wine with solid balancing acids and a medium length finish. Honest to goodness value for the money, and I prefer it to the Merlot, though both are excellent.

Putting my personal style preferences aside I thought everything here was well made, and took home a bottle of the Cab Franc and Meritage for further study. I would like to return to Blenheim when some of their other wines are available, as this set of six has me more encouraged than ever about Virginia wines.

Blenheim, a newer winery co-owned by UVA grad and jam band king Dave Matthews.

Good to hear you had a pleasant experience. On the car ride home from a really great tasting experience at Blenheim, my friends and I were spiritedly discussing where the heck McCarthy was getting the investment to operate a winery. The next day my friend sent me a link to a story with Dave Matthews' connection to Blenheim and the subject line of It's nice when you have a sugar daddy . . .. Good laugh, but McCarthy seems to know what he is doing.

By the way, David, have you ever run into the wines of Gabriele Rausse over the years? I have heard much about him as being a giant in Virginia's wine development (along with Dennis Horton and Chris Pearmund), but I never had the chance to try his wines.

Thanks for the notes here and in your other Virginia post, David. It's interesting to see Virginia wineries succeed with varieties like Viognier and Petit Manseng, and a lot of producers seem to be getting strong results with Cab Franc. Sounds like you didn't get to Barboursville (where they do some work with Italian grapes) or Horton (where they seem to stay up nights thinking of new varieties to plant). Just not enough time, or were there other reasons for your choices? Hope you'll cross post--if you haven't already--on the Wine-Related Travel forum.

[David M. Bueker]

I have been to Horton and Barboursville several times in the last few years. This was a one-day tour of some of the places south of Charlottesville.

To be honest (based on tastings in 2004 and 2005) I think Horton does some good stuff, but they need to focus. There's too many wines. Barboursville is better, but with the charges for tasting I didn't get to taste as extensively as I wanted to.