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- Blenheim Farm Petit Verdot 2005
- Details for Blenheim Farm Petit Verdot 2005
This thing followed a bottle of the 1985 Dominus- and did NOT fair badly, at ALL.
Stopped us right in our tracks.
I dropped a review in there for it as well. If you're a Virginia red skeptic, you owe it to yourself to get your hands on some of this stuff. To me, at least, this is the kind of wine that will blend the future of Virginia Vino- and put it on the very real map of international competition.
If you were to pour it blind, you would fool 10 out of 10 that it's both from Virginia- and a Petit Verdot, ta boot.
Yo dos pesos.
Chip
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3027 - Reply by Philip, Apr 7.
$40 VA wine - thats near the top of the spectrum there? I want to try more US wine that isnt from CA, OR, WA or NY. I had a great sparkling wine from NM, so am excited to branch out some more.
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759 - Reply by RBoulanger, Apr 7.
Hear, hear!
I'd like to join you in the "Other 46" movement.
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27 - Reply by barri0s1872, Apr 7.
i'd totally be interested in trying this and other wines from the usa states not widely represented also!. One of my coworkers used to work at a winery in virginia and said that the Jackson Winery (or was it Madison, it was named after an early president) made a great petite verdot.
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01 - Reply by jan27, Apr 7.
Another voice heard from -- I too tasted the Blenheim Petit Verdot...absolutely huge!!! I never would have imagined such body & complexity from this varietal. Virginia wines are certainly worth serious attention now.
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- Reply by ChipDWood, Apr 8.
Re Philip: "$40 VA wine - thats near the top of the spectrum there? I want to try more US wine that isnt from CA, OR, WA or NY. I had a great sparkling wine from NM, so am excited to branch out some more."
$40 is- to this point- nearer the higher end. Items like the "Octagon" from Barboursville, various Clarets & the upcoming release of the '07 Shaps Meritage- growing more and more competitive, which WILL lead to higher values. The Blenheim 2005 Meritage, btw, is on sale now for TEN a BOTTLE. I paid $20 a year back and still feel I got a deal.
Pick your spots and you can get in early on some of what I truly believe will be considered as greatness in a matter of years. If you're interested in Virginia wines, check out our "spiffy" little "Virginia Group" here on Snooth, as things are beginning to take shape:
http://www.snooth.com/region/usa/virginia/
Mind your wine makers. Michael Shaps (http://www.snooth.com/winery/michael-shaps/) Brad McCarthy (as mentioned, formerly of Blenheim)- and a good handful of others are making some very real stuff. Stuff that is of a different style than California, with much thanks to the elements of humidity, pests, and rough weather that California and other regions in the US don't need to sweat, pardon pun. It's a more finessed style, and, to my mind- a much more creative one when ya break it down.
It's not run of the mill wine making either. Lots of Touriga Nacional is growing very well down there and being made into ports (see: Veritas, "Othello", which is wicked-good: http://www.veritaswines.com/Admin2/ProductDisplay5.php ), roses, and robust red blends. There are a ton of other discoveries being made in the hills too that go well beyond the now ubiquitous praise for Virginia Viognier.
It's the experimentation with what they're finding grows happily in the soils. THAT, to me, along with the results to this point (as well as the spirit of it down there- contagious) is what is so exciting.
Above: Michael Shaps pops a bottle of the 2007 (a very strong vintage in the 'Fair Commonwealth') Michael Shaps Viognier, with the Virginia Wineworks as the "casual yet uber-productive" backdrop. http://www.snooth.com/winery/michael-shaps/
