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2/6/2004 - Luca at The Boar's Head Inn, Charlottesville |
Our winemaker returns to Charlottesville's renowned Boar's Head Inn for the Friday evening reception kicking off the annual 3-day Vintner Weekend exploring the wines of Barboursville Vineyards through a wine seminar, cooking class, and winery tour.
For further details, contact The Boar's Head Inn, (800) 476-1988.
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12/1/2002 - Luca & Melissa Host Annual Christmas Dinner, James Beard Foundation |
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The James Beard House on West 12th Street in Greenwich Village was the setting, December 16th, for an exultant Christmas Dinner for 74 of New York's leading enthusiasts for fine food and wine. Invited by the Foundation established to carry on James Beard's encouragement of the finest dining in America, Luca brought some of the most exciting wines we've ever produced, to pair with a menu created by Chef Melissa Close to share Palladio's extraordinary fluency in the subtlest details of a memorable feast. In the event, guests assured us it would not go too far to say there isn't another winery or restaurant anywhere that could have given such a dinner. We were honored to support the goals of the Foundation (www.jamesbeard.org) with a presentation of our best, and truly grateful for the inspiration to continue on our path. |
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12/9/2002 - First Snow of Winter: First Pressing of Malvaxia/Passito |
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A fresh blanket of snow brought a hush to the winery on the morning of December 5th, as it was time to bring the 2002 harvest of Malvaxia out from rack drying and daily hand-selection for the pressing which will lead to a long, slow fermentation in stainless steel, continuing in oak barrel. Viticulturist Fernando Franco (left) and associate winemaker Stefano Salvini (center) lead Michela, Freddie, and Buchi in this phase of the passito process we are introducing to Virginia winemaking with the release of the 2001 vintage, in 2003. Return to this page for updates in the life of this exciting wine. |
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11/15/2002 - Sauvignon Blanc Wins Virginia'd 1st Gold Medal |
Sauvignon Blanc 2001, acclaimed "Best in Show" at August's Virginia Winegrowers Competition against 380 wines, has taken the first Gold Medal ever awarded a wine from Virginia, against 450 wines of the world in The Old Ebbitt Grill's annual "Oysters for Wine" competition. This spectacular vintage of Sauvignon Blanc follows a 2000 which took the Double-Gold Medal at the Taster's Guild.
Winning Silver for the 3rd time in 3 entries, Pinot Grigio (2001) was joined by Barboursville Brut in placing among the top 20 wines in the competition. The 3 wines have in common a brilliant freshness of varietal fruit, dryness with a luscious dimension, and a beautifully clean finish. Oysters never had it so good.
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7/23/2002 - Sauvignon Blanc "Best in Show" and 10 Medals at Virginia Wine Growers Competition |
SAUVIGNON BLANC 2001, following up on the Double Gold Medal at the Taster's Guild for the 2000 vintage, claimed the GOLD MEDAL and BEST IN SHOW at this year's Virginia Wine Growers Competition, against the largest field of entries (243) in Virginia winegrowing history. A marvelously typical exemplar of the varietal which was Ernest Hemingway's favorite, Sauvignon Blanc 2001 explodes with bright, dry citrusy fruit and brisk acidity, making a superb complement to the fish and shellfish of the season, and a great aperitif with a wide range of hors d'oeuvres.
Lovers of our PINOT GRIGIO, the single most honored wine in Virginia history, may also celebrate. The Pinot Grigio 2001 won the GOLD MEDAL in the same competition, having continued to sustain the wine's incomparable record of winning a Governor's Cup medal in every vintage.
But beyond doubt, the story of this year's competition is the dramatic achievement of CABERNET FRANC, the only wine varietal from any winery to claim 2 GOLD MEDALS with 1 vintage. Both the classic Cabernet Franc '99, a unique blending of Loire Valley and Bordeaux clones of this grape, and the Reserve Cabernet Franc '99, blending only the Bordeaux clone with our finest Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, claimed the Gold Medal in the red wine for which Virginia is most famous. As produced at Barboursville, Cabernet Franc has always been a "reserve" wine in all but name (our 1998 Cabernet Franc was cited as an Example of American Greatness). The release of a named Reserve in any vintage will always express a difference in style, never in quality. With the 1999 vintage, Barboursville remains the most honored producer of Cabernet Franc on the East Coast. |
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6/17/2002 - Wine Industry Person of the Year, Cabernet Franc Claims More Gold |
Popularly chosen by Virginia wine industry professionals as their Person of the Year, for diverse contributions to the industry and its recognition outside of the State, Luca Paschina received the award at the Annual gathering for the Virginia Wine Honors on June 17th. Awarded to the man or woman whom colleagues feel has contributed the most to Virginia wine, this year's Person of the Year citation recognizes Luca for sustained leadership in promoting co-operation with other wineries, to advance the quality of wines throughout the industry by sharing experience and knowledge together.
"Wherever I travel outside the State, I put a couple of bottles of wine in my briefcase and I do not represent just Barboursville, but Virginia wine."
At the same time, he received the Gold Medal for Cabernet Franc Reserve '99, which has been widely accepted as the finest Cabernet Franc Virginia has ever produced. For Luca and Barboursville, this was the second Gold Medal for Cabernet Franc in 3 vintages (the '97 vintage won the only Governor's Cup ever given to a Cabernet Franc, while the '98 was cited by the Homestead Invitational as an Example of American Greatness, and the still unreleased 2000 vintage has already won the Gold Medal at the Pacific Rim International). Asked what we could look forward to after these honors, Luca replied, "The 2001 vintage."
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9/25/2002 - Barbera 2001 takes Monticello Cup... and Chardonnay Gold Again |
For the 2nd time in 3 years, a winery classic has been awarded the Monticello Cup, and for the 3rd vintage in 4, Barbera Reserve has achieved the highest ranking in a leading Virginia wine competition. The wine of "everyday drinking" in Piemonte, our winemaker's native province, Barbera's unrivalled consistency relies on its authentic Piemontese method of cultivation and an extraordinary adaptation to our terroir.
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In the footsteps of the '98 and '99 vintages, which were the most highly-pointed Gold Medal wines at the Virginia Winegrowers Competition '00 and '01, Barbera Reserve 01's honors at this year's Monticello Competition (awarded to Phileo in 2000) follows its bottling by less than 60 days, and represents our first revelation of how outstanding the reds of 2001 will be.
Also at Monticello, our oak-free Chardonnay 2001 received the first Gold Medal of its vintage's competition, continuing a long tradition. In Charlottesville at C&O Restaurant, and in Richmond at the Berkeley Hotel, this beautiful vintage may be found served by the glass with some of the finest dining in Virginia.
On the eve of bottling Barbera Reserve 2001, we were honored to host Sommelier Gordon Leigh, of McLean's famous Capital Grille, with barrel tastings at our Palladio Restaurant. We agreed on the spot to plan the Release Dinner for this vintage at Capital Grille, co-hosted by Luca Paschina. Watch this space for an announcement of the date, and visit the annual Monticello Wine Festival at Charlottesville's Boar's Head Inn on October 5 and 6, for a preview tasting of our first Reserve release of 2001. Meanwhile, the first bottle of this Cup winner in private hands is in the care of a great wine steward, whom we thank for his encouragement. |
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4/24/2002 - Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, Gold Medals awarded to winery classics |
The 2002 Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, tasting 2,225 wines from 398 wineries of countries bordering the Pacific, has just awarded the Gold Medal to Barboursville Brut, our classic sparkling wine, and Cabernet Franc 2000, to be released this fall after a few more months in bottle.
A non-vintage favorite of celebrations throughout the year, our Brut has just been selected for the 30th Anniversary celebration of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Oratorio Society, on the Lawn at the University of Virginia.
Emulating our outstanding 1993 vintage, Cabernet Franc 2000 blends our bright and elegant Loire Valley clone with select Merlot, and is aged in French oak barriques for 12 months. Anyone anxious to sample the 2000 vintage before its winery release, may find it exclusively at The Inn at Little Washington, where it is the new House red wine. |
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7/22/2002 - San Francisco International Wine Competition, 3,800 wines, 1 Gold Medal for Nebbiolo |
Notoriously difficult to grow even in Piemonte, Italy, where it is produced as Barolo or Barbaresco, Nebbiolo grows just as unforgivingly in Piedmont Virginia, responding only to the grower who is willing to be with it every day, and sacrifice yield for perfection in ripening and acidity. Demanding in the vineyard, Nebbiolo is equally imperious in the winery. Unlike Syrah (16 Gold Medals in San Francisco) or Cabernet Sauvignon (20 Gold Medals), Nebbiolo cannot (and in Italy, may not) be rescued by blending or other intervention.
True Nebbiolo is always scarce, and emerges fully only with substantial bottle age, yet is beyond compare in complexity, depth and elegance.
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The only Nebbiolo to receive the Gold Medal in the 2002 San Francisco International Wine Competition, the 1998 Reserve represents our first vintage, and is revealing its character on the timetable we predicted on its release in November, 2000. With the Gold Medal from San Francisco, Nebbiolo now joins the Cabernet Franc, Octagon III, Barbera Reserve, and Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve of 1998 as the most honored red wines in our history, and that "vintage of the century" finds the largest international wine competition in the United States, conferring the Gold Medal on the wine which was grown to be its masterpiece.
Nebbiolo Reserve '98 is available only at the winery. |
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11/16/2001 - Our first Cabernet Franc Reserve, Still having fun |
Our 1997 Cabernet Franc won the 1999 Virginia Governor's Cup, the only time a Cabernet Franc has claimed that honor.
Our 1998 Cabernet Franc was cited by the Jefferson Cup Invitational at The Homestead as an Example of American Greatness.
Since the 1999 vintage, our Cabernet Franc has been the House Red wine of the most honored restaurant in Virginia, The Inn at Little Washington.
Winegrowing in Virginia has lavished us with many occasions for thanks, for which we naturally turn to Cabernet Franc to express them.
Thanksgiving Weekend, we release the first-ever Cabernet Franc Reserve, at our winery Open House on Saturday and Sunday, November 24th and 25th.
With this wine we give thanks to our terroir, and to the people who share it with us.
Thank you, Virginia. |
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9/22/2001 - Octagon IV: Discovering another Jewel |
We are happy to celebrate the outstanding growing season of 1999 and a superior harvest from this estate's Goodlow Mountain vineyard, with our 4th Edition of Octagon. As a wine we allow ourselves to create only in vintages of exceptional merit, Octagon is now established as our winery's most complex, concentrated, and elegant bottling of Merlot, carefully blended with other varietals depending on the characteristics of the specific vintage.
A notably dry season in 1999, and low-yield spur pruning on our vertical trellising system, enabled our Goodlow Mountain Merlot to struggle, gradually, to produce fruit of first-class ripeness and balances of sweetness and acidity. So well-rounded was this Merlot vintage that we chose to blend it with only moderate amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon and our Bordeaux clone of Cabernet Franc (8% each) -- also cultivated on Goodlow Mountain, in the same rootstock, trellising, and pruning systems.
A Virginia creation resembling a bold but silky Pomerol, the new Octagon acquires a lively, peppery complexity from the Cabernet Franc, and augmented tannic structure, depth, and elegance of finish from the Cabernet Sauvignon. As in the case of 1998's Octagon III, the new Edition is aged for 13 months in our exclusive small barriques of new French oak, medium toasted, and further aged in stainless steel tank for a perfect integration of flavors before bottling.
Finally, we are proud to express our warmest thanks to our friend, Roberto Donna, owner-chef of Washington's Galileo Restaurant, for joining us at the winery September 22nd, Saturday, in releasing Octagon IV with a Harvest Feast of his creation. By a coincidence we certainly did not forecast in 1999, the 2001 harvest is a tremendous success as well, so we take great joy in celebrating one great vintage under the promise of another.
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8/30/2001 - Pinot Grigio sets the Honors pace for Summer Whites |
Pinot Grigio 2000 has been hailed by VINTAGE EXPERIENCES as Tops among 35 Pinot Grigio blind-tasted from the leading vintners of the world, including Northern Italy, south Germany, and Alsace. Syndicated critic and former Los Angeles Times wine editor Dan Berger sums up the Pinot Grigio 2000 this way—"In our blind tasting... we found many superb examples. The most startling of the bunch was from Barboursville Winery in Virginia, made by winemaker Luca Paschina and handled about as brilliantly as could be. Terrific stuff." ("Pinot of Excitement," July 19th, entire article reprinted by permission.)
The "excitement" in Pinot Grigio began with our founders in the Veneto in 1821, and at Barboursville with our first vintage in 1992. With 8 straight vintages of gold medals in international tastings and wine competitions, including medals every single year at the Virginia Governor’s Cup, no wine produced in the Eastern United States has come close to this consistency. Now, it has begun to dawn on critics and other growers that Pinot Grigio is not only a beautiful alternative to chardonnay, it’s a beautiful grape for Piedmont Virginia growing conditions.
As winegrowers involved with Pinot Grigio for the past 7 generations, we were committed to Pinot Grigio before it was "cool." We always will be, for what Dan Berger sums up as a "startlingly fresh" wine of distinctive but delicate aromas and flavors, with a tenacious yet elegant finish like no other on Earth. Cultivated, harvested, and vinified in much the same profile as our Pinot Grigio, vintage 2000 also gave us a superlative Sauvignon Blanc and non-Reserve Chardonnay. The latter has the essential aromas and flavors of classic Chablis winemaking, great palate freshness and sustained, clean finish. The Sauvignon Blanc, offering the vivacious citrus and herbal pleasures typical of Sancerre, took the Double Gold at The Taster’s Guild this year and has rocketed to the finest wine lists in Virginia.
Together, our Summer Whites follow the palate just where it wants to go in warm weather—to oysters and crab, clams, grilled tuna or swordfish, and lighter pastas. |
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8/18/2001 - Again, Barbera leads in Gold |
At the Vinifera Wine Growers Association Competition in 2000—the official wine competition for the annual Virginia Wine Festival at The Plains—the highest Gold Medal awarded to any wine went to the Barboursville Vineyards Barbera Reserve, 1998 vintage. At the same competition this year, with 198 wines being entered, the highest Gold Medal will be awarded again to the Barboursville Barbera Reserve—vintage 1999.
Why such unanimity from year to year among the judges—rating all red wines and all white wines together, in the most competitive field in Virginia winemaking?
Because the medal goes to the quality of the product, we hesitate to answer that the unique character of the grape accounts for these honors. But if we produce a fine Barbera, it is because we love it and know it well. For centuries it has been the staple, everyday wine of my home province in Italy—Piemonte . In recent years, Italians have corrected a historic tendency to over produce ("overcrop") this grape for its simple, refreshing acidity, by lowering the yield to produce a better concentrated and balanced Barbera.
It is in this new tradition of richer, more robust and yet earthy and refreshing wine that we have produced Barbera at Barboursville since 1991. Fermented in stainless steel, our Barbera is then aged in medium-toasted French oak for no more than 6 months, and is presented to be consumed at its best in the near term, within its first 2-5 years.
What makes Barbera exceptional among our reds—and appeals to wine lovers and critics alike—are its fruit flavors followed by a sustaining acidity, rather than by tannins. (If there could be said to be a "Pinot Grigio" of red wines, Barbera would sweep the field.) But this is unmistakably red, red wine, of lovely raspberry and plum-like fruit, bright finish, and immediate approachability with a broad spectrum of foods. A stunning complement to fettucine in butter and sage, braised lamb shoulder with onion, or wild mushroom risotto with sausage, it still loves the lasagne of every day. |
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