| Winery Founders Host Celebration of a Publishing Milestone
Gianni and Silvana Zonin hosted a memorable celebration September 6th at the winery they founded 32 years ago, on the publication of the first serious history of Virginia viticulture as seen through the life of this centuries-old estate.
 This sumptuously illustrated and vividly narrated history, written and photographed by Chiles T.A. Larson, Barboursville Vineyards: Crafting Great Wines Inspired by the Spirits of the Past, is available at select Charlottesville bookstores and at the winery and our online shop.
Among friends returning to Barboursville for the occasion were Governor Kaine and Mrs Anne Holton Kaine, former Governor Gerald Baliles, the Italian Ambassador, the directors of Monticello and of Montpelier, state and county leaders, distinguished winegrowers and members of the press, and numerous unofficial enthusiasts for fine wines, including a Justice of the Supreme Court.
As at all festive occasions at Barboursville, the evening was a spectacular showcase for Chef Melissa Close of the winery’s Palladio Restaurant, to present some of her most classic and inspired dishes -- a Piemontese “plin,” or petite hand-rolled ravioli, stuffed with ricotta and herbs and served in a savoury chicken broth; followed by an extravagantly luscious loin chop of lamb in licorice glaze from the Valtellina valley of Lombardy; and concluding with a dessert of flash-fried ravioli of fig honey and buttermilk blue cheese, served with Barboursville’s own fresh seedless grapes.
Fittingly, the wines selected for the evening included those which Governor Kaine had poured for Queen Elizabeth II at the Jamestown celebrations of 2007 - Barboursville’s signature unoaked Viognier Reserve, its Monticello Cup-winning Octagon, and the double-Governor’s Cup Gold medal-winning Malvaxia Reserve. |
