Wines From Virginia 6 Bottle Mixed Case Offer For Winter 2009

Ref. 11004

The Oxford Wine Company has just taken on three wines from the relatively unknown wine producing area of Virginia on the east coast of the United States. Here the wines that stand out are Bordeaux blends and, interestingly, Viognier which comes out as wonderfully aromatic and comparatively restrained - especially when compared with west coast wines and the New World in general. This is an area of small production boutique wineries that have no interest in producing large quantities of branded wines.

Our introduction to these wines was a tasting presented by Chris Parker from New Horizon Wines who represents a number of Virginian wineries in this country. Based on this tasting I would say that quality is definitely variable from winery to winery, but two producers stood out for us. Firstly the Boxwood Winery from Middleburg, an area renowned for its rolling hills and world famous horse farms. Their first vintage was 2006 when, under the consultancy of international winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt, the winery produced the Topiary and Boxwood cuvees, premium Bordeaux style blends.

We are currently stocking these two wines from the 2007 vintage. They are certainly very different to any Napa Meritage blend in that they display more typicity and possess a lot more aromatic properties than their west coast counterparts. Here are my notes on the two wines:

Topiary Cabernet Franc/Merlot 2007 - £23.95

Slight age at rim. Creamy integrated newish oak with medium ripe complex aromatic fruit, balanced acidity, ripe tannins, smooth texture and a good finish. Stands out for its Cabernet Franc typicity and aromatic complexity. Very good.

Boxwood Cabernet/Merlot/Petit Verdot 2007 - £23.95

Black/red. Integrated new oak with concentrated, deep rich fruit, good aromatic development to palate, complex, very rich and ripe with dark chocolate undertones, good balanced acidity, ripe tannins and a long finish. Concentrated and complex. Excellent.

We were also impressed with the overall quality of the Viogniers and finally settled on the White Hall Vineyards Viognier 2007 from Monticello, not far from Thomas Jefferson’s original mountaintop home which he designed himself. We were impressed by the restrained and aromatic qualities of this particular wine which provide a strong contrast to many overblown examples from the New World.

White Hall Vineyards Viognier 2007 - £16.95

Strong green colour. Pleasantly restrained, not over ripe style showing bright well balanced and highly aromatic fruit, good acidity and subtle flavours of straw and peach combined with an extremely long finish. Good.