Jefferson, an Octagon and a Bordeaux Blend

 All too often we confine ourselves to familiar wines from familiar appellations. We’re awash in Napa Cabs, Willamette Valley Pinots and the like. But there are some really nice wines out there from relatively unfamiliar areas. It’s fun to try something different periodically to see how wines made from similar grapes and blends vary among regions.

Virginia is a great place to find some interesting, good quality wines with a wide range of grape varieties. Virginians have tried to make quality wine since colonial times but have only succeeded in recent decades. Soon after Jamestown was settled, the colonial legislature required every male colonist to maintain at least ten vines - that’s enlightened government at its best. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington founded a company in 1773 that purchased 2,000 acres near Monticello to establish a winery. While there were some successes over the years, quality wine never really caught on until the 1970s. Today, Virginia has nearly 300 wineries and produces some really nice wines.

Barboursville Vineyards, the most honored winery in Virginia, was established more than forty years ago by Gianni Zonin, the seventh generation of a wine making family from Italy’s Piedmont region. It's located just north of Charlottesville, in Virginia’s Piedmont region, on the site of a historic mansion designed by Jefferson for then-Governor James Barbour. The mansion, featuring a signature octagonal drawing room, was built between 1814 and 1821 and destroyed by fire in 1884; its ruins remain on the site.

• Barboursville is a great place to visit. The winery is spectacular, and there is a restaurant and an Inn on site.  Charlottesville, Monticello and the Blue Ridge mountains are nearby.

The top wine from Barboursville is called “Octagon,” honoring the old mansion's signature design element. This wine is only made in the best vintages, and is a Merlot-dominant “Bordeaux blend.” Octagon blends similar grapes, grown in similar soils and climactic conditions, to wines produced in Pomerol on Bordeaux’s right bank.

Our wine of the week is a 2015 Barboursville Octagon (about $42 retail). The label (shown above) features Jefferson’s plan for the Barbour mansion. We really liked this wine and it’s a relatively good value. This particular vintage is 50 percent Merlot, 30 percent Petit Verdot and 20 percent Cabernet Franc, and it has about 13.5 percent alcohol. The wine has aromas of red fruit, spice, herbs and oak notes. On the palate it’s full bodied with plum, red berries, spice and tangy notes. It’s a nicely balanced, moderately complex wine with a nice, long finish.

• The 2015 Octagon probably will continue to develop over the next few years and will last for more than a decade.
• We paired it with a steak and it really shined.

Cheers!