AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Pollak Vineyards - A New Star in Virginia DATE: 4/12/2008 10:27:00 PM ----- BODY:
A new winery opened for business near Charlottesville this week, and it appears destined to become a must-stop on the Monticello Wine Trail. Pollak Vineyards in Greenwood, Va., is opening strong with some stellar early releases.
Owners Margo and David Pollak are not new to the wine business. David was a founding partner in Napa Valley’s Bouchaine Vineyards. When they decided to return to the wine business, they looked not to California but instead to Virginia, where they found an exciting wine industry and much more accommodating real estate prices. The couple, who currently live in Ohio, bought 100 acres just west of Charlottesville in 2003, and planted 25 acres to vines.
The site would seem to be ideal - just off I-64 (to attract tourists), the vines are thriving on gently sloping land with a south-southeast exposure. When I visited late last month, a week before they opened their doors to the public, a steady wind blew in from the west through the gaps in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Winemaker Jake Busching said the breeze is fairly constant throughout the growing season, helping keep the grapes dry against Virginia’s humidity and lessen the chances of rot. The mountain breeze also cools the grapes, especially at night, helping keep acids and sugar in balance as the grapes ripen, he explained.
This is Busching’s first turn as chief winemaker. He has worked the past 11 years with Michael Shaps, the Charlottesville area’s leading consulting winemaker who has been influential in the early successes of several wineries and last year opened the state’s first custom-crush facility, Virginia Wineworks. (See my profile of Shaps in the March 2008 issue of Washingtonian.) Shaps is also consulting at Pollak.
My first impressions of the Pollak wines were uniformly positive, and best of all, the prices of these initial releases are not in the stratosphere, as happens all too often. All Pollak wines are estate grown, with the Monticello AVA.
Pinot Gris 2007 $16. In bottle just a few weeks, this wine’s aromas were all over the place at first, but the flavors came into focus on my palate - lean and crisp with pear and some apricot and good structure.
Viognier 2007 $18. A fruit bowl in a glass, with apricot, peach and lime zest. Leaving the grapes to soak overnight on the skins - a favorite technique of Shaps’ with Viognier - gives the wine a little extra body without running the risk of letting it get flabby by leaving the grapes on the vine too long, or by using oak. Virginia is making a name for itself with Viognier, but hasn’t quite figured out its best style or price. The Pollak would be an excellent ambassador - priced so that it could be served by the glass in an ambitious wine program, and showing Virginia at its best.
Rosé 2007 $14. A deep red, attractive rosé color, and more cherry in flavor than the typical strawberry. This wine won’t make Pollak’s reputation, except in that bleeding off 5% - 10% of all the reds helps concentrate those wines.
Cabernet Franc 2006 $20. Virginia’s 2006 reds are being touted as soft, early drinking wines to enjoy while waiting for the 2005s to mature (with 2007 apparently being in the 2005 camp). This Franc is jammy, juicy, almost Californian in style (without the lavish oak, thank you, Jake!), with the peppery nose characteristic of the grape. A fun wine to bring a lip-smacking smile.
Petit Verdot 2006 $18. As he poured me a barrel sample of the 2007, Busching admitted that he has a strained relationship with Petit Verdot. “This is a varietal I don’t like until it hits bottle,” he said, tapping his nose. The grape has an unpleasant gaminess, he explained, that needs strict education in wood to overcome. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what he was talking about - the barrel sample certainly needed some time to settle down, but “gaminess” was barely apparent to me, if at all. The 2006 in bottle was round and juicy, certainly more mellow, with a dry, tannic finish. Quite nice for Virginia’s new trendy red grape, and also modestly priced.
Merlot 2006 $18. Juicy, cocoa and plum, soft yet with some depth. Quite nice.
Meritage 2005 $24. The winery’s star, Cabernet Franc 44%, Merlot 43%, and Petit Verdot 13%. Quite stylish and tannic, with blackberry and currant flavors from the fruit buttressed by cola and dill from the barrels, and an extremely long, luxurious finish. This wine will indeed reward some aging, if you can wait.
Pollak Vineyards, 330 Newtown Road, Greenwood, VA 22943. (540) 456-8844. www.pollakvineyards.com .

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Virginia's Garagistes DATE: 3/15/2008 02:18:00 PM ----- BODY:
Virginia wine gets more exciting all the time. We have celebrity sightings and Falcon Crest-style soap operas (the recent saga of Oasis winery), our wedding palaces and a lot of successful people living out their dreams of owning vineyards and producing their own wine. And the quality level is rising as well, despite the state's reputation for inconsistency. (Hey, I've tasted a lot of bad California wine lately.) As the Old Dominion continues to thrive, with more than 130 wineries, there are some smaller ones that deserve attention. They don't seek out the limelight, they don't host polo matches and they won't appear in glamor shots in hunt country lifestyle magazines. Show up at their door, and they'll gladly pour you a taste of wine, but please don't show up in a bus or limousine and by all means don't ask them to host your wedding. I call these winemakers "Virginia's garagistes." We've seen some of this type before, who have succeeded and grown fairly big - Jim Law at Linden Vineyards and Shep Rouse of Rockbridge come to mind - artisans whose focus is on the wine, not the lifestyle, and who sometimes act as though selling their wine is a necessary evil, an unpleasant flip side to the joys of mucking around in the vineyard and tinkering with ornery equipment in the winery. In the March issue of Washingtonian magazine, I profile two of these garagistes. Bernd Jung of Chester Gap Cellars near Front Royal is very much in the Jim Law mold - a winegrower above all, who does his work in the vineyards, sometimes even with a rifle! And Michael Shaps, who made a reputation as Virginia's premier consulting winemaker when he helped several Charlottesville wineries in their early days, is setting out on his own with Virginia Wineworks, the Old Dominion's first custom-crush winery. The March issue is on news stands now, and should be posted late this month on Washingtonian.com. But my detailed tasting notes of wines from Chester Gap and Virginia Wineworks are available online now.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Celebrate American Fizz! DATE: 12/30/2007 11:33:00 AM ----- BODY:
Earlier this year I visited the Champagne region at harvest time, and I've enjoyed tasting several different Champagnes in the months since. At the same time, I explored the current range of American fizz for my December article in Washingtonian magazine. Just as the finest Champagnes are a complex expression of the place, soil and time they are made, some top U.S. sparkling wine producers are focusing on specific appellations and achieving top quality. Which areas are top for U.S. bubbly? Think Carneros, Green Valley, Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley - and one you probably don't know yet: Carter's Mountain. Details in WineLine #63, now available on dmwineline.com. Cheers, and Happy New Year!

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Support Your Local Wine Industry!!! DATE: 8/23/2007 09:28:00 PM ----- BODY:
Like many DC wine lovers, I eagerly awaited the opening of Proof restaurant in the Penn Quarter district, with its avowed emphasis on wines. More than 30 selections by the glass, a reserve list based on the owners personal collection of the best and most exclusive wines of the world - all this seemed too good to be true for the vinoscenti of DC. However, I was dismayed to find on my first visit that the list featured a mass-produced Viognier from California, despite the number of outstanding examples of that grape from nearby Virginia. My first impression is online at Washingtonian.com's Best Bites blog. Cheers! Dave McIntyre

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Summer's Sweet Fruit in a Glass DATE: 7/20/2007 09:44:00 AM ----- BODY:
Summer is a time for enjoying desserts made from fresh berries, peaches, and other glorious fruits of the season. It’s also a great opportunity to linger over dessert wines that echo the same flavors. (Oh, all righty—any season is great for these wines. They work just as well in winter when fresh fruit isn’t available and we can savor its flavor in a glass.)
Whether with a fruit dessert, a savory cheese, or by itself, a well-chilled dessert wine can be a great ending to any dinner. One I especially enjoyed recently was Wölffer Estate 2005 Late Harvest Chardonnay, from the Hamptons on Long Island. It’s a faux ice wine, in that the grapes were frozen after harvest—rather than picked frozen from the vine—to concentrate the juice and the sugar. It features peach, pineapple, and apricot flavors with a long finish. Simply outstanding. (The 2006, now available on the winery's Web site, sells for $37 for a 375ml bottle.)
Wölffer Estate has limited distribution in the Washington region, unfortunately—I picked up the dessert wine while traveling. But several delicious stickies produced locally are worth seeking out. Look for Rockbridge Vineyard’s V d’Or, a consistent winner from Virginia available at Arrowine in Arlington (4508 Lee Hwy.; 703-525-0990) and Total Wine & More in Alexandria (6240 Little River Tpk.; 703-941-1133) or the Elk Run Vineyards Vin de Jus Glacé, a Riesling-based stunner from Maryland available at Beltway Fine Wines (11325 Seven Locks Rd.; 410-668-8884) in Potomac.

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Wine Camp 2006 DATE: 12/28/2006 10:22:00 PM ----- BODY:
Last year I wrote about my family's Christmas ritual, which we call "Wine Camp" - a Stump the Chumps bacchanalia of blind tasting wines from all over the world, especially inexpensive stunners and outré offerings from unusual areas. I always look forward to spending time with Dave Johnson, my sister's husband's sister's husband, who always has some good wines to share. This year's bargain from Dave was Fauna 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand $8, a crisp beauty that avoided going over the top with the ol' grassy-herbals. Not complex by any means, but a great value at the price and good for parties or even as a house white. My ringer this year was Tiger Mountain Vineyards Tannat 2002, from Georgia. No, not "former Soviet" Georgia, our Georgia. Nobody pinpointed the grape or the region, but everyone was impressed by its light, fruity taste and food-friendly body - after enjoying it, we put the rest aside to finish with the Christmas ham! The Tiger Mountain actually was part of an accidental theme this year, as we had more East Coast wines than usual. We enjoyed a Wölffer Pinot Gris 2005 from Long Island ($24), though it was crisp and fruity enough to suggest Italian Pinot Grigio than an Alsatian version. We also had a Pindar 2001 Merlot from Long Island's North Fork, which was a bit heavy with black pepper aromas and flavor, but featured good color, body and just enough fruit to carry it off. Everyone was wowed with the Barboursville Octagon 2004 from Virginia ($40), a Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc blend. After an unsettling whiff of barnyard blew off (we were not decanting or airing these wines as we should have to do them justice), this developed beautifully and showed what I thought were Bordeaux characteristics. Everyone else stayed in the New World, guessing California or Washington. Both of those states were represented though - with Chateau Ste. Michelle Estate Reserve 1989, from the Columbia Valley, another Cab-Merlot blend that was probably better five years ago but was still showing well; and the Pax Syrah Cuvée Catherine from Sonoma County. This huge, inky blockbuster cemented my conclusion from 2006 (which actually began with last year's Wine Camp and my first taste of Pax, courtesy of Dave Johnson) that Sonoma County is heaven for Syrah. More on that theme in 2007! Cheers, and Happy New Year! Dave McIntyre

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----- -------- AUTHOR: Dave McIntyre TITLE: Rosé of Distinction from Virginia DATE: 11/01/2006 09:51:00 PM ----- BODY:

I’ve judged many Virginia wine competitions over the past decade, and one category I always dread is rosé. As much as I champion Virginia wines, when these wineries make a pink or “blush” wine it typically seems like they’re trying to make the best of a mistake. “Oops, we took the juice off the skins too soon and there’s no color. I know, let’s call it rosé!” Or, “Well we couldn’t ripen the Franc again, so let’s blend in a little of this vegetal Seyval Blanc and call it a blush.” They’ll tell you it sells like wildfire at the winery tasting room, but man, it tastes like sweet, unbalanced dreck.

Perhaps it’s a sign of the maturity of the Virginia wine industry that I tasted two dry rosés this past weekend that would do the Old Dominion proud. Albemarle Rosé 2005 from Kluge Estate just south of Charlottesville is made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. Essentially, the winery bleeds off about 20% of the juice from its premium New World Red and its second label, Albemarle Simply Red, to concentrate their flavors. That means it makes about 1,000 cases each year (aiming for production of 5,000 cases when the winery reaches its planned capacity) of this juicy rosé, deep pink in color in the new style that’s reaching a most welcome vogue – finally! – in the U.S. market.

Paler in color and more delicate in flavor, the Barboursville Rosé 2005 is winemaker Luca Paschina’s first effort at a pink wine. Paschina hails from Piemonte, and his rosé reminds this Francophile of the Provencal style just across the border, packing much more flavor than the color might suggest. Crisp and refreshing, this wine is made from Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc, and I do not mind saying that it is among the best rosés I’ve ever tasted.

With the Fall weather turning cool, you’re probably in a red-wine frame of mind. But I urge you to keep rosé in mind – and these two in particular if you happen to be near Charlottesville or elsewhere in Virginia – for your Thanksgiving table. Both of these fine wines will accompany any variety of foods. And, as any true self-respecting Virginian will tell you, the first Thanksgiving was actually in Virginia, at Berkley Plantation. But I don’t want to get into that silliness.

Cheers!

Dave Mc

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