Something was in the air. Or about to be. I walked into the reception area of Barboursville Vineyards’ offices only to overhear the woman at the desk patching a call into the winemaker about “the helicopters.”
For a brief moment I envisioned some grandiose wedding, complete with choppers whisking away a love struck couple and their closest friends to a reception on manicured grounds in nearby Charlottesville. Or, perhaps, this being a vineyard owned and operated by an established Italian family, a VIP was shuttling in, fresh off a flight into Washington’s Dulles International Airport for a routine inspection of the 150+ planted acres.
It is not difficult to pique the imagination when you set foot on idyllic Barboursville, where the Old World is perfectly at home with a New World winemaking region – Orange County, Va. There is very little – other than a lack of centuries old castles – that keeps one from feeling as though he has come upon a quaint village in the Italian Piedmont.
And this sensation is only made more intense by the lanky presence of congenial Luca Paschina (right), GM and winemaker at Barboursville Winery since 1991. A classically trained Piemonte winemaker laboring here along the northern extremes of America’s Confederate South, Paschina has done more than impose European techniques across the rolling, lush Virginia countryside. He has nurtured and advanced the harvesting of Nebiollo grapes, which are at the core of the most cherished Italian red wines.
I tasted three Barboursville Vineyard reds. This was a mind blowing experience. As a Virginia native, to stand on Virginia soil and savor locally produced, authentic Barbera (2005) and Nebbiolo (2003) reserves, followed by the a classic Bordeaux blend (2004) called Octagon (a tip of the hat to the architectural signature of Thomas Jefferson) … well, it gets your attention.
Like a chopper invasion in the middle of the night. Ah, yes, the choppers. Paschina had two on call because temperatures were forecast to flirt with sub-freezing in the night or two ahead – in early April (2007), mind you. The choppers swoop out of the night sky and push warm air downward toward the vines.
“We knew about (the cold snap) five or six days ago,” he said, a ski cap over his ears. “We’re ready for it.” (The next morning, a blanket of April snow was not as readily expected).
No one could have been ready for the emergence of central Virginia as a wine destination, even though that is precisely what Jefferson, a French wine fanatic, was trying to accomplish in the 19th century. Mother Nature foiled him, but the Zonin family was not to be discouraged. Gianni Zonin unveiled his vineyards here in 1976. The first planting did not survive. Cuttings were sent (with certification) from California. A nursery came to life, growing and nurturing new vines. Paschina was recruited 17 years ago to elevate Barboursville out of obscurity. He isn’t done yet but big strides have occurred.
“I came with a mandate,” he said. “We are now to the point where we can claim this is a wine region. It only comes with time. This is one of the most historically significant regions in America.”
In addition to the vineyards, the tasting room and a new museum opened just last year, Barboursville is the site of charming 1804 Inn and an adjacent guest cottage with two suites. Plus, there is an acclaimed Italian restaurant, Palladio, which offers a four-course prix fix menu ($70 not including wine). Short drives away are the historic homes of Jefferson (Monticello) and fellow Virginia icon James Madison (Montpelier).
History was made here before and will be again, it seems.
