There are six American Viticultural Areas in Virginia. If Rachel Martin has her way, there will soon be seven, which will bring the total AVAs in the nation to 198. Martin is the executive vice president of Boxwood Winery in Middleburg. Her parents, Rita and John Kent Cooke (of Washington Redskins fame), started it six years ago. Almost from the beginning, Martin wanted to designate the Bordeaux-style red wines that are the boutique winery’s sole focus as “estate grown,” but she couldn’t do that legally without an AVA designation.
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Rachel Martin’s Boxwood Winery produced about 1,300 cases of red wine in 2008. “Our market,” she says, “is people who understand wine and want to learn more about it.” She hopes a Middleburg AVA will enhance the Virginia wine lover’s experience. |
Through its Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, the federal treasury controls the designation of specific wine-growing regions. But it’s not a question of interested parties gerrymandering an area and saying, voila, now we have an AVA. There are geographic, geologic and historic standards at work. To apply for the Middleburg AVA—which, if approved, will include 13 wineries besides Boxwood in and around Purcellville, Middleburg and Delaplaine—Martin worked with soil and geology experts. She had to submit historical and name evidence, too.
Though it was a two-year process, Martin says it’s worth it. She’ll be able to get the term “estate bottled” on her labels, of course, but “the grand idea, the real motor behind it is to make Virginia more recognized,” she says.
Felicia Warburg Rogan, a Virginia wine pioneer now retired from Oakencroft Vineyard and Winery, took up the mantle of a Monticello AVA more than two decades ago. She agrees with Martin. “It’s a fabulous marketing tool,” she says. “The more the better. It brings attention to wineries in different viticultural areas.”
Over at Jefferson Vineyards, General Manager Chad Zakaib says at the moment not many people take note of the Virginia AVAs. But, “as we grow, AVAs will be more and more valuable because over time we should be able to identify traits typical of wines from a particular AVA.”
In other words, just as the venerable designation Chablis gives you some idea of what that particular patch of French land lends to the taste of the Chardonnay grape, so might the Monticello or the Middleburg AVA in time suggest the qualities you can expect from wine grown in those places.
The Tax and Trade Bureau will soon post Martin’s application for 60 days of public comment.
Mountfair’s bursts of red
Speaking of artisanal wineries that specialize in Bordeaux-style red blends, Mountfair Vineyards in White Hall takes an unusual approach to releasing its wines—popping out a new one every three months. Owners Fritz Repich and Chris Yordy host quarterly release parties, and at the most recent, a couple of weeks back, several dozen people gathered to enjoy spectacular views, balmy evening air and Engagement 2008, Repich’s Merlot blend. With its focus on building the case club, Mountfair welcomes many repeat customers and familiar faces to these affairs. Last month, NoVa-based country rockers Stealing the Dead played inside the “cold box” of the winery, while Yordy’s daughter served fried chicken to the hungry.
Darlene Fitts, a therapist from Bowie, Maryland, was on hand with her husband. She linked up with Mountfair, she said, when she met Repich at a Virginia wine festival (Maryland has such restrictive rules for the wine industry, that many folks in those D.C. suburbs venture across the border to taste and buy wine). “He was so nice and engaging,” she said, “and I liked the wine, so every year I went back.”
300 heavy drinkers headed our way
Chalk up another victory for statewide wine marketing: The 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference will be in Charlottesville, July 22-24. Why did the highly opinionated enophiles select our charming city? “The state has 150 wineries and produces a large number of varietals. Equally importantly, Charlottesville is a very cool city with a major university and a fantastic downtown walking mall.”