The Cabernet Franc’s triumph this May, in an international competition of 1,700 wines judged by 14 prominent wine writers, worldwide -- from Saveur, Decanter, the Bloomberg Report, and the San Francisco Chronicle, among others -- marked more than just another vintage of gorgeousness, in one of our most widely esteemed varietals. It marked the 10th vintage in a row of the most conspicuous dominance in red wine of any varietal in the Eastern United States, capping a 30-year commitment to Cabernet Franc since the founding of this vineyard in 1976. Barboursville is the sole vineyard in the region to sustain successful production of 5 different clonal selections in this grape, always testing belief in its adaptability to this terroir, against the most enthusiastic pursuit of even more beautiful wines in the future. With this competition, we joined the select company of only 5 other producers, from Bordeaux to California, with one of the finest expressions in Cabernet Franc in this world. Purchase this wine here.
We have been admonished by very friendly and expert opinion in the international wine press, that it is unpromising to grow Nebbiolo outside of Piemonte, Italy, its home terroir. This advice reached us after the 1998 Nebbiolo Reserve won the San Francisco Gold Medal in 2002, and meanwhile, the vines flourished with rewarding impertinence. With the awarding this June of the 2008 San Francisco Gold Medal to the 2005 vintage, our recklessness is becoming unconcealable. And, if anyone should know better, it is our winemaker, Luca Paschina, who grew up in Piemonte in a Nebbiolo-growing family, and took his degree in viticulture from Piemonte’s leading academy in wine. The truth of it is, our terroir in the Virginia Piedmont is not any more inhospitable to the leading grape of Piemonte, than it is to the region’s leading winemaker. There were more than 30 gold medals for Cabernet Sauvignon in San Francisco this year, to 1 for Nebbiolo -- the ratio was 20:1 in 2002 -- but we are not entertaining advice to trade these unique Nebbiolo Gold Medals for any few dozen in anything else. Purchase this wine here.
We have been admonished by very friendly and expert opinion in the international wine press, that it is unpromising to grow Nebbiolo outside of Piemonte, Italy, its home terroir. This advice reached us after the 1998 Nebbiolo Reserve won the San Francisco Gold Medal in 2002, and meanwhile, the vines flourished with rewarding impertinence. With the awarding this June of the 2008 San Francisco Gold Medal to the 2005 vintage, our recklessness is becoming unconcealable. And, if anyone should know better, it is our winemaker, Luca Paschina, who grew up in Piemonte in a Nebbiolo-growing family, and took his degree in viticulture from Piemonte’s leading academy in wine. The truth of it is, our terroir in the Virginia Piedmont is not any more inhospitable to the leading grape of Piemonte, than it is to the region’s leading winemaker. There were more than 30 gold medals for Cabernet Sauvignon in San Francisco this year, to 1 for Nebbiolo -- the ratio was 20:1 in 2002 -- but we are not entertaining advice to trade these unique Nebbiolo Gold Medals for any few dozen in anything else.