No more than 15 minutes off Grounds lies a mystical land beyond your wildest dreams. It is a land of glorious scenery, colorful yet friendly characters and grapes. Lots and lots of grapes. This is wine country.
Many U.Va. students probably don't realize that we live in the midst of one of the nation's most up-and-coming wine regions. Many U.Va. students probably don't care -- but they should.
For a lot of students, non-academic pastimes revolve around consuming can after can of cheap, watered-down beer and Solo cup after Solo cup of jungle juice at the obligatory frat party. Both are good for little more than getting as drunk as possible in as little time as possible. We would dare say that a majority of students' experience with wine is minimal at best and limited mainly to beverages that come in jugs or boxes -- they require air-quotes when referred to as "wine."
This is a sad state of affairs. Face it: We all have been stereotyped as elitist snobs with popped collars and fat wallets who fill our gold-plated goblets with Cristal while beaching our father's yacht on the shores of some uncharted island. While we know this isn't true (for the most part) there is frankly nothing wrong with living well. Why not?
Wine doesn't have to be about snobbery, and you don't even need a fat wallet to drink well in a town like Charlottesville. We have never had to spend big in our three-plus years at U.Va., and we still feel that we enjoy what we call "the good life" when it comes to drinking.
The question now becomes why our opinions matter. We aren't the world's leading authority on wine (except, of course, at parties), but we do have a passion we want to share.
We regularly take time to visit area vineyards and restaurants in an effort to sharpen our palates and better appreciate wine culture. Our passion is Virginia wine, which will be the main focus of future articles.
We hope to broaden your horizons and allow you to develop a better understanding of Virginia's wine culture. Over the coming months, we will review specific wines as well as vineyards and show you how wine can help fill that gaping void in your life. We hope that, at the very least, our column will help you navigate the wine list at local restaurants or even make that lucky lady or gentleman caller swoon with something other than a bottle of André on Valentine's Day.
We welcome your suggestions via e-mail -- we're always looking out for new wines that we may have missed in our travels.
This week, we recommend one of our favorite red dinner wines from good ol' Virginia: the White Hall Cabernet Franc, bottled by White Hall Vineyards just west of Charlottesville. (For best results, read the following description in a sophisticated British accent.) This peppery blend of primarily cabernet franc grapes mixed with small portions of petit verdot, tannat and cabernet sauvignon grapes is a classic example of a well-crafted red that brings out everything it should in terms of balance, flavor and aroma. It is medium-bodied, with a peppery nose and hints of raspberry on the finish.
Since the flavors may be a bit overwhelming for some to enjoy alone, try pairing it with delectable penne or even a thick steak to bring out the best in both. (If the above description was completely over your head, we promise to fully explain wine-tasting terminology in future articles. So keep reading.)
Bottles of the 2003 vintage run $13 at local groceries with a selection of fine wines. But if you're lucky enough to find a restaurant that carries the 2002 vintage while on a hot date, splurge and you will be sure to astound. Cheers!
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
