From Delfosse to Mountain and Vine

Yesterday we learned that malbec is the bacon of wine. Mike, owner of Mountain and Vine, taught us this over the course of our 15-wine tasting. It was a day of great conversation, great value, great wine, and fun exploration.

Mountain and Vine is the new name here as part of the rebranding of Delfosse. They’re just ever so slightly outside of the southern part of Albemarle in Nelson County. It was about a 40 minute drive from home, so it’s in the inner circle and will be easy to re-visit.

This weekend’s visit features one of the blog’s original characters, Co-Pilot, who was visiting from her new home in California. We haven’t done a new winery together in ages, so this was super exciting. Plus she brought bonus, expert photography skills, given that she is now a photographer in an art show!

OK, about the wine – we tasted a lot of them. Mike allowed us to take one white tasting flight and one red tasting flight and share them. This worked great for us.

On the white flight list, we began with the Rosé. This was a very nice Rosé of Merlot, with a little bit of Cabernet Franc in it. This was really pleasant on a hot day, and we went ahead with a bottle outside after we finished our tasting.

The 2022 Sauvignon Blanc was next, and it was lovely. I always love Virginia Sauvignon Blanc, and this was a good example of it. It drank very fresh and crisp, and we took a bottle home.

The 2021 Chardonnay Reserve is described in the notes as having a “creamy palate with lemon curd,” and we picked that right up. I’m not a massive Chardonnay fan, especially if there is any hint of butter or oak in it. This was not by any stretch bad, as it had the nice acidity and freshness, but was not my style.

The 2021 Viognier was surprising, as you probably know I do not much care for Viognier at all. This one was actually a really great example as it did not have the woody taste I find they often have, but I really picked up on the honey and marmalade that the tasting notes mention. I liked this and contemplated taking a bottle home.

The 2020 Petit Manseng was a nice, dry version of this varietal. I enjoyed this, especially since it was fully dry.

Moving to the red wines, we began with the 2021 “1870” which is a blend of 80% Chambourcin, 10% Cabernet Franc and 10% Merlot. I found I liked this one, and maybe it’s something about Monticello AVA Chambourcin, but this is the second time I’ve enjoyed a Chambourcin wine.

We had the 2020 Grinning Fox, which I adored, although my friend did not like the intensity of Petit Verdot quite as much as I did. This was dark and mysterious, as PV usually is, and I loved it. Plus, this was the one we were sipping when Mike mentioned the bit about Malbec being the bacon of varietals. This is 75% Petit Verdot and 25% Malbec. This one came home.

The 2021 Go Go Girl was next, a blend that is 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Petit Verdot and 23% Malbec. My friend liked this better, especially the label, and I found the Cab Sauv took away from the depth and character of the PV in the Grinning Fox and I liked it less. While I love good Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s so hard to grow in Virginia and if it’s not fully ripe, it just takes away from the grapes that did fully ripen. I enjoyed our taste of this, but in my opinion, it’s a soft echo of the intensity in the Grinning Fox.

The 2021 Cabernet Franc Reserve was a lovely example of Cabernet Franc – dark and pleasant. We enjoyed this one, as well as the 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon. Mike did share that they follow an aggressive pruning program in order to work with this vine and get it fully ripe. He feels this one will age well. This was a good example of this varietal too.

We went all in for the tasting of the Governor’s Cup winning Screaming Hawk too. This clearly deserved it’s award. I loved this wine. I splurged and brought the bottle home because it was so good. If they weren’t on the map before getting this award, they deserve to be there now. Saving this bottle for a nice winter night since it’s deep and dark and all the things I love about red wine in the winter.

We finished with the 2020 Petit Verdot Reserve. Unfortunately for us, they had just opened a new bottle and I found this to be wrapped up pretty tightly still. I think we need a new rule that Petit Verdot must be decanted for a good bit before pouring it for your guests. I could see this being lovely, it was just warming up and getting ready for company.

That’s a ton of wine tasting for the price of a flight, and that makes this a great value too. I feel like there are wines here that would be great for a variety of wine lovers – plenty of styles from dry to sweet, from crisp and acidic to bold dark reds. With a broad and diverse menu, there’s something for everyone here.

We grabbed some boursin and crackers and heading out with our bottle of Rosé to enjoy the outdoors. The setting is absolutely gorgeous and low-key, perfect for an afternoon with friends.

I will be excited to go back too, as their new winemaker is on board and they will be working with him on their 2023 harvest.