Everyone Went to Football and I Went to… Jefferson Vineyards

I was surprised by how many people were at the winery at 2:00 p.m. given that it was a football game day and traffic had been awful since early that morning. UVA was playing JMU and that clogged any number of roads coming into CVille starting at about 9:30 a.m. I will need to bookmark the football schedule so I don’t mistakenly plan a grocery run, dinner or anything else when there is a football game.

Anyway, it was a lovely overcast afternoon at Jefferson Vineyards to take in a cooler Saturday after an absolutely brutally hot week. It was a four-day week too, and we all know that just means they squeeze five days of crazy into four, making us that much more exhausted on the weekend. So wine it would be. My wine racks are nearly out of rosé and I was craving it bad, and I had been here at Thanksgiving with sister and FBI for reds (they were serving 21s that were nice, but very young) and I wanted to see how the 21’s turned out.

There were a lot of cars in the parking lot when I arrived, and a large number of people sitting outside enjoying the cooler day. I went by myself, on my research mission for the day to take some notes and put my thoughts out there. I didn’t expect any big changes since my visit at thanksgiving, given that the lineup had simply matured in bottle. Jefferson did go through a sale to the Monticello Foundation, but they retained the winemaker and vineyard staff, so things should stay consistent.

When I went inside I was greeted very quickly. They offer tasting flights that you purchase and take to your table, as many wineries have made that shift. The white flight had two Viogniers and two Chardonnays. As you may know by now, it’s rare that I enjoy a Viognier – I find it often has a woody taste, and I think many wineries oak it to hide character flaws in the grapes themselves. It’s a grape that I’ve been burned by enough that I tend to stay away. Every now and then I am surprised and find one I really enjoy, but generally, I turn the offer away. I went ahead with the mixed flight, which offered an apple wine. I asked about trading that away for another red, and the associate appeared genuinely shocked that I asked to trade it for the 2021 Tannat. Oh, sweet summer child. He did let me taste the apple wine anyway with a small sample – it wasn’t sweet at all but had very strong apple flavor. It’s just not my thing, I know some people adore it.

So there I was with four lovely glasses to enjoy on the patio. I would have gone to the garden (in the cover picture for this post) but there were so many people there. By the end of my second glass, the thunder started and the skies were very gray, so the garden emptied, but I’m not trying to carry anything around after drinking two tasting glasses.

I love getting the glasses on a slip of paper that walks you through what you are tasting with their thoughts on it. My memory has gotten much weaker due to age, stress, and well, wine. So this really helps me focus and know what I’m drinking.

I drank the 2022 Rosé first. Primarily Cabernet Franc with a little bit of Merlot added. It was a nice crisp and dry Rosé – tangy with what I felt was cranberry showing up at the front – the notes suggest strawberry and cherry, and maybe I’m interpreting the cherry as cranberry due to the tanginess (not sour at all though). It was refreshing and very drinkable while the sun briefly came out.

The second in my flight was the 2021 Vin Rouge. The associate who poured shared that it was 1.5% residual sugar but said it was not sweet. I was anxious as I lifted the glass, since i had a chance to swap for Petit Verdot, but found no sweetness at all. It had a deep and oakey smell to it but no syrupy or sugary taste at all. In fact a surprising amount of tannin came through, probably because of the oak. I found it tough to identify any specific fruit flavors, but found it pleasant to drink. At the tasting bar I was told that the wine could also be chilled to drink and some were using it to make a sangria. Ahhhh my sangria-making days…. If I do make more sangria, this could be a good base for it. It’s also delicious as it is and I do think it would be good with a slight chill on it.

The third wine in the flight was the 2021 Meritage. Ah yes, Meritage, a Bordeaux blend. I wasn’t told the specific blend going into this, but their site says it is 41% Merlot, 30% Petit Verdot, 29% Cabernet Franc. It was pleasant – there was a ton of oak coming through, which felt to me like it was covering up the fruit in the wine. I got some flavors, but they weren’t distinct. I generally enjoy a Meritage blend, I just wanted to taste more of the fruit in this one.

Finally, the 2021 Tannat. According to the web, this is the first vintage of single varietal Tannat they have produced. I liked this quite a bit – it was dark and very lovely – there was some oak in it again, but it was very good. The site says it aged 9 months in oak, so it picked up some flavor, but I find tannat finds it’s way through just about anything, and even oak cannot dominate it. I enjoyed this one.

I’d like to come back to Jefferson more frequently – it is so ridiculously close to my house, even closer than Gabrielle Rausse or Merrie Mill. I want to check out some of their other wines, as I didn’t sample the 2021 Merlot or Petit Verdot, or any of their white wines either. It’s a nice, comfortable unassuming spot – a cozy place to spend an afternoon with friends with a nice view of closeby mountains. They don’t seem like a big party spot, although there were some larger groups there – maybe six or eight. Thus it’s quieter and more my speed at this stage of my life.

I’d recommend making time to check it out if you have not been, or haven’t been in some time. It’s really a nice stop, and it’s so close to other wineries too – if you don’t find something you love, there are other places very close by. Share your thoughts here when you go!