Matt’s blind tastings are a blast. While some of his events compare Virginia wines to the world, this one focused on tasting across several Virginia Albariños from the 2024 vintage. Matt invited a group that tastes very broadly across Virginia wines and brings awareness of what is currently happening with winemakers around the state. 2025 is my second “Summer of Albariño,” so this was an event I simply could not miss.
Guests included:
- Sarita Cheaves – podcaster and wine judge, host of The Swirl Suite
- Sedale McCall – wine writer and palate king
- Matt Fitzsimmons – list keeper of Va grapes and WineTrailsandWanderlust writer
- Vicky from Vineyarding Across Virginia
- Allison from AllovesVaWine – American Wine Society member and avid class taker – including a class on Albariño! (Who knew this existed?)
- Kathy – another palate hero, wine judge and FromTheseVines.
The featured wines were:
- Afton Mountain
- Arterra
- Boden Young
- Fifty-Third
- October One Vineyard
- Valley Road
- Walsh Family Wine
- Willowcroft
Albariño is a rising superstar in Virginia. It feels like many Virginia wineries are releasing Albariños now, and more are on the way. It seems well suited to our climate and is thriving here, and for the last two years has shown up in the Governor’s Case. We do this grape very well here, and I hope you are sipping some.
Matt started us off with a guest wine to welcome us, Fjord’s 2024 Albariño from upstate New York.
I gotta say, I was surprised by this wine – I had no clue Hudson Valley vineyards could produce an Albariño that rivaled Virginia exemplars. This wine had tropical aromas and gave the characteristic tropical elements on the palette. I will say I found it a little muted and soft compared to Virginia, but it was enjoyable.
We dove into the blind tasting and had our rounds. Since Matt will post after I do, I am not giving away the overall finalists and winner. It is, after all, his show, and he does arrange these events very well.
Round One: Afton versus Willowcroft
Our first round featured Afton Mountain against Willowcroft. These wines were quite cold when poured and as a result appeared somewhat closed at first. The Willowcroft was actually showing a nose that was both grassy and petrol. As they warmed, each changed significantly. At first, neither of these had the classic feel of Virginia Albariño. Once they’d settled and opened, Afton felt more like classic Virginia but I didn’t feel that the Willowcroft got there. Afton was the unanimous winner of the round. I’m honestly shocked at the impact of the chill, but temperature really matters for how the wine interacts with the air, releasing aromas and allowing flavors to express.
Round Two: Arterra versus Fifty-Third
Round two featured Arterra and 53rd. Readers know these to be two of my favorites. From time to time a bottle isn’t right, and that happened here. I buy tons of wine from Arterra and this was the first time and I wish I’d brought a second bottle so we could swap it out. I cannot wait to open another bottle and enjoy the refreshing crisp and clean flavors. Kathy (who also loves Arterra’s Albariño) and I were both shocked. The 53rd Winery sample was classic Albariño to a T. Superbly tropical, with apricot, and the nose perfectly matched the flavors in the mouth. The 53rd unanimously won this round. As you remember, I felt the 2023 vintage from 53rd deserved to be in the Governor’s case. It’s a great and classic example of this grape.
Round Three: October One versus Walsh
Round three was my bliss. These two wines were both excellent examples of Virginia Albariño. We compared October One Vineyard and Walsh Family Wine. Bear in mind, O1V’s wines are produced at Walsh’s crush facility and made by the Walsh team. This was a tough round to select a favorite. O1V came across with a surprising citrus-orange (some said Blood Orange) note and really reminded me of the Passionfruit Cheesecake I had two weeks prior at the Alley Light. The Walsh came across as extremely ripe, with nearly sweet notes but not overly sweet, not like residual sugar. This was a tremendously balanced wine with a little bit of complexity to it. Walsh was the almost unanimous winner to this round.
Round Four: Boden Young versus Valley Road
The final round pitted Boden Young against Valley Road. The Boden Young wine showed the most minerality of all the wines we had, with plenty of melon and apricot in it. The Valley Road by comparison had a fizzy sensation to it when we sipped, and several people noted it. The common comment was sweet – very sweet, with big citrus flavors and lots of peach and melon featured. There was a belief that the Valley Road had residual sugar and was not dry, yet all the information I can find labels it as a dry wine. Boden Young unanimously took this round.
Once we finished, each taster named their top three wines to help decide which two proceeded as finalists – this happened prior to unveiling them all. I voted for wines 6, 7, and 4 in that order, with the Walsh coming in as my favorite. This is the funny thing about blind tastings – If you asked me prior to this day, I would not have said that Walsh was producing my favorite Virginia Albariño right now. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the bottles in my shipment and I think they’re all gone now. But I would have responded that my favorites were 53rd and Arterra. With the labels hidden, this is how things shook out.
Matt will post in a few days and share the finalists and overall winner. To be fair, I didn’t dump any of these wines, and I would very happily enjoy a glass of any of these with friends (well, I guess this whole post is about a time I actually did just that). This does highlight the range of what is being produced right now with this grape. There are examples from other regions, especially around the Chesapeake Bay that I have no doubt show up quite different from Northern and Central Virginia.
I love Virginia Albariño for the characteristic tropical notes, acidity and refreshing feeling I take away on hot summer days. And hence, we are in season two of Albariño Summer. What are your favorites you’re sipping? Do you have tasting notes for any of the ones we tasted above? Drop a comment and let’s compare notes!
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