Two Virginia wines from myvinespot.com

Virginia is one of the emerging wine regions in the United States.  I've enjoyed a number of the wines I've bought down there -- always in Richmond retail outlets, since I go on family business and have no time to visit wineries.  And I've followed the tasting exploits of Dezel Q., the tireless taster and photographer (well, I think his young lady does a lot of the picture-taking) of the blog myvinespot.  In a short time Dezel's emerged as the foremost chronicler of Old Dominion vino.

Dezel tasting

Dezel merchandising...he sent me a myvinespot pen too








So, Dezel's a bona fide winelover with a focused marketing sense and editorial profile.  All good.

And he's a nice guy too.  You can imagine my surprise and delight when I received two bottles of wine from the Horton Winery of Spottswood, Virginia. Compliments of Mr. Myvinespot.

So what were these wines like?  Read on.

Horton Norton 2003

This combination of names confused a friend yesterday.  He thought I meant Norton the Argentine producer.  Norton is the name of a native grape variety that enjoyed wide acceptance in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Jancis Robinson, who has a very open mind about some of North America's native grapes and especially the European American hybrids, says this about Norton in the Third Edition of the Oxford Companion to Wine:

Arguably the only variety of american vine species origin making a premium quality wine. Little known and little grown outside the eastern and midwestern united states, Norton is undoubtedly underrated because of entrenched bias against non-vinifera varieties. In Arkansas and missouri, it was the mainstay of an extremely important wine industry. Leon D. Adams calls Norton ‛the best of all native American red-wine grapes‚ and praises it for its wines‚ lack of foxy character.

Arguably is right. This version of Norton to me does have a sharp "foxy" character at odds with the less teeth-grating vinifera varieties of Europe.  There's a harsh undertone of acidity and a Concord grape undertaste that's also at odds with the pleasing nose, which reminds me of a slightly green Bordeaux Bourgeois of years ago.  I found it rather hard to drink on its own and with my simple meal of meatloaf.

Horton does put lovely labels on their bottles, though.  A real plus for the women who purchase 60+ % of the wne in the United States.

Horton Cabernet Franc(90%) with small percentages of Touriga Nacional and Tannat  2000
 
This wine I found far more pleasing, although I feel it requires a meal to counter its rather rowdy acidity and riot of flavors.  The winery's web site lists "aromas of violets and tar [which] combine with spicy oak lavors in this spicy wine."  I'd add that the long finish was heavy on Damson plums, a curious and somewhat pleasing mix of dark fruit and nervy acidity.

Would I seek out the Norton again?  No.  The Cab Franc?  Yes.

Are either of these wines cookie-cutter products?  No! They exhibit definite, individualistic aroma and flavor profiles.  I'm not sure they're where they need to be or where they will have risen to in four or five years. But they offer real individuality in a Great Lake of over-manipulated, standardized pseudowines. 

All I can say is the Virginia wine industry should be damned grateful to an ardent advocate and critic as our blogging friend Dezel. 

As he says, "Happy sipping!"

Comments

[Richard]

Terry,

I am going to VA end of the month & hope to get to a winery or 2.

PS, finally finished with your Flickr Italy pics (tax season derailed me). In the words of Borat "very nice, I like".

[Terry Hughes]

Check with Dezel on some of the best to go to. Or check his site.

[Richard]

Will do. I was at Barboursville last time. Wine Spectator ran a great article on VA wineries last year. I still have the issue.

[Fredric Koeppel]

"Horton Norton." isn't that a book by Dr. Seuss?

[Terry Hughes]

One guy thinks of the winery in Argentina. You think of Dr. Seuss. I think of Jackie Gelason yelling, "NAWTON!" Note how quickly it descends.

[East Village Wine Geek]

Loved the octagon from Barboursville when I tried it a year or two ago. I also had a pinot grigio that was really nice. There are a couple of solid producers out there. Actually i think you have sparked something. I am going to look around and see if there is any virginia wine available in NYC and try it out. Other than Horton. Maybe I will save a bottle for the next "NYC bloggers Summit";) By the way the pinot grigio from Va was recommended to me by an Italian! Go figure.

EvWg

[Terry Hughes]

The Italian Barboursville connection makes sense because the winery is owned by the mega-producer from NE Italy, Zonin.

Their wines from here seem better than the ones from Italy! (Their winemaker is of course one of Zonin's homeboys.)

I think very highly of the Barboursville product myself. And the prices are very reasonable.

Getting the stuff's a bit hard in NYC. They have a tiny selection at Astor.

[Todd]

Don't disregard all Norton wines based on your displeasure with Horton's 2003 Norton. To truly discover Norton, you must try a norton wine made in the midwest: Kansas, Missouri, or Arkansas specifically. These wines are incredibly robust with smooth finishes. Virginia's Norton is playing catchup. And even within vertical vintages at Horton, the 2000-2002 nortons are much better than the 2003.