Tasting at Barboursville Vineyard

As many times as my wife and I have tasted at Barboursville Vineyard or purchased a bottle of Phileo, one of our favorite wines, I have never posted my review of the experience.  Luca Paschina's wine is what started my passion for wine and more particularly, Virginia wine.  Barboursville was the place of my first wine tasting.  We stumbled upon the idea of wine tasting one Autumn afternoon, while I was out "sick" from work.  Sick of work, may have been more of the ailing problem than anything.  With the kids at school, my wife and I decided to explore the area and landed at Barboursville vineyard.  To complete the memory, we followed up with the Barb-Q Exchange (I believe bacon brownies were the treat) and ended with a tasting at Horton Vineyards.

Barboursville Vineyards is also the site of Governor James Barbour's mansion.  The mansion's Octagon shaped Great Room, was created by Thomas Jefferson.  Octagon is also the name of Barboursville's flagship wine, which won the 2013 Virginia Governor's Cup. The tasting experience is great at Barboursville.  The hosts are knowledgeable, professional and fun.  Ask all the questions you want.  This has become one of my go to wineries where I take friends and family, because I know that they will have a great time and walk away with an exceptional wine. I remember Barboursville for their reds and their Vintage Rose.  For some reason I Barboursville makes me a little tipsy every time.  We normally walk out with some bottles of Phileo for storage.  Phileo is a little sweet and seems to go with lazy afternoons.  They also carry a Brut, but it has never been in stock for me to try.   This is usually a good sign.

I originally followed Barboursville with Horton Vineyards, but found that the two tastes didn't mix well.  If you are trying to hit more than one winery in a day, I would recommend Barboursville first and then Burnley Vineyards.  Burnley is sweeter than Barboursville, so you can carry forward off the Malvaxia and end at Burnley with their Rubix.  I am craving both wineries just thinking about it.  Maybe a visit is due soon.

To learn more about Barboursville Vineyard spend some time reading this recent article posted by NY Times: Virginia Wines: In the Old Dominion, a New Terroir.