Anyone who knows me well knows I love music and wine. So what could be better than spending a fall afternoon at one of your favorite musicians winery and enjoying great wine! Both came to fruition at Blenheim Vineyards. For those who don’t know, Blenheim Vineyards was established in 2000 by owner Dave Matthews and is located just outside of Charlottesville, Virginia. An environmentally-friendly building, the winery was designed by Dave Matthews (along with William Johnson). Blenheim has two vineyard sites growing European varieties including Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Viognier, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
The tasting included eight wines and a beautiful view of neighboring Kluge Estates vines for $5. From top to bottom, I enjoyed all of the offerings. Anyone looking for value (who isn’t these days), Blenheim offers a 2008 Chardonnay for $15 and a 2005 Meritage at an unheard price of $10. Both deliver solid value and would be great house wines. The 2008 Viognier was my white of the day and retails for a very fair $19. For the reds, I enjoyed the 2008 Seven Oaks Merlot and Blenheim Farm Cabernet Franc, $18 and $22 respectively.
If your a fan of Dave Matthews, and more importantly great wine, I recommend jumping on the Monticello Wine Trail and paying Blenheim Vineyards a visit. Be sure to tell them TheOther46.com sent you. Cheers!
As a huge Dave fan, this sounds like a great place to try some good value wine (Meritage)…. would you say the Viognier and other varietals are fairly priced or does the name behind the winery tend to crank up the pricetags?
Cheers!
Hi Randy,
The Viognier along with the other varietals are definitely fairly priced, especially considering the name behind the label. The vast majority of wines in Virginia command a premium, and who can blame them, they sell every single bottle. But Dave’s wines were competitively priced with the big boys. Great value from top to bottom and loads of potential to come, especially with their new winemaker (Kirsty Harmon) taking over the reins. Definitely a Virginia winery to watch in the near future. Cheers!