Chambourcin and Petit Manseng from Virginia

This past weekend I was in Alexandria, VA for my sister’s wedding. It was a happy, but very busy affair and I very much wish I had stayed a few days longer. Thanks to my sister I did manage half a day to explore a few close-by wineries: Narmada, Grey Ghost and Pearmund. Mostly I was interested in the unique varietals being grown in Virginia (namely Chambourcin and Petit Manseng) and I managed to bring back a couple of bottles in my luggage without any unfortunate accidents.

Reflection 2010 from Narmada, a dry Chambourcin. Lots of spice and red fruit with hints of eucalyptus and other herbaceous notes throughout. Soft tannins and some smokiness lead into a medium finish. I had this bottle open for a few days and found that it really opened up by day 3, I really hadn’t expected it to last that long. It’s always a pleasant surprise when a wine gets better after being opened more than 24 hours.

For those who have never heard of Chambourcin (no shame in that, I had no idea what the hell it was before a week ago), it is a French-American hybrid of uncertain parentage that has only been commercially available since 1963. Produces dry, aromatic red wines with deep-red coloring, used in both single-varietal wines and blends.

Late Harvest Petit Manseng 2010 from Pearmund Cellars. I tried both their dry Petit Manseng and the late harvest while I was there and preferred the dessert wine surprisingly enough. Stone fruit notes were present in both, tart and crisp in the dry while overripe and candied in the sweet. The other major similarity was the high acidity found in both. In the dry it was close to overpowering, you almost didn’t pick up on anything else, but in the late harvest it balanced perfectly with the sweetness. It’s incredibly rare that i find a dessert wine I enjoy (and that's not ridiculously expensive) and this late harvest Petit Manseng was definitely the favorite out of the four wines I brought back.