Welcome to our video podcast - Mid Atlantic Wineries Series - Barboursville, Virginia - Video Show #16.

Click the Image Below to Play the Video:

Owned since 1976 by the Zonin family of Italy, the historic Barboursville estate is named after the town, which in turn is named for James Barbour, a former governor and senator from Virginia in the early 1800s. In fact, Barbour’s old estate house (which burned in a fire in 1884), was designed by Thomas Jefferson, and had the familiar octagon-shaped parlor, a design used often by Jefferson. The Zonins ushered in the first successful vitis vinifera plantings in the state (Jefferson gave it more than a few tries, but wasn’t successful).

Join us as we talk with Luca Paschina, General Manager and winemaker for the past 17 years. We’ll walk around the grounds and over to the estate house ruins, and then through their very modern winery. The tank room was huge, and we asked if they did custom crush here as well. No, he said, it’s like a kitchen. If you have extra pots and pans when you cook, you don’t need to wash anything out to use it. In other words, they had as much space as they needed without having to empty this or that tank for a new load of fruit. Luca feels that they are beginning to figure out what grows best here, and what makes the best wine. Interestingly (yet, maybe not so surprisingly), he said both Barbera and Nebbiolo do well, and Viognier is his choice as most successful white grown in the vineyard. Also produced are Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc, as well as Sauvignon Blanc, Reisling, and Pinot Grigio.

Sponsor: Beaches of South Walton: www.beachesofsouthwalton.com