FOOD NEWS
What Makes Virginia's Wine Region Distinct From Any Other
BY RYAN CASHMAN
When you think of wine regions, Virginia may not top the list, but the region has a thriving wine industry that is more unique than any other in the United States.
Rather than housing a wine region, the entire 23 million acres that make up the state of Virginia are a thriving, verdant wine region, making it a unique wine-producing zone.
This is what makes Virginia so unique: It is utterly enormous and ecologically diverse. While there's no one wine or grape specific to Virginia, there is amazing variety.
After 400 years of experimentation, a brief moment of colossal success came in the 1800s when Dr. Daniel Norton developed the Norton grape.
The Norton grape was a crossbreed of native Virginian grapes with sensitive European grapes, resulting in a wine grape that could weather the state’s climate, soil, and pests.
With the Norton grape, Virginia found brief success as the world’s fifth-largest wine producer in the world, but when Prohibition was enacted, the Norton grape was decimated.
By the 1970s, Virginian vintners began experimenting again, with vineyards expanding from 6 to over 300 today, producing 11 varieties from Cabernet Franc to Viognier and Norton.