This week, Wine Enthusiast magazine named its four picks for Wine Region of the Year. Charlottesville, VA and its Monticello AVA were in first place, followed by Lambrusco, Italy; Provence, France; and Swartland, South Africa.
The magazine noted that, despite the irony of Thomas Jefferson’s failed ambitions to create an American fine wine region, starting with his own vineyard at Monticello, two centuries later, “a thriving wine industry has grown along the Monticello Wine Trail, through the heart of the eponymous AVA near the city of Charlottesville.” They pointed out that earlier this year, 58 of the 142 gold medals awarded at Virginia’s Governor’s Cup competition went to members of the Monticello Wine Trail. “The success of the wineries has helped support a thriving tourism infrastructure in the city that is providing a base for wine lovers to discover an historic region with a dynamic new wine scene.”