Wine for Normal People10 Dec 2025

Ep 589: The Monticello AVA of Virginia- The Birthplace of American Wine

Located about 2.5-3 hours southwest of Washington DC, in the southeast of the United States, the Monticello AVA is making world class wines that you need to know about!

Photo: Afton Mountain Vineyards. Credit: WFNP

Although California is the state for which American wine is known, the first place to tirelessly attempt to make premium wine was, in fact, Virginia. In the land Thomas Jefferson, the greatest wine advocate in American history, called home, the third president never realized his dream of making great wine. But in 1976 a couple of prominent Italians made a go of it and since then, the wine of the Monticello AVA, located In the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia, has gone from strength to strength.

In this show I discuss the history of how the Monticello AVA of Virginia finally was able to make good wine on a difficult terroir. I talk about the particulars of the climate and (very diverse) soils, the grapes that grow here (yes, it's mostly Vitis vinifera), the challenges of the business of wine in the Monticello AVA, and then I give my list of top wineries and go into some detail about what makes them great.

Monticello is an evolving story, but it only has upside. If you haven't had the wines from here or visited and you get an opportunity to do one or both, I really recommend it! It's beautiful and the wines are world class (if you stick to my recommendations, there are still people learning here…😂).

Full show notes and all back episodes are on Patreon. Become a member today!

www.patreon.com/winefornormalpeople

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