Traveling along Sugar Ridge near Charlottesville, one will find a small break in the ridgeline, shaped like a heart. The aptly named “Break Heart” pass is located a short distance from one of Virginia’s finest boutique wineries White Hall Vineyards.

Former New Yorkers, Tony and Edie Champ, founded White Hall Vineyards in 1992 with six acres of Vitis Vinifera grapes. They selected Albemarle County, in the Monticello Wine appellation, based on the open rolling land, a local community that is supportive of the wine industry coupled with great soils and the 800-foot elevation of the vineyard site.

In relatively short order, White Hall established its reputation as a high-end producer of award winning wines including two consecutive Governors’ Cup in 1997 and 1998. The winemaking philosophy is fruit focused, "wonderful wines are made from the careful handling of great fruit."

Today, White Hall has over 38 acres in production and another 9 acres being replanted this year. The new vineyards will be focused on Viognier, Petit Verdot and Chardonnay. The sign of a winery dedicated to quality is the replanting of vineyards. As these new vineyards will not produce significant fruit for three years, such an investment shows a long-term vision.

Walking into the tasting room on a cold January morning, visitors were welcomed with the distinct aromas of a hard wood fire burning in the fieldstone fireplace that faces the tasting bar. The room itself is both spacious and functional. An octagon shaped tasting bar provides the staff the opportunity to taste with several groups at one time. The warmth of the fire was only matched by the genuine Virginia hospitality found behind the tasting bar. Across the tasting room, windows on the far side provide a bird’s eye perspective to the winery operations.

Not one to take itself too seriously, our recent visit coincided with the winery’s “White Sale” where their white wines were on special. Indeed, I found many of the white wines were quite special.

Over the years, White Hall has collected several medals in wine competitions. Most recently The Virginia Wine Lover magazine bestowed a Platinum medal on both the 2006 Cuvee des Champs and the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon. The 2008 Viognier won a Gold medal and the Petit Manseng received Silver medals.

The 2007 Petit Manseng is a blend of 88% Petit Manseng and 12% Muscat. This wine features peach undertones on the attack, a delightfully light mid palate, a strong well balanced, slightly sweet finish. With .6% residual sugar, I would pair this wine with spicy Thai food or chicken dishes.

For the sweeties in the crowd, the 2007 Sugar Ridge White is a real gem. 100% Vidal Blanc the nose is filled with overripe peaches leading to an attack that is reminiscent of honeysuckle and apricots. The sweeter than average finish lingers on the back of the palate like the memory of a lost love (I told you it was sweeter than average).

St. Valentine may not approve, but I find White Hall Vineyards Non-Vintage Breakheart Red is a most interesting approachable red wine. This Merlot dominated (30%) blend also includes Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Chambourcin (10%), Syrah (10%), Touriga Naçional (6%) and Cabernet Franc (4%). With a nose infused with raspberry and blackberry, this wine has a lighter than average attack but opens up in the mid palate releasing plum and rich raspberry undertones leading to a slightly acidic finish.

While I found the 2007 Syrah to be interesting (spiced pomegranate, deep cherry, long well rounded tannins) Winemaker Michael Panczak has indicated the soon to be released 2008 Syrah may be the best Syrah he has ever made (saying a lot for 25 years of winemaking on both coasts).

Unfortunately, the 2008 vintage will be the last estate grown Syrah White Hall produces. For the 2008 vintage, Panczak took a page out of the Côte-du-Rhòne winemaking playbook and dejuiced the Syrah grapes prior to fermentation and then co-fermented the Syrah with 10% Viognier grapes in small batch fermenters. According to Panzak, and I intend to confirm very soon, the resulting wine is rich and deep with velvety undertones and a touch of peppers and violets. It is with some amount of sadness and heartbreak that the winemaker makes his best vintage in the last vintage of this often misunderstood and underappreciated wine.

Love of Virginia Wine is definitely in the air at White Hall Vineyards. Located a few miles outside of Charlottesville, the tasting room is open from 11 to 5 Wednesday through Sunday. Visit them online at www.whitehallvineyards.com.

Neil Williamson is the President of The Trellis Group, a marketing consultancy focused on Virginia wineries. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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