INSIDER'S PICK: 2018 DOVECOTE FARM CHARDONNAY MONTICELLO $19.99

At a time like this, it's pretty much impossible to be 'normal'. But it is important to try and keep what you can as close to normal as you can while you can. Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

In the wilds of northern Albemarle County, in the true shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains where cell phone service gets really sketchy, sits Dovecote Farm Vineyards. Planted in 2014 and with only an acre of Chardonnay under vine, it may be early to get TOO excited, but the quality they've pulled from their first vintage makes them worth some extra attention. Their first vintages are being contracted for them at King Family Vineyards, but the fruit is 100% theirs and shows some real distinction. Fresh pear and white fruits on the nose with a touch of zest and minimal oak aromas to get in the way, this is not a wine that's had a heavy hand put to it. The palate has nice natural weight to it, tricky to get from such young vines in the tough 2018 vintage, and again the restrained hand in the winemaking brings just enough malolactic butteriness to give it some flesh, not enough to obscure all the vibrant fruit. A classic Virginia Chardonnay at a very fair price.

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