INSIDER'S PICK: 2018 EARLY MOUNTAIN 'YOUNG WINE' VIDAL BLANC $19.99

Experimentation in the wine world usually happens using small steps and small amounts of wines. You can't make bold changes with the bulk of your production for fear of the financial disaster should something go wrong. This is why most of the more avant-garde trends in winemaking evolve from regions that have excess volume (France, Spain, Italy) and can spare the odd 500 case production without batting an eyelash, or from forgotten vineyards of less desired grapes (Chile, Argentina, California) that nobody was using anyway. Virginia has neither of these situations, with most wineries struggling to find enough mature and quality vineyards to get them from one vintage to the next. Most experiments happen in 1-2 barrel lots (R Wines, Lightwell Survey) if at all. Which is why Early Mountain's 'Young Wine' series is such a breath of fresh air, building both the white and red offering in a 'bistro' style using more naturalist styles of wine making. It would be very easy to make a Vidal Blanc in the slightly sweet mode that most wineries put forward, but this provides a whole new direction for a grape that actually does quite well in our climate.

A bright gold color in the glass, but if you look closely at the wine in the bottle there is the slightest of haze to the wine from being left unfiltered and only the slightest of clarification. This is one of the more natural/non-intervention styles of winemaking employed here that helps give the wine more texture without having to leave in residual sugar or age it in barrels. The melon and pear fruit aromas get a pop of cool citrus that freshens them up considerably, almost hinting at the zestiness of a Sauvignon Blanc. On the palate the texture is clean and quenching with the fruit leaning into the drier more melon rind profile as well as a pear skin and slightly herbal finish. This is not your typical safe and simple Virginia wine, but a successful version of a bistro style wine that you will be hard pressed to find done as well on domestic soil. Pop and enjoy with all kinds of light cheeses, snacks, and small plate dishes.

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