King Family Vineyards, Roseland

DAVID AND ELLEN King had been looking for 5ha of flat land for a polo field when they bought Roseland in 1996. Vines weren’t even a thought; but in 1999 the first ones went in. You might see a paradox here: a polo field needs flat land, and vines usually prefer slopes. But, says winemaker Matthieu Finot, polo fields also need good drainage, and that’s where the terroir wins. It’s also high up on the edge of the Blue Ridge mountains, in an area that in the time of Thomas Jefferson used to be called Mountain Plains. Finot is from the northern Rhône, but even so, he doesn’t miss steeper slopes.

Now there are now 12.5ha of the varieties that seem to suit Virginia so well: Petit Manseng, Viognier, Petit Verdot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, plus Merlot and Chardonnay.

This blend of about half Chardonnay, the rest Viognier and Petit Manseng, evolved, one gathers, because it works: Chardonnay brings weight and some apple and pear notes, Viognier brings its honeysuckle and apricots, and Petit Manseng, as well as pineapple and citrus notes, brings acidity – plenty of it. Even at high sugar levels (and it was originally planted here for dessert wine) Petit Manseng has a very low ph.

It’s a beautiful blend: perfectly integrated flavours of herbs, grass, hay and summer meadows, very long and complex. There’s no new oak; just steel, old oak and acacia barrels. A grown-up wine with about 13% alcohol, fresh and balanced.