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Vyne
Wine Bible

Region · Virginia, USA

Virginia

ver-JIN-yuh

Cabernet Franc's American home

Vineyard landscape
Vineyard landscape

A humid, improving East Coast cellar: Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Viognier, and a few stubborn, excellent estates.

  • red currant
  • violet
  • pencil shavings
  • peach
  • cedar

Jefferson wanted Bordeaux. What the state does best is Cabernet Franc and, in warm years, Petit Verdot. Viognier was an early flagship. Humidity, vintage swing, and a short commercial history mean you should buy growers, not appellations.

It is not Napa, and it should not try to be. The best bottles taste of the Piedmont (the American one) and of Franc.

Roast pork, ham, and the vegetable garden.

At the table

Service

Franc 55–59 °F (13–15 °C); Viognier 50–54 °F (10–12 °C).

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