Situated on the mountain of the same name, in Nelson County west of Charlottesville, Afton Mountain Vineyard has been owned since 2009 by Albemarle natives Tony and Elizabeth Smith. They purchased what was one of the earliest Virginia wineries, Bacchanal Vineyards, first planted in 1978. French winemaker Damien Blanchot grew up in Beaujolais.
Wine. One of the Top 20 wineries in Virginia. Afton Mountain wines have received gold medals in four consecutive Virginia Governor’s Cup state-wide wine tasting competitions. At the 2023 Governor’s Cup, the Afton 2021 Albariño received a gold; at the 2022 Governor’s Cup, both of the 2017 vintage Petit Verdot and “Bacco” (red blend) received gold medals; at the 2021 event, their Cabernet Franc, also of the 2017 vintage, and at the 2020 Governor’s Cup, their 2017 vintage AMV “Tradition,” another red blend, was named one of the top 12 wines of the year in Virginia. The 2019 vintage Tradition, Bacco and Merlot have all been awarded silver medals in the last two Governor’s Cup competitions. The 2017 Bacco and Traditions were also awarded gold medals at the 2022 Monticello Cup wine tasting. Afton Mountain’s Chardonnay was previously awarded gold medals two years running at the San Francisco Chronicle country-wide wine tasting competition, in 2018 and 2019. Winemaker Blanchon believes applying no pesticides and few fungicides to the vines, preferring to leave them largely to themselves; partly due to his origins, Afton is one of the only Virginia producers of Pinot Noir, the red wine grape of Burgundy.
Setting. Three stars. The 50-acre property has spectacular views of the vineyards and the Rockfish Valley. Picnic foods available. The property also has a cottage which can be rented, in case one wants to drink and not leave the wines and the view until the morning.
Stories. Well-behaved Virginia. It seems odd, somehow, with the growing number of wineries across the state, that since 2009 Virginia has not had a vineyard named in honor of either Bacchus or Dionysus. Between 1978 and 2009 there was such a place – Bacchanal Vineyards, predecessor to Afton Mountain. The original owner of the vineyard was a chemist, with no claimed or known descendance from the ancient god of grape-harvests and wine. Virginia’s growing acreage of vines, and reliance on wine or at least winery-centered events, are important elements in the last two decades of economic growth. Of course, advertising event venues for historically no-hold barred Bacchanalia rites would be a bit much anywhere, but Virginia’s classicists and friends of Greece and Rome might still advocate for at least a Bacchus wine label among the vines somewhere. As Dionysus, after all, he was credited with having been the first to produce wine from the grape. Where would Virginia be today without that? At least a faint trace remains at Afton – try the “Bacco.”