I recently was able to go on vacation visiting Napa and Sonoma counties in California. As I introduced myself to the tasting room staff and told them I was from Virginia I believe they were quite taken aback with my amount of knowledge and that I wasn't an aficionado of "fruity" wine. I think it's still somewhat the stereotype in the west that us east coasters are still finding our way in the wine world.
While we were there my friend and I visited about 18 wineries all over the place. In Sonoma we were in the Alexander Valley, the Dry Creek Valley, and the Russian River Valley. In Napa we tried wines in Napa proper, Yountville, Rutherford, Calistoga, and St. Helena. The California climate can specialize in varietals that Virginia can't even touch (the big one being Cabernet Sauvignon). But where I think Virginia has California beat by a mile is the exquisiteness of our Viognier. I only had one Viognier in California that I thought could rival Virginia's.
My assessment as we were leaving is that Virginia can easily rival in the white wine world. I absolutely loved the concentrated Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel which California does very well but I was very happy to return back home to the warmer weather that we have been having and open up a delicious bottle of white wine.
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