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Mathew Meyer
Matthew Meyer’s 2010 Adagio won the gold medal in the 2014 Virginia Governor’s Cup.
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Photos used courtesy Williamsburg Winery.
Williamsburg Winery Vineyard
Williamsburg Winery crafts many kinds of wine, the better to appeal to entry-level wine drinkers and oenophiles alike.
If you were to give a newborn a taste of wine at birth, that baby might grow up to be a winemaker. For proof, look no further than Williamsburg Winery’s winemaker, Matthew Meyer, a Brit and a UC Davis graduate who left a successful winemaking career in Napa Valley 12 years ago because he was convinced Virginia had the potential to grow great grapes.
“Virginia’s wines bridge the old and new worlds for the best of both styles,” Meyer said.
He proved it to the world when his 2010 Adagio won the gold in the 2014 Virginia Governor’s Cup. The wine also took gold medals at the 2014 International Winemaker Challenge in San Diego and the Beverage Tasting Institute’s World Wine Championships.
“Virginia wines are winning awards all over the place, including best in show and we’re doing that pretty consistently.”
The Art of Wine
The artistry of winemaking speaks to Meyer.
“I like growing something and turning it into a beautiful thing. It’s the complexity of it, being able to put my spin on it.”
Meyer plays classical music 24/7 in the rooms where barrels of wine are stored.
When crafting wine, he considers three factors. Beyond that first taste, it was traveling, drinking, and collecting wine with his father that prompted Meyer to get into winemaking.
“I ask myself, what would he be proud of?”
The second consideration is food because, as he said, Williamsburg wines should be well suited to food pairings.
The third factor? His wife.
“She’s very beautiful and I want my wines to represent her beauty and my love for her. If you’re not passionate and happy, you’re not a good winemaker. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Virginia Is for Wine Lovers
Meyer is fierce about his dedication to Virginia wines, sporting a “Drink Local” hat and refusing to patronize local restaurants with no Virginia wines on their list.
“It’s hard to find Virginia wine outside of a few areas. I’m hoping someday they’ll be available everywhere.”
Williamsburg Winery crafts many kinds of wine, the better to appeal to entry-level wine drinkers and oenophiles alike.
“Our reserve wines are my interpretation of the best of that vintage, a way to showcase it,” Meyer said. “All my wines have balance, elegance, and structure, but each vintage is different.”
The Adagio, for instance, is a premium blend of Bordeaux varietals, but the amounts of each grape used change every year.
“Matthew has no blueprint going in,” said Michael Kimball, marketing guru and wine club manager of Adagio. “It’s the most artistic wine he makes, so you put your faith in his winemaking style. It’s different every single year.”
What does Adagio mean?
The word adagio is Italian for “slower pace,” and that spirit embodies all of Wessex Hundred, the 350-acre plantation where Williamsburg Winery sits. The grounds include a 28-room hotel with wine-region-themed rooms and two restaurants, the more casual Gabriel Archer Tavern, and the upscale Café Provençal, both with strong, locally sourced kitchens.
“You could be anywhere here, Europe even, sitting on the patio overlooking the vineyards, enjoying food and wine,” Meyer said with obvious pride.
“My goal is to be the top wine destination on the East Coast. Why not have lofty aspirations?”
For more information visit williamsburgwinery.com.
This article appeared in The Holiday 2015/Winter 2016 issue of the Local Scoop Williamsburg Magazine, pgs. 48-49.