Our Superior Octagon Offer – Web Store Navigation Assistance

Buongiorno ~

On Saturday the 14th, we issued a very rare Offer for the holidays, reproduced below, of two of our most illustrious vintages of Octagon — 2009, and 2019. Several friends immediately contacted us, however, with questions about accessing the wines at our web store. We apologize, and present direct links to each one of these vintages :

https://bbvwine.orderport.net/product-details/0077/Octagon-2019

https://bbvwine.orderport.net/product-details/1023/Octagon-2009

Reflecting upon our winery’s year, with the fullest gratitude, I write to welcome you to share in our good fortune, with an offer of genuine value to your Cellar for years to come. In our Notes since late Summer, we’ve made no secret of our respect for 2024 as one of the finest growing seasons in this century. When we turn to history for examples of this year’s excellence, we don’t search first for the wine, but for the vintage. Even then, in the finest vintages, Octagon inevitably leads the field.

To explain the character and future development of 2024, we must recall two of our most distinguished vintages ever, 2009 and 2019. Of Octagon 2009, only a strictly limited supply can be made available. For the 2019, a fuller supply will be limited only by a brief duration. These selections are framed to enrich the future as well as to celebrate the best of our past, and will continue from today through January 13th, 2025.

Friends would have expected me to offer the 2009 vintage, which gave us the Octagon which won our 4th Virginia Governor’s Cup, a wine I have never hesitated to admit to being a great personal favorite — as winemaker and wine drinker. That growing season was, still, one of the most welcoming ever to greet our viticulturists, with rain appearing only when wanted, and boldly warm days and cool nights right up through harvest. We recognize that the crucial difference between 2009 and 2024 – this year’s extended Summer drought – was very fortunately relieved by necessary irrigations from our own lakes.

Octagon 2009 has been conspicuous by its absence for years from our Cellar offerings, being sold only in highly limited quantities for dining at Palladio Restaurant. To celebrate with our year-ending holidays, I am releasing Octagon 2009 for sale from this date through January 13th, 2025, online or at the winery, in an allocation consisting of 48 750ml bottles, 10 1.5-litre Magnums, and 3 Double-Magnums. For friends who have discovered our wines only in recent years, I’m especially glad that this allows a legendary reference point in our history to take its place among favorite personal memories. Regrettably, there must be a purchase limit of one such bottle per person, in each of the three formats, within this overall supply.

Happily, discounts of up to 10 percent per bottle can still be achieved when a full mixed case is purchased. What greater urgency can there be, to restock inPinot GrigioorVermentino Reserve, to save also 10 percent on one or two of the finest wines ever produced in Virginia?

Also of very timely interest now, we turn to the 2019 vintage. Many of our friends had not made adequate provision for Octagon 2019 in their cellar, before it was withdrawn from sale last January on the release of the 2020 vintage. Effective today and through January 13th, 2025, we are restoring the 2019 vintage to availability, and at the same price as Octagon 2020. Again, we anticipate the excellence of 2024 in this re-release of Octagon 2019, rated 94 Points by James Suckling, and named by Wine Enthusiast among their 100 Top Wines of the World in 2023.

Preparing this Note, I brought home a bottle of 2009 Octagon in order to experience the wine’s evolution, to share it with you. Upon decanting it, I allowed it to rest for 45 minutes and then I started enjoying it with dinner. The color was still very vibrant, like a deep ruby gemstone. Aromas of ripe fruit, spice and earth are very complex and elegant, and have slightly softened from what I recall at the release of this wine in 2012.

I also uncorked a bottle of the 2019 which resembles very much the 2009 in its youth. Not surprisingly the aromas of red fruit were more dominant than spice and earth, the tannins more evident and vigorous, a characteristic that can be balanced easily by simply pairing with a lavishly marbled rib eye, or even a grilled fatty fish such as black cod or cobia. Here, Palladio Restaurant’s Chef Michael Clough presents an ideal pairing, a seared breast of duck in a sauce of dried cherries and Octagon.

I then re-tasted both wines the following evening, which is something I frequently do to appreciate the progression of a wine when exposed to air. In both cases the complexity slightly diminished in the fruit tones and was augmented in the spice and earthiness, while the tannins were just a touch softer — a great testament to my belief that Octagon is a wine suitable for aging for decades.

We can never predict the rating a fine wine will receive, but we all know when we’re given one. We’re exceptionally fortunate to share from 2009 and 2019, to glimpse a bright future and to revel in the present. Thank you, and best wishes to all.

Cordialmente ~

Luca Paschina Winemaker