The air of excitement emanating from just about every wine glass I picked up may have been due to my pleasure that Thomas Jefferson had at last been vindicated. Or perhaps it was because the people around me (Virginia winemakers, for the most part) were thrilled that a California outsider was interested enough to fly back to see what was up.

To be sure, any enthusiasm I witnessed on a five-day trek to northern and central Virginia must be tempered by the fact that some people (mainly the 100-point reviewers) may not understand the higher acid levels of these wines, or their endemic varietal and regional characteristics.

However, what I discovered on this Virginia tour was a startling level of sophistication that will unquestionably not translate to the wine lovers who believe that Screaming Eagle is the epitome of red wine perfection. Whites, reds, and even sparklings, however, show where Virginia has been since I first visited its wine country in 1989 and witnessed a cocoon that had yet to display much butterfly.