First Day in Monticello

First off, my wife is a good sport. She is on the risk-adverse side, so the fact that she willingly accompanied a couple of friends and me to Skydive Orange to watch us willingly jump out of an airplane at 13,500 feet needs to be commended.

After that feat, we celebrated by visiting some of the Charlottesville area's most well-known wineries. This is my first trip down to the wineries of the area and they have, for the most part, lived up to the rave reviews I have been hearing since I started this blog a couple of years ago.

We started at Barboursville because, given its size, reputation and Most-Favored Winery status in the Governor's Mansion, it was the logical place to start. I wasn't a fan of all of their wines - their Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc for the whites and the Sangiovese and Merlot left much to be desired - the quality of the Reserve lines more than lived up to the winery's reputation. I couldn't help think that Barboursville is as close to the Napa Valley wine amusement parks like Beringer and Robert Mondavi that we will ever have on the East Coast, but it is well worth a trip and became so popular with good reason.

This Year's Bracket Challenge

Jefferson Vineyards was the Big Winner Among Stiff Competition

Once again, we stole a perfectly good idea from the NCAA and turned it into a wine tasting event. Unlike last year, which was co-hosted by Jessica Milby at One Classic Wino, this year's tasting was cosponsored by Fabbioli Cellars - last year’s big winner.


To level the playing field, this year’s Bracket Challenge consisted of all Virginia Cabernet Francs, with a number of bloggers, restaurant and wine industry professionals tasting and judging the wines. Other bloggers included Allan from CellarBlog, Kurt from Wine About Virginia and Frank from Drink What You Like. Unlike the men’s basketball tournament, there are a lot fewer fake injuries and poor refereeing during wine tasting.

Tools of the Trade for this Year's Challenge

The 16 wines tasted were from wineries from all around the state, and all had won Governor’s Cup honors. While all the wines were Virginia Cabernet Francs, the diversity of the wine’s appearances, aromas and tastes led to some interesting discussions and opinions. Some were overflowing with green pepper, some had more graphite to them, and others smelled like a cranberry bog.


Pitting 16 Virginia wines against one another demonstrated not only the diversity of flavors and growing regions around the state, but also of increasing quality. While some of the wines were on the light, thin side, others could more than hold their own with Cabernet Francs – or Cabernet Franc-heavy blends – from other winegrowing areas of the world.


Of the wines that made it to the Final Four, one was from Loudoun County and the other three were from the Charlottesville area. Jefferson Vineyards was the night’s overall winner. Congratulations to the winemaking team at Jefferson Vineyards for creating this year’s Bracket Challenge winner. 

This Year's Winner & Runner-Up.  Next Year, the Winning Winemaker will get to Cut Down a Net

Virginia Wine Keeps the Accolades Coming

February was a good month for Virginia wine, and March is shaping up to be just as good. In terms of recognition, February saw Virginia wines receive several prestigious awards both near and far and March has been dubbed, “Virginia Wine and Dine Month.” If it seems as if there is a Virginia Wine marketing tie-in for every month of the year, you’re not too far off. Indeed, the wines are getting better and those tasked with marketing Virginia wine are certainly earning their salaries.

The Governor’s Cup was awarded to Glen Manor for their 2009 Hodder Hill Meritage. Glen Manor was up against some of Virginia’s other great wineries and the honor is well-received for their Meritage, which is not a variety of grape, but a name given to American wines that blend traditional Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petite Verdot) into a single wine. I have mentioned the Old World characteristics that Virginia wines have in the past, and the Glen Manor Meritage is a great representation of this. With Virginia growing some of the best Cabernet Franc in the world, it is no surprise that blends that incorporate this grape – as well as the single varietal offerings made from Cabernet Franc – are helping Virginia stake its claim in the wider world of wine.

Other wines that went up for the Governor’s Cup included Meritages produced by Delfosse, King Family Vineyards, Potomac Point and Veritas, as well as both red and white single varietal wines. Past winners have included fantastic whites and reds from all of the state’s growing regions – from Charlottesville to Fairfax.

Glen Manor certainly is in good company, and the accolades keep coming for Virginia Wine. Internationally, a Loudoun County wine – BreauxVineyards Viognier – made British wine writer and top wine taster Oz Clark’s list of the 250 best wines in the world - breaking the top 100 at number 87. What is more remarkable is that Breaux Vineyards is one of only three U.S. wineries to appear on Mr. Clark’s list.

Certainly, the awarding of the Governor’s Cup and the inclusion of Breaux Vineyards in Oz Clark’s 250 best wines are just two honors that have been bestowed on Virginia wine recently. With the quality of Virginia wine continuing to increase, and word trickling out that Virginia is making world-class wines, the honors will likely continue as well.

Charleston Wine and Food Festival is Underway!

This is our third year attending the Charleston Wine and Food Festival. The first year I became a major convert to Low Country cuisine. Being a born and bread Northerner, I never appreciated the deliciousness and versatility of grits before my first trip down - especially if they are cooked in butter and bacon grease and topped with grilled shrimp.

Last year, the festival was a bit more focused on haute cuisine with Low Country food being elevated by all the chefs and students. There was also some bacon cotton candy that I am still thinking about. Notice a trend emerging?

This year, I am looking forward to tasting, trying and experiencing new foods and wines.

Both previous years, I have noticed a distinct lack of Virginia wines the Charleston Wine and Food Festival. Given the proximity of where some of Virginia's best wine comes from and where the festival is located, that's a shame.

Virginia wine - like the festival itself - keeps getting better. It would be great if the two could join forces. Maybe with some bacon thrown into the mix for good measure.

Wine and the Big Game

Even with our move, painting and unpacking, Caitlin and I were able to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. While it has been estimated that Americans drink more than 325 million gallons of beer on Super Bowl Sunday, we had nary a fluid ounce between the two of us. 

Fancy that, we chose to have wine with our game food of pigs in a blanket, mini-burgers and herb-garlic fries. I have written about great wines to pare with football in the past, and the Big Game is no exception. We opted for a Zinfandel and it went perfectly with both the game and the food we were serving. 

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who prefers wine to beer when it comes to football, as some of the area's local wine shops were getting into the spirit of the game, too. Red, White and Bleu, for example, featured wines at $10 and $12 in honor of each team's quarterback. They also had deep discounts of cheese and charcuterie from New York and New England.

While wine will never, ever replace beer as football's signature drink, it does make for an enjoyable game. And say what you want about the incessant beer ads throughout the game, the Bud Light ad featuring Weego was pretty damn good, and it helped raise awareness of rescue dogs - a cause both beer and wine drinkers should fully support.


 
   

Washington WIne Academy's Second Annual Wine Walk

It's not the 1K that's daunting. It's finding the first wine station

Last year, the Washington Wine Academy kicked off their annual 1K wine walk. Not only is it a great idea, but it is growing in popularity. Not only will you get to taste wines from around the world while wearing a participation bib, but you also get to explore the Crystal City Mall while doing some great people watching. 


To be clear, 1K is not an entirely long distance. If you are a competitive runner who does 5 miles on the treadmill before riding your bike to work, this is probably not the event for you - thought there was a bit more spandex on people last year than was necessary. On the other hand, if you are looking to try a bunch of new wines, this is the perfect opportunity to do so. And because 1K is better than no ks, you should enjoy that extra sample glass.

The Washington Wine Academy does a lot of good work around the area, and this event was a lot of fun last year. Hopefully I will be able to participate next year provided I am physically up for it. 

Walking and drinking red wine at the same time can do a number on white shirts, and works lots of different muscle groups.

Converting Skepics

Virginia wine is in an interesting place as 2012 gets underway. The quality continues to improve as more and more people realize that Virginia's wine industry isn't just a fad. Despite great advances in quality - I'm not the first person to admit that Virginia makes some damn good wine nowadays -  the broader wine-drinking population still scoffs at Virginia wine as being of poor quality, too sweet, or "a headache in a bottle." Several people have used that last phrase on me. 

While I wish Virginia wine had a better reputation, that Virginia wines were not segregated to the "local" section of most wine shops, and that consumers viewed Virginia wines as a viable and highly enjoyable option, changing mass opinion is a huge undertaking. Changing an individual's mind is far easier than changing a collective mind. All it takes is a corkscrew and a bottle that you like.

When someone scoffs at Virginia wine, I try to convince them that they are misguided and missing out. I will mention the advances in quality, the Old World characteristcs some of the wines now have have and the praise that the world's wine critics now bestow on wine from the Commonwealth. 

When I can, I much prefer to show rather than tell people that there is some great wine being made in Virginia. I had the opportunity to do just that not too long ago. Someone was planning to host a party with local food and wine, but backtracked on the wine. "Virginia wine, to me, just sounds terrible," she said. After the party, I brought over a bottle of 2007 Chateau O'Brien Buddy's Bistro Red. It's deep, dark color, smooth tannins, ample dark fruit and spice characteristics made it a huge hit with everyone.

Buddy is the dog on the label. His wine is quite good

In fact, everybody who tried it wanted to know where they could buy it, how far away the winery was and what other Virginia wines I would recommend. I gave them a few selections to try that were also $20 or under and urged them to visit the wineries, try the wine, meet the people involved in making the wine, and then let others know about their positive experiences. 

Make it a New Year's Resolution to try different wines from Virginia and tell others about the ones you like.