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Saturday, July 9, 2011

WBC11 Preview: The Other 46 Tasting

One of the sessions at the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference that we are really looking forward to is the The Other 46 tasting Friday night. Yes, no California, Oregon, Washington, or New York wines allowed. Instead, expect wines from Loudoun County Virginia (courtesy of Breaux Vineyards and Tarara Winery); Maryland, Missouri, Texas, Indiana, and Ohio. For a refresher course on why grape growing is so difficult in the East Coast and Midwest, check out A History of Wine in America, Volume 1: From the Beginnings to Prohibition. This book also describes the painful ordeal Thomas Jefferson and Philip Mazzei experienced when attempting to sustain grapes in Albemarle County. Good background for the conference in general and the Monticello dinner.

Back to The Other 46 tasting, what wines should you expect? There better be some Viognier from Loudoun County because Texas Viognier will be in the house. Vintage Texas is also expected to pour some Blanc Du Bois, Tempranillo, and Roussanne. From Breaux and Tarara, we also hope to be tasting some Merlot and Long Bomb respectively. The Indiana Wine Grape Council will be pouring plenty of Traminette (that state's signature grape) whereas the Missouri Wine and Grape Board: I would guess Vignoles and Norton. This would be an interesting time to compare Midwestern Norton and native Virginia Norton. Jenni, where are you? Now, Ohio has moved beyond Catawba, but it would be very interesting to sample some sparkling Catawba. Or perhaps some Lemberger or Riesling. We shall see what Southern Wine Trails decides to pour. That leaves Maryland, and the Maryland Wineries Association is still determining which wines to showcase. There's no doubt that its time to unveil the Free State as the next producer of quality vinifera wines - just sample those from Black Ankle Vineyards, or Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, or some Sangiovese from Fiore Winery. Virginia's northern neighbor is moving closer to the Commonwealth.

For now, that's the latest. Can't believe North Carolina or Pennsylvania or even Michigan or Colorado wines will not be presented. That's a real shame. For any impromptu tastings, we are coming prepared with a few wines from our assorted collection of Other 46 wines. Looking forward to a fun and rewarding weekend. Thanks #wbc11.

10 comments:

  1. In the final analysis....it looks like I (@vintagetexas) will be pouring a wine from Llano Estacado Winery at the Live Twitter Tasting (white/rose session). It is Viviana - their premium aromatic white blend: described as "something outside the box of what you'd expect from Texas".

    At the Other 46 Tasting, I will be pouring a selection of wines (two Texas Viogniers and two Tempranillos) from Four Texas wineries. The Viogniers will be from Brennan Vineyards and McPherson Cellars. The Tempranillos will be from Lone Oak Vineyard and Llano Estacado. Come get a Tastes of Texas!

    I'm going to bring a couple other Texas wines to taste one-on-one and will include a Gulf Coast Blanc Du Bois, a Hill Country Touriga Nacional, and a High Plains Tannat.

    Russ Kane

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  2. More great info, Todd. I am really looking forward to trying all of the wines poured at the 'other 46' tasting. This regional wine tasting will serve as an excellent opportunity to expand palates - many of which haven't been exposed to wines of 'the other 46.'

    I hope that every one from The Other 46 tasting will attend the 'Drink Local - Emergence of Regional Wines' panel discussion on Friday afternoon. This will be a lively discussion for sure!


    Also look forward to meeting Russ @VintageTexas.

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  3. I'm an amateur maker so I can't officially pour any of my wines while I am there, but I will have some. Made in NH with local apple cider, strawberries and who knows what else!

    I can't wait to taste some wines from states I haven't yet tried.

    Jason

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  4. Russ, look into bringing along Stone House's Claros (Norton). We have found this to be one of only three "drink now" Norton wines. The others being Virginia's Castle Gruen and Missouri's Westphalia.

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  5. Russ, looking forward to tasting all the Texas wine. Tou like Pat Green? Rhinking about a montage to the tune "I like Texas".

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  6. Thanks Frank. Really looking forward to your panel discussion. I plan to film the entire session. Also planning on posting about the panel early next week. Cheers

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  7. Jason, please save some for me to taste. And if you are arriving late afternoon thursday, a group of bloggers are going to visit a local ciderworks. Check out @ancientfirewines on twitter. Cheers

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  8. Hi Wine Compass! I am actually arriving in Charlottesville on Wednesday afternoon, in case any other early birds want to meet up! Thanks for all the tempting selections!

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  9. I've updated the post to include a list of the wines we will be bringing with us to share with our fellow bloggers.

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  10. This is an excellent sampler of Glass' music. The selections are from a variety of compositions written over a period years for different combinations of musicians. This is a great place to start an exploration of Glass' music and you will want to move on from the selections you like to the larger works from which they are excerpted. There are many hours of musical exploration here.

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