Tasting the Wines of America

Last night we were invited to the joint WineAmerica & Winegrape Growers of America reception on Capital Hill called "Taste the Wines of America". The event was to recognize the Congressional Wine Caucus, which is bipartisan group of lawmakers aiming to "educate and engage colleagues in legislative and regulatory matters pertaining to the wine community." The reception also coincides with meetings within the wine industry on matters affecting the entire community. But the highlight for most was the reception which featured wines from every region of the country. Most impressive was the large selection of wines from the Other 46. Yes, California, Oregon, Washington, and New York were well represented, but how many times do you get to sample wines from Massachusetts, Iowa, Nebraska, Georgia, Indiana, Arizona....... You get the picture.


We walked in to immediately see the three B's of Virginia representing the Southeast: Barboursville Vineyards, Boxwood Winery, and Breaux Vineyards. Plenty of Viognier and Bordeaux blends available at that table, as well, as wines from Tennessee, Georgia and North Caroline, with Biltmore Estate Winery representing the Tar Heels. We learned that their estate NC wines are made from grapes grown in Polk County, south of Asheville.

We moved next to this year's DrinkLocalWine.com hosts, Colorado Wines, which were part of the Rocky Mountain contingent. Also representing Colorado was Guy Drew from Guy Drew Vineyards in Cortez Colorado who was pouring several of his wines: Viognier, Rose, Riesling, and a very nice Meritage. Another Colorado wine we really enjoyed was the Rhone blend made from Snowy Peaks Winery from Estes Park. Their Grand Valley "Eleve" consists of Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, and Viognier. Incredible that these grapes can flourish in the Grand Valley. Finally, we met Dr. Ron Bitner, one of the first growers in Idaho and owner of Bitner Vineyards in Caldwell. We enjoyed his Snake River Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve where the grapes are harvested around Thanksgiving. Yes, that late. Frost is obviously a concern, but the vineyards steep slopes allow the cold air to pass easily down the mountain. And we finally got to sample a wine from the famed Arizona Stronghold Vineyards - this the 2009 "Site Archive" Merlot. Hope to follow up with a visit to Arizona wine country this summer. And check out the DLW12 Conference being held April 28th at the Metro State College in Denver. The Twitter tasting of Colorado wines should be very, very interesting.

The next table was the wines from the Northeast, handled by Maryland Wine. We started with the flexible Chambourcin, sampling the Rose from Port of Leonardtown Winery Leonardtown Maryland and the Knob Hall Winery (Clear Spring MD) Cumberland Valley "Le Reve Rouge". This was an interesting take of a Rhone wine, substituting Chambourcin for Syrah and Vidal for Viognier. After tasting some wines from Massachusetts, we found our favorite from North East Pennsylvania: Presque Isle Wine Cellars Dornfelder. There's a nice little micro-climate near Lake Erie which allows vinferia grapes such as Dornfelder, Riesling, Pinot Noir, and even Cabernet Sauvignon to survive.

The Great Lakes were next, featuring wines from Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. We were reminded why Traminette is the state grape of Indiana through Wildcat Creek Winery. Wisconsin was represented by Wollersheim Winery and there were several Michigan wines; yet we couldn't find the L. Mawby Vineyards Cremant Classic sparkling wine. Painful. Someone was monopolizing the goods. But not the ice wine. The Breitenbach Wine Cellar Vidal Blanc Ice Wine is a true ice wine, where the frozen grapes are harvested during the middle of the night to maintain the condensed sugars. Nice.

And then there the wines of the Midwest containing bottles and bottles of unique grapes: Blanc du Bois, Vermentino, Tempranillo, Marquette, Brianna, St. Croix, Norton, Edelweiss, and Vignoles. The table was represented by Missouri Wines, James Arthur Vineyards from Raymond Nebraska, and Fredericksburg Winery from Fredericksburg, Texas. The later was pouring a savory Muscat Canelli and started a trend of nice whites including the McPherson Cellars Rousanne and the Duchman Family Winery Vermentino. These are two clean, food friendly wines. We've mentioned the Stone Hill Winery Norton many times over the years and this night reinforced why that grape should not be overlooked. And then there were the hybrids - many manufactured from the University of Minnesota specifically for cold weather climates. There were the Tassel Ridge Winery Brianna, Marquette, and St. Croix and the James Arthur Vineyards Edelweiss, a sweet wine with a balanced acidity. Yet the easy favorite was the JAV Vignoles - an off dry wine with strong apple flavors and nice acidity. This is one wine I always want to have available; suitable for dry and sweet drinkers.

As for the big four (California, Oregon, Washington, and New York), we were able to sample a little from these tables. For New York, Anthony Road Wine Company stood out with their Cabernet Franc\Lemberger and Pinot Noir; lovely wines. We stuck to Pinot in Oregon and California, first the Willamette Valley Vineyards and King Estate Winery, then the La Crema 2009 Sonoma Coast. Merlot and Viognier were the choices from Washington - from Three Rivers Winery and Novelty Hill Winery respectively. Then there was the leathery wine - the Red Tail Winery SP 2007 Ventura County Syrah - which Andrew Stover recommended. Total earth and leather - so interesting....

Thanks WineAmerica and the Winegrape Growers of America for a nice tasting from across the states. Cheers.

Stop HR 1161 - The Odyssey Continues

HR5034; which would have drastically threatened the direct shipping of wine, beer & spirits; died in the last session of Congress. But like the Phoenix it has risen anew in the current Congressional session as HR1161. The Terroirist blog has the links you need to stay informed and to help stop the Wholesalers from restricting consumer choice and the ability of small wineries, breweries, and distillers to sell their products out of state.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell Unveils New Plan for Liquor Privatization

According to the Washington Post, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell will unveil a proposal Wednesday to close 332 state-owned liquor stores and replace them with 1,000 private retail outlets - a scaled-back version of a plan he's pushed for months to end Virginia's monopoly on the sale of distilled spirits.

Under McDonnell's liquor proposal, the state will continue to act as the wholesaler of liquor in Virginia, buying thousands of cases directly from distilleries and selling them at a profit to private retailers, who would then set prices for consumers.

Aides to the governor hope prices will fall because the state will cut the markup it applies to liquor prices from 69 percent to 50 percent.

The stores would be be sold off over an 18-month period that would start July 1.

McDonnell hired PFM, a national financial management company, at a cost of more than $75,000 to consider ways to privatize the state's stores without losing money after he did not have enough votes to hold a special session to take up the issue.

Licenses would be sold to the highest bidders and split among big-box stores, such as grocery stores and Wal-Mart; convenience stores and drugstores; package stores and wine stores; and small convenience stores.

A legislative study released in November showed McDonnell's original proposal may have overstated by tens of millions of dollars the amount of money Virginia could make from selling the entire system. His new figures came from PFM.

Unfiltered: Tackles H.R. 5034

Unfiltered: Episode 3 from VinTank on Vimeo.

American Wine Consumer Coalition

Tom Wark, from Fermentation and lead voice on the effort to defeat HR 5034 sent us a link to a new source for wine consumers: American Wine Consumer Coalition. Their motto: The AWCC is a Coalition of Americans Giving Voice To the Unique Interests of Wine Consumers. JOIN THE MOVEMENT to raise the voice of wine lovers so politicians and policy makers hear you!

If you are worried about government regulators, the new Temperance Movement, and Wholesalers restricting your access to hand crafted wine, beer, and spirits - join this organization.

State Attorney General Submits Testimony on HR5034 Drafted by the National Beer Wholesalers Association

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff testified before the House Judiciary Committee this week in support of HR5034 and it now surfaces that his testimony was drafted by the National Beer Wholesalers Association. How do we know? Check out this article by the Salt Lake Tribune. The electronic MS Word document he submitted unfortunately for him contained "ppisano” as the author. Who's "ppisano”. None other than Paul Pisano, general counsel for the National Beer Wholesalers Association. While Shurtleff is ranting that we need to minimize lawsuits or perhaps to "protect the children" by passing this law, he is just covering up his affiliation with the NBWA. And that begs the question, "why is a state Attorney General so close to a wholesaler organization"? Does Congress need anymore evidence that this legislation is just a power grab by wholesalers? Not when the wholesalers are dropping $10k into their campaign funds - regardless of party affiliation.

Hearing for HR5034 Today

The House Judiciary Committee responsible for voting on the anti-consumer, anti-winery HR5034 occurs today. You can watch live here (RealPlayer), or check out the Twitter feeds for #5034.

HR 5034 - CNN

Our friend Dezel from My Virginia Wine Spot was featured in this CNN clip regarding H.R. 5034. The battle is ongoing, contact your rep today.

More News on H.R. 5034

Here is more analysis and news on H.R. 5034; many courtesy of Stop H.R. 5034.

Rob McKenna of Washington and Vice President of the National Association of Attorneys General corrects the wholesalers' false claims of his views on H.R. 5034 here.

H.R. 5034 signed on 9 more Co-sponsors, bring the total to 94 Co-sponsors. Click to email them?

The Wine Institute and Wine America issued a joint statement today condemning H.R. 5034 as a “Wholesaler Monopoly Protection Bill”. The joint statement is written on behalf of 6,000 U.S. wineries.

The Associated Press examines H.R. 5034.

Detroit News explores how HR. 5034 will hurt Michigan Vintners and consumers

Charlotteville News & Arts calls alcohol wholesalers’ H.R. 5034 a “Naked attempt to protect their own monopoly”.

Stop H.R. 5034 Website Launched

A new website has launched to try and defeat H.R. 5034. For those who haven't heard of the bill the Stop H.R. 5034 Website explains it quite clearly:

House Resolution 5034 is a contemptible piece of special interest legislation that would harm small, family wineries, harm specialty wine stores, kill jobs and prevent consumers from legally accessing wines they can’t find locally by leading to bans on the legal, well regulated direct shipment of wine. Learn about the legislation, who supports it, who opposes it, and how it’s being covered in the media. GET EDUCATED and Help STOP HR 5034.

And over 10,000 people have become fans of STOPHR5034 on Facebook. Are you one?

More Information on H.R. 5034

WineAmerica Statement on HR 5034

Family Winemakers of California Statement on H.R. 5034

Wine Institute Comment on HR 5034

Dr. Vino's wine blog

Congress Attempts to Destroy Artisan Wineries, Again

It is apparent that government, whether at the federal or state level, always intercede into the wine, beer, spirits marketplace to the detriment of consumers. Sometimes, they just want to to limit the number of producers by increasing regulation and\or the license process. Sometimes they want your money and increase consumption taxes. But most likely they desire to protect special interests, and in this case, the old boy network: wholesalers. This is definitely the case with H.R. 5034 just introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Why is it lethal to small wineries and detrimental to consumers? It would, in practice, ban direct shipping of wine, creating a monopoly for wholesalers. Here's Tom Wark from Fermentation to explain:

"Notwithstanding that the State or territorial law may burden interstate commerce or may be inconsistent with an Act of the Congress, the State law shall be upheld unless the party challenging the State or territorial law establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the law has no effect on the promotion of temperance, the establishment or maintenance of orderly alcoholic beverage markets, the collection of alcoholic beverage taxes, the structure of the state alcoholic beverage distribution system, or the restriction of access to alcoholic beverages by those under the legal drinking age.’’

"This language means that any state may pass a law that discriminates against out-of-state wine shippers and that the law cannot be challenged in court and therefore invalidated—just as the 2005 Granholm v. Heald Supreme Court decision invalidated laws in New York and Michigan that discriminated.

The Granholm Court reasoned that because the states' goals of temperance, an orderly market and tax collection could have been achieved without burdening interstate commerce and discriminating against out-of-state interests, those discriminatory wine shipping laws were unconstitutional violations of the Constitution's Commerce Clause."

WineSpectator.com also has a comprehensive review of the bill and the Wine Harlots are also providing licks to Congress so that you can express your displeasure. This should be an appropriate topic for this weekend's DrinkLocalWine conference.

Hops & Barley Shortage

Our brethren in the beer industry are facing a crisis due to shortages of hops and barley. Several factors lead to this development: rotation to higher margin crops, increased beer consumption in China, real estate speculation, the weather (drought in Australia and storms in Europe), and government subsidies for bio-fuels and ethanol. Demand for ethanol has doubled the price of corn and farmers have switched to rapeseed and canola as the government subsidizes biofuels - so why grow barley. In fact, very few in the Federal government will acknowledge that their search for the ethanol Holy Grail has negatively affected other farm products - expect your dairy and beef prices to rise as well.

As a result of these factors brewers either can not find substantial supplies of barley or hops or can not find the specific type of hops they prefer. When they do find a hops supplier, the price is between 300 to 400% higher than last year. Many craft brewers have had to suspend brands such as our favorite Tuppers' Hop Packet Ale and New River Pale Ale. In other instances, breweries have closed and consolidated. In theory, the higher prices of hops and barley should induce farmers to switch back to these crops. In the meantime, expect a smaller variety of craft beers this year - at a higher price.

Government Regulation Gone Crazy

Here is yet another example how government regulation is ruining people's freedom to enjoy wine:

By LARRY O'DELL, Associated Press Writer Fri Jan 25, 3:51 AM ET

RICHMOND, Va. - If you're served a pitcher of authentic sangria in a Virginia restaurant, someone's breaking the law.

Since 1934, the state has prohibited mixing wine or beer with spirits. Frances McDonald, vice president of La Tasca Spanish Tapas Bar and Restaurants, found that out the hard way when his Alexandria location was cited for violating the sangria ban in 2006 and fined $2,000.

McDonald and managing partner Shana McKillop appealed their case to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on Thursday before going to the Capitol to urge legislators to pass a bill legalizing the red wine, liqueur and fruit concoction.

McDonald said his business received no warning about the ban. He said he was unaware of the prohibition and had he known about it would not have located any of his five restaurants in Virginia. "It's like not being able to serve tequila in a Mexican restaurant," he said.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Department agent who cited La Tasca even ordered restaurant employees to pour its sangria — about 40 liters — down the drain, said Shana McKillop, managing partner at the Alexandria restaurant.

A ruling on the La Tasca's appeal should take two to four weeks, said Kristy Marshall, a spokeswoman for the ABC Department. In the meantime, the restaurant has taken to modifying its sangria recipe. The brandy has been eliminated and the triple sec replaced with a nonalcoholic orange liqueur.

"It's still sangria but not as authentic as we'd like to offer our guests," McKillop said.