4th annual Regional Wine Week

October is Wine Month. Not only in Virginia, but also at DrinkLocalWine.com which has designated October 9 through October 15 as "Regional Wine Week". The site honors "The Other 47" states (excluding California, Washington and Oregon) and has instituted the "DrinkLocalWine 47 Words Contest" where you can submit 47 words describing the hidden gems among the other 47 wine producing states. Entries (drinklocalwine@gmail.com) are due by midnight ET on Sat., Oct. 15; and there are several cool prizes. Thus, during Regional Wine Week, make a concerted effort to sample a local wine from your area - preferably from a winery visit and let DrunkLocalWine.com know about it in 47 words.

On the 9th, we hope to be attending The Festy, so there will be ample opportunities to visit some wineries in Nelson County, Virginia. Actually there's no excuse since Wintergreen Winery is across the street from the venue: Devils Backbone Brewing Company. The following weekend, we should probably head across the Potomac into Maryland to visit some of our favorites in that state: Black Ankle Vineyards or Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard. As an added benefit, each of these wineries host live music. What are your Regional Wine Week plans. I'm thinking of a theme... You can always check out WineCompass for wineries and events in your area.

A Weekend in Nelson County (Day 1)

The weekend of October 9th-10th was a very entertaining weekend. We had planned to attend the inaugural music festival, The Festy, held at the fairgrounds at Devil's Backbone Brewing Company. At this event we filmed most of the performers, particularly Travis Book of The Infamous Stringdusters, his wife Sarah Siskind, and DBBC's brewer Jason Oliver for an episode of MyJoogTV. But just as importantly, we used the visit as an excuse to soak in the wineries located in Nelson County Virginia. Of the dozen located in the county, we had visited Veritas Vineyards and Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery, previously, so concentrated on the remaining field. And what we learned is that this little stretch of land adjacent to Route 151 is a mini-Napa Valley - a true micro-climate providing excellent Virginia wine.

I started off with the closest winery to the festival fairgrounds, Wintergreen Winery. This is the oldest winery in the county, owned and operated by Jeff and Tamara Stone since 1999. We had enjoyed their Cabernet Franc and festival whites (The Thomas Nelson White and Three Ridges White) at previous festivals. The Cab Franc was just as nice as before, a lighter bodied wine with plenty of cherry, but it was their Merlot which was really nice. Maybe has a point. For whites, the Viognier was what you would expect from a Virginia winery now a days but I really enjoyed their use of Petit Mengseng, both as a 100% varietal in the new Thomas Nelson White and as a replacement to Vidal in the Three Ridges White. Much more aroma and flavor than Vidal. This is another white wine grape that appears to work in the state.

While driving to check-in to our room at the Acorn Inn (highly recommended), I noticed a homebrew shop that advertised growlers for sale. Making a quick detour I learned that Mary Wolf and her son Danny Wolf were planning on opening the third brewery in the county, Wild Wolf Brewing Company. For the moment they provide local brewer's with quality homebrew supplies and will soon be selling growlers of their own production beer out of the store. The eventual plan is to build a full production facility nearby, complete with a brewpub. And to show how its done, every Saturday afternoon Danny gives a demonstration outside the store, complete with crushing the grain, boiling the mash, and kegging. Like I say, this area is a nice place to spend the weekend. We will be back for a brewery tour to include Wild Wolf, DBCC, and Blue Mountain Brewery.

After checking into the hotel, I took a shortcut to the one winery not located off Route 151, DelFosse Vineyards & Winery. The winery was having their own party - live music and food - which also proves that there are plenty of opportunities for fun - even with a large music festival nearby. I didn't stay long since I had plans for interviews at The Festy, so I sampled a few wines, starting with their Viognier Reserve. This is a classic, full flavored (apricots) with low acidity and a mid palette to boost. Nicely done. They also pour a 100% Petit Manseng - note to self; need to start studying wines from Jurancon. This wine is more acidic than the Viognier and has a peach flavor - a nice afternoon wine. For reds, there is no need to talk about any other but the 2007 Grand Cru Olivier. This blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Touriga, and Petit Verdot is full bodied, low tannins, raspberry flavors and very drinkable. Yes, their Meritage is the big guy; but I enjoyed this one more.

After this visit, it was back to the music. Check back for Day 2 and few pictures at the WineCompass Gallery.

Vintage Virginia

Despite some nasty weather, on Saturday May 31st we were able to enjoy wine and music at the 27th annual Vintage Virginia festival. The festival highlights the growing Virginia wine industry - and over 50 wineries participated - pouring over 350 different wines. Virginia is best known for their Viognier and Cabernet Franc, but there are also excellent examples of Norton, Chambourcin, Chardonnay, Sparkling wines, fruit wines, and mead. Besides the wines, each year Across-the-Way Productions brings together awesome local and national acts and this year was no different. A review of the music is available at the MyJoog Blog.

The day started rather warm and we decided to start with white and rosé styled wines at a couple favorite wineries: Village Winery and Gabriele Rausse Winery. Village Winery was pouring an excellent Viognier and Apple Wine and Gabriele Rausse was pouring an excellent Viognier and a dry NV Rosé. We also sampled the Mead and cyser products from Hill Top Berry Farm & Winery in preparation for a winery visit this summer. Their mead is outstanding. Next door, at Rebec Vineyards, we tasted two interesting wines, The Landmark White a blend of Viognier and Rhatsiteli and the Sweet Sofia, a wine made from a Bulgarian recipe - also from Rhatsiteli and lots of spices. Our pal Dezel joined us and we proceeded to sample excellent wine from Wintergreen Winery (Viognier, Apple Wine), Chrysalis Vineyards (Viognier), Barboursville Vineyards (Rosé), Horton Vineyards (Petit Manseng, Rhatsiteli), Sweely Winery Estate (Viognier) -- then the storm hit. After a few bolts of lightening, we found shelter in the parking lot and then a second time, in a tent. What a mess: Lightening, tornado warnings, downpours.

And then, right when we were ready to call it quits, the sun came out. During the break, a fellow attendee had commented that Veritas Vineyards - particularly their - Vintner's Reserve was his favorite so we immediately proceeded to see why. We tried their entire selection, and yes, the Vintner's Reserve was very good. We also liked the Claret (Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot), Red Star (Cabernet Franc and Chambourcin), and Rosé and for whites, the Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc. We might have to take a trip to Afton soon.

We then ventured to two new wineries, Sunset Hills Vineyard & Winery and Holly Grove Vineyards. Sunset Hills (Purcellville) was pouring a nice Viognier and Petit Verdot. Holly Grove is located on the eastern shore so this was a great opportunity to taste their products. The Chardonnay and Merlot are already multiple medal winners, but our favorite was the Sunset Rosé. This is the wine we finished the day with while listening to Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk. Before that, however, we did spend some time at Kluge Estate Winery's tent and we were impressed with their SP Blanc de Blancs and Kluge Estate Cru. The Cru is interesting in that the Chardonnay grapes are fortified with Virginia-distilled brandy, and then aged for six months in Jack Daniel’s® barrels.

Obviously, due to a long break caused by the erratic weather we didn't get a chance to visit most wineries; but the day was still a success - with great wine and music.