Celebrating Regional Wine Week from Abroad in 47 Words

Celebrating Regional Wine Week from the East Side of the Pond

Today marks the beginning of the fourth annual Regional Wine Week hosted by Drink Local Wine – a group founded by Washington Post wine guy, Dave McIntyre, and wine writer Jeff Siegel as a way of brining more attention to the wine of the ‘other‘ states outside California, Washington, and Oregon.

The folks at Drink Local Wine recently issued a call to local wine supporters to share their thoughts about ‘the other 47′ (states other than California, Washington, and Oregon) in 47 words.

There are a number of very creative folks in the local wine blogosphere so I look forward to reading all of the 47-word entries.  On day 1, there are already several excellent 47 word entries so far:

• GEG at Swirl, Sip, Snark
• Rick and Nancy at Virginia Wine In My Pocket
• DLW co-founders Jeff Siegel (here) and Dave McIntyre (here) also get in on the 47 word action
• Lorie from Wining Ways

My attempt at an ode to support my Virginia Wine habit below:

Regional Wine Week is finally here,
In Brussels, so instead I sip on a beer,

No Virginia wine to be had,
So far from home, which is sad,

Alas, another flight to catch,
A paycheck to fetch,

A serious passion to support,
All local wine but… Snort

Ok, this exhausts the limits of my creativity.  I’ll leave the artistic prose to the other.   Cheers all!

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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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Celebrating Regional Wine Week

Celebrating Regional Wine Week and Virginia Wine Month

For one week each October, bloggers and print journalists throughout the US celebrate the wines of their region as part of Regional Wine Week.  Wine writers Dave McIntyre and Jeff Siegel from DrinkLocalWine.com created regional Wine Week in 2008 as a way to shine a spotlight on regional wines.

This year, Regional Wine Week takes place October 10 – 16.  Since Regional Wine Week falls in October, Virginia Wine Month, I will be celebrating both this weekend by visiting Virginia’s smallest wine region – the Eastern Shore AVA.  Joining me for the weekend will be my friends Paul & Warren from Virginia Wine Time and the duo from Swirl, Sip, Snark blog – each of whom have visited over 100 Virginia wineries but have never visited Virginia’s Eastern Shore wineries.

As the name suggests, the Eastern Shore AVA is located on Virginia’s eastern shore. The ‘Shore is a charming peninsula comprised of small towns and family farms framed by the Chesapeake Bay on one side and the Atlantic Ocean on another.  Cornfields and grain silos seem to envelop every road – roadside vegetable, fruit, and seafood stands showcase the Shore’s ‘local’ agriculture and seafood trade and serve as a way of life for many families.  The Eastern Shore is also home to the famous Chincoteague Pony Swim – an annual roundup of wild horses that normally inhabit one of the barrier islands.

In many respects, a visit to the ‘Shore is like taking a peaceful step back in time – life seems a little more relaxed when I’m there.  Although the pace of life seems a little slower, wine production is as robust as anywhere in Virginia.  Three wineries comprise the Eastern Shore AVA:

• Chatham Vineyards
• Bloxom Vineyard
• Holly Grove Vineyards

During our Eastern Shore Blogger Excursion, we have appointments at each of the three wineries on the Shore that will include a vertical tasting, local food and Virginia wine pairings, barrel tastings, and a great time trying new local wines.

How are you celebrating Virginia Wine Month?  How about Regional Wine Week?

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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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Virginia’s Top Grape?

Virginia Wine Month Series – Virginia Wine Factoid

What is Virginia’s top grape in terms of wine produced?

Any self-respecting Virginia wine enthusiast should easily be able to answer this question, especially a Virginia wine blogger.  No doubt nearly all Virginia wine enthusiasts know Virginia’s most planted grape… except yours truly.

Last week I was in Sonoma, CA and made an appearance on the Wine Business Radio show to talk about the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference and Virginia wine.  When asked what is the most planted grape in Virginia, I blanked, stuttered, and then mumbled something about Cabernet being the most planted in Virginia.  Brilliant… and, wrong!

In preparation for a future ‘Virginia Wine’ category on Jeopardy, and to avoid repeating my amazing performance on Wine Biz Radio, I decided to consult the official source for Virginia wine information – the Virginia 2008 Commercial Grape Report.

According to the official 2008 production report, Chardonnay is most planted vinifera in Virginia.  Virginia’s second most planted vinifera is Cabernet Franc, followed by Merlot.  Rounding out the top five most planted vinifera in Virginia is Cabernet Sauvignon in fourth followed by Viognier in fifth (excluding ‘other reds’).

For a complete list of tons produced and acreage planted for all of Virginia, be sure to check out Virginia.org.

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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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Virginia Harvest 2010 is Underway

Harvest 2010 in Virginia is underway…

Although I usually associate ‘harvest’ with the crisp cool weather of fall and the transition of green foliage to shades of yellow and orange, Afton Mountain Vineyards kicked off the ‘2010 Virginia harvest’ on Monday, July 26.  I’ve polled a few other Virginia winemakers and the folks at Afton Mountain are the only ones I know of that have already started harvest (although I’m sure there are others).

I had the chance to catch up with Afton Mountain Vineyard’s co-owner, Elizabeth Smith, and Marketing Manager Hunter Smith via email to ask a few questions about the start of harvest 2010.

What are you thoughts on the 2010 growing season so far?

EXCELLENT for wine quality, at least so far.  Hot and dry means quicker maturation and better grape chemistry.  We also planted a lot of new vines this year, largely replacing old and diseased vines and maximizing our real estate, and they have not fared as well.  Like all young plants they need a lot of water to get started.  We do not have irrigation, so it means taking a water tank into the vineyard and hand watering the new plants.  Very time consuming.

Lets talk about ‘Harvest 2010’ – what have you harvested so far?

We have only harvested the block of pinot noir that we use for our sparkling wine – Sparkling Tete De Cuvee.  We harvest the pinot noir and the chardonnay for that wine earlier than for a varietal wine.  The addition of sugar for the second fermentation in a true méthode champenoise would result in too high of an alcohol level if we picked the grapes at the standard level of brix.  The chemistry on the pinot was 17.5 brix, 3.1 pH, and 8+ total acidity.

What’s next to harvest?

We are harvesting our Chardonnay crop tomorrow (July 31), which will also be part of our sparkling wine.

July seems early to harvest – is this the earliest harvest at Afton Mountain Vineyards?

Yes, this is the earliest we have ever harvested here!

How does 2010 (so far) compare with prior years?   How does the fruit compare?

So far, 2010 looks like it will be several weeks ahead of schedule.  We may be harvesting the chardonnay for sparkling in the next few days.  The crop looks good, but not nearly as abundant as last year.  2009 was absolutely fabulous for quantity and quality; it seems sometimes that results in a lesser crop the following year.  The fruit is beautiful, though, and we have our fingers crossed for another excellent year.

I would like to thank both Elizabeth and Hunter for taking time out of their schedules to answer a few of my questions – especially during this busy time.

Afton Mountain Vineyards is located in Nelson County, VA and is part of the scenic Monticello AVA.  Afton Mountain Vineyards is home to some of the oldest vines in Virginia, dating back to 1977 – their first vintage was 1990.

It’s been several years since I visited Afton Mountain Winery, so I definitely need to plan a trip to visit and taste their current releases – and enjoy the views!

Tony and Elizabeth Smith, owners, Afton Mountain Vineyards with beautiful Virginia backdrop.

Follow me on Twitter @DrinkWhatULike

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