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Champion Brewing, Craft Beer, Drink Local, o'connor brewing, VaWine, Virginia, Virginia beer, Virginia Craft Beer, Virginia Wine, Wine Tourism Conference, wine vs. beer
Happy New Year!
Since this post has languished in my drafts folder since late November, I am unilaterally extending the acceptable HNY salutation grace period…
To officially begin the new year, I offer my thoughts on a few opportunities and headwinds facing the Virginia wine industry in 2015 and beyond:
Caution — Craft Beer Ahead
It’s not news that the last few years have been big for the Virginia wine industry in 
terms of new winery operations (not necessarily a good thing), new vineyard plantings (a great thing!), industry-wide sales, and favorable press recognition.
Like 2012, 2013, and 2014, 2015 is shaping up to be another banner year for Virginia wine.
With that being said, the drink local landscape is evolving. An opportunity for some and risk for others….
Add to the list of factors contributing to the headwinds Virginia vintners face each vintage — frost, hail, humidity, harvest rains, spotted wing drosophila, increased competition for quality fruit (for those sourcing fruit), and pink boas — increased competition from their booze peers making craft beer.
In his latest Harpers column, booze writer Jason Wilson writes, “cocktails and craft beer are gaining popularity among consumers because they’re simply more fun, and the people explaining, teaching, writing about, and serving cocktails and craft beer are just flat-out better at providing an engaging experience than their counterparts in wine are.”
Gulp.
While I don’t completely agree with Wilson’s statement, the growing appeal and energy of the craft beer movement is undeniable — especially here in Virginia.
Thanks to established breweries like O’Connor Brewing Company in Norfolk, along with newer operations like Hunter Smith’s Champion Brewing in Charlottesville, Back Bay Brewing in Virginia Beach, and Triple Crossing Brewing in Richmond (among many others), popularity of the craft beer movement in Virginia is skyrocketing.
I concede the obvious point that craft beer is not new to Virginia and does comfortably co-exists with Virginia wine.
However, local brewers and their beers are winning over wine-centric drinkers (like me), making craft beer a big player in the competition (yes, competition) for local consumers’ finite ‘drink local’ budgets… thereby making beer a part of the Virginia wine narrative in 2015!
Cider
Add cider to the above. In 2015, I believe Virginia artisan hard cider will take a bigger step outside the shadow of its close cousin, Virginia wine. And, Virginia’s Cider Rockstar, Diane Flynt of Foggy Ridge Cider, will be on the receiving end of more deserved national cider recognition.
Viognier, Oh Viognier, What Are We To Do With You?
Like the mischievous schoolboy that finds himself in the headmaster’s office for reasons many and curious (I may have been that kid), Viognier just can not seem to cooperate.
Regular readers know that I am a big fan of Viognier and in particular, Virginia Viognier. When the Wine Board officially designated Viognier as Virginia’s signature grape for national branding purposes in 2011, I believed that this aromatic white grape would actually provide the opportunity for differentiation and marketing cohesion in the global wine marketplace.
Well, not so much. At least not yet.
In fairness to Viognier, weather — spring frost, humidity, and rains at harvest — hasn’t helped the cause. Based on discussions with many winemakers, Viognier yields have been particularly inconsistent and challenging the last few vintages. Add to this the expense associated with farming Viognier and its future as the calling card of the Commonwealth doesn’t look likely (well, at least any time soon, anyway).
In the spirit of making predictions that can not be measured, I believe 2015 will be the year that Viognier quietly fades into the middle of the Virginia wine narrative while lesser-known varieties (like Petit Manseng and Vermentino) gain more respect and prominence.
Regardless, I dig Viognier and will continue to be a fan and advocate for those restrained, well-made examples. Drink Viognier!
The Growing Divide in Quality Will Become Clearer
In August I wrote about the growing divide in the quality of Virginian wine. Having recently visited a number of tasting rooms throughout the state, I hold the belief that this quality divide will only grow in 2015.
The increasing number of new operations making wine with purchased grapes but not investing in vineyard plantings is exacerbating the grape shortage, the use of out-of-state fruit, and the growing quality divide (this being the subject of a lengthy article I’m working on).
Tourism!
A bane for some, boom to most — tourism is a big part of the Virginia wine industry, and 2015 may serve as the tipping point of significant wine tourism growth here in the Commonwealth. Due in large part to the hard work of the team at Visit Loudoun, with support from state government, the annual Wine Tourism Conference will come to the east coast for the first time. Attended by a couple hundred travel professionals across the U.S. and beyond, the Wine Tourism Conference will bring a lot of attention to wineries and tourism in Virginia.
As always, I welcome all opinions, especially those that differ from my own.
All the best in 2015!
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Drink What YOU Like 
Thank you Frank, I enjoy reading and learning from your thoughts on the VA Wine Industry.
Thank you, Michelle. Hope you will continue to learn about our local wines via Virginia Wine Chat. Cheers!
Great read. Thought provoking for sure. Hubby and I love VA wine….and have always found the wineries’ owners/servers more than pleasing and engaging and knowledgable (for the most part). We are, in fact, headed out this weekend for the Heart of Virginia Wine Trail for the third time. They’re so, so much fun….cheap fun, I may add. Being Cab Franc fanatics…and VA makes some very, very good Cab Franc….we’ll be purchasing some to fill our Virginia wine wall with more….more….more!
Thank you, Robin. I appreciate you stopping by to read and comment. Enjoy your weekend out on the Heart of Virginia Wine Trail. Hope you find a few new favorites. And, agree with you about there being some very nice Cab Francs here in Virginia. Cheers!
Good insights here Frank. Local beer is growing like crazy. Anyone that doubts the competition for consumer spending on this should visit three or four breweries on any Saturday and compare the crowds to those in their tasting rooms. There is just a cool vibe that wineries do not have and wine needs some of that coolness or what ever it is.
Jeff! Thank you. I’ve only been to a few breweries but there is definitely a different vibe in the brewery tasting rooms. This enthusiasm seems to carry over in to restaurants too – bartenders seem excited to talk about local craft beer. An interesting time indeed.
I love it, Frank, I agree as you stated “…local brewers and their beers are winning over wine-centric drinkers…”
Seems [to me] Millennials are beginning to play a significant role in this equation – based solely on my personal experiences at several craft brewery events.
Memorable experiences make people happier. And, as shown in a recent Eventbrite survey “…3 in 4 Millennials (78%) would choose to spend money on a desirable experience or event over buying something desirable…”
I am a huge wine fan and an avid Virginia wine supporter, and Virginia has some great wines, but is an excellent wine enough?
Many of the Millennials that I know enjoy a delicious glass of wine as much; if not more than they enjoy great craft beer. However, when given the option of a wine event or a craft beer event, usually the beer wins, reason being – the fun factor (their words, not mine).
Thank you, Pam – appreciate you reading and commenting. The few breweries that I’ve been to do seem, on average, to have a younger crowd (maybe late 20’s/early 30’s) than the tasting rooms I visit. Although, based on my personal experiences visiting tasting rooms in a number of states and countries, Virginia winery tasting rooms (seem to) attract a younger crowd. I prefer wine over beer but it’s cool to have another exciting option. See you at the tasting. Cheers!
I always find the beer/cocktail/cider side of the wine debate is interesting. I drink all of these things and really just go for whichever I’m in the mood for, but it seems like there’s this increasing fear of the craft beer movement and the way in which it will impact the U.S. wine industry. It’s always a tough one for me to wrap my head around because I feel like there is a place for all of them- but I will admit to seeing a lot of enthusiasm from restaurants towards craft beer lists and signature cocktails- so if they are pushing those two, I can see how wine may fall a bit to the wayside.
Famished Foodie! Love the name. Thank you for sharing your thoughts here. Agree with you that there is a place for each (wine, beer, cider, cocktails) however, each of us (avid consumers of adult beverages) does have a finite budget and each is ‘competing’ for this finite budget. Perhaps this fear you reference is, in part, a realization of the finite pool of available consumption dollars. Definitely agree with you about restaurant’s enthusiasm for craft beer. I’ve noticed this much more this year in restaurants in Denver, San Jose, Orlando, DC and here in Virginia Beach area. An interesting time for these industries. Cheers!
Frank, I appreciate your always cogent summary of both the tail winds and head winds for Virgina wine. You make an especially good point about cocktails and craft beer—both eating and drinking have become increasingly about experience as well as flavor.
The drink local call to arms has evolved as well. Consumers seem more attuned to marriage between “quality” and “local”: just because it’s local, doesn’t mean it’s good and while there are many reasons to eat and drink local food and beverage, it’s a lot better when the local beer, wine and cider is full of flavor and character. “It’s not that great but it’s local” is no long term business proposition. In fact, in the cider world, the “local apples” most commonly grown in VA may actually be some of the worst apples for cidermaking. A cidermaker in another state proudly (and somewhat misleadingly) says “All our apples come from within 5 miles of our cidery”…it just so happens they are down the road from a large commercial apple grower specializing in Red Delicious, Fuji and other dessert fruit that makes really undistinguished cider. No wonder they flavor their cider with hops, bourbon barrels and cherry juice!
Oh Diane, you can name names … 😉 (You know my email.)
Thank you, Diane. Appreciate the kinds words. We are in agreement that the ‘drink local’ movement has evolved (especially here in Virginia) and that ‘local’ doesn’t always mean good (or better). The continued evolution will be interesting to observe and be part of. All the best in 2015!
Frank — The craft beer movement is older than the local wine renaissance. That some very exciting breweries and micro-breweries are opening locally in recent years isn’t necessarily a threat to “finite drink-local budgets”, but your point is interesting that they may compete for tourism, the finite time people can spend in tasting rooms. That could certainly have an impact.
But competition is good. The wineries should (and hopefully will adapt). Though I do hope they don’t lose sight of their core audience, those of us who simply prefer wine. Right now, wine/beer lovers appear to be equal nationally. That can change, of course.
Dave. Thank you for stopping by to read and share your thoughts here. Absolutely agree — competition is good (and, great for consumers like us)!
I do not believe craft beer is a ‘threat’ in the context of wine vs. beer vs. cider (i.e. – I’m not pitting one against the other). There is a place for all of these in the Virginia marketplace but, I firmly believe consumer’s drinking budgets are finite and that Virginia wine, Virginia craft beer and Virginia artisan hard cider are competing for these same dollars. (This is of course just my opinion and I have not hard, economic data to support this).
One personal example — I am helping a small group of out-of-towners plan a weekend in the Charlottesville area. When this group first asked for my suggestions/help planning, they were coming to the area specifically for a ‘Virginia wine’ getaway. However, someone in the group asked about breweries because their spouse likes beer more than wine. I provided a list of central Virginia breweries and now they have reduced the number of winery visits so they can visit three breweries (that competition for tourism dollars). A very small example I concede, but this does illustrate that (very friendly) ‘competition’ for those same dollars.
Regardless of what or any competition there may be for dollars or tourism… I think we all can agree that this is an exciting time in Virginia booze.
Perhaps it’s time for you and the Wine Curmudgeon to give consideration to a ‘Drink Local Conference – Central Virginia?’ 2016?
Let’s also add local spirits into the “drink local” mix. We just did the tour and tasting at A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg — what a novel and interesting experience! The folks at Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville are a hoot, and I hear Cacoctin Creek in Purcellville is wonderful. That’s next on my list.
Couldn’t agree more about Virginia Viognier. A few years ago, I thought we all needed “Virginia is for Viognier” t-shirts. Now? Meh. I’ve tasted a few really excellent Virginia Petit Mansengs lately. I think that variety has the potential to dethrone Viognier. If Viognier was ever ON the throne to begin with.
At the end of the day, I’m glad we have so many drink local choices here in the Commonwealth. It’ll (probably) never get boring . . . Cheers!!
Thought I’d share a picture of our Virginia wine wall. The HOVA was wonderful yesterday….some stops more “wonderful” than others!
Robin W. Stephens Sent from my iPad
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Robin – most interesting wine of the day?
You’re spot on with viognier, Frank. Allowing for the small sample size, the viogniers I judged in the Governors Cup last week weren’t very viognier like — too tart and not enough white fruit, and certainly not what I remembered from prevous tastings.
And that is probably a result of the recent difficult harvests, which winemakers should know how to deal with the more experience they get. It tooks us several years, if not more, to finally figure out viognier in Texas.
Thank you for your thoughts on Viognier. Some months ago I wrote about the growing quality divide in Virginian wines and Viognier is where this divide is perhaps the most pronounced (of the last vintage I tasted, some of the best remain Veritas, Keswick, Grace Estates, King Family, Annefield, Breaux, Barboursville, and Horton).
The last few vintages have indeed been difficult for many Viognier vineyards for sure. I heard from one grower a few days ago that he is ripping out Viognier vines.
Would love to try a few Texas Viogniers! 🙂
Frank, I always feel like I’m late for the party. I used to have the posts appear as an email, but no more. I just checked my spam folder; they aren’t there — did you change settings?
Thanks for the shout-out! I wish we could have submitted our 2013 Viognier to the Governor’s Cup, but its sold so well we don’t have enough to submit to the competition (you have to have 50 cases available). Recall that its unreliability is one of the reasons the French about gave up on it and it nearly vanished. We must be gluttons for punishment because we just planted more, though we are contemplating ripping out our Pinot Gris and replacing it with more Vermentino. The Pinot Gris has tight clusters and just falls apart when it approaches ripeness. We’ve had only two harvests so we’re giving it one more year, but if it performs as it did the last two years its coming out. Being mindful of a warming planet compels us to look to more southern climes for what we grow. We need thick skins and loose clusters. I know I’ve said that before, but it bears repeating.
Stephen! You are right on time – thank you for commenting. I have not made any manual changes to the blog settings but I did get locked out of my worpress account and had to have the password reset. I believe this reset resulted in a number of settings ‘reseting’ as well as about 20 posts being deleted. I have no clue how I did it but I hope it’s all resolved (again). I look forward to trying the 2013 Viognier in that six year vertical I have on my racks. As much as I like (and root for) Viognier, if I were a winegrower, I likely would not have any planted in my vineyards based on challenges so many have had with the grape the last few vintages. With that being said, I am glad you have more planted in your vineyards given how nice your Viogniers are each year. Vermentino seems a great choice. Are you considering other (thick skin, loose cluster) grape varieties?
All the best in 2015.
We are being encouraged to plant Tannat and Petit Manseng, but havent decided yet. Maybe once we have a handle on our acreage and confident we have the labor towork it, we are happy with our 8.5 acres.
Hi Frank! Need your advice please. The Traveling Winers of The Vineyard Trail are heading out to Virginia for a week at the end of May to visit wineries, taste wine and write winery reviews. Where would you suggest that we focus our one-week efforts? There are so many wineries and wine areas that I’m not sure where we should start. Would appreciate any direction! Take care, Miki “This is the Life” Winer
Hi, Miki. Would be more than happy to provide some Virginia Wine recommendations. Will send those via email. Cheers!