I never got into Norton. At wine fairs, people are always telling me that Norton (along with Viognier) is “Virginia’s grape.” The grape is far more common in Virginia than anywhere else. Perhaps because of some heritage thing, perhaps because it’s what is planted so it will continue to be the source of much of [...]
No sooner did I formally break ties with Virginia than I found myself in the Shenandoah Valley tasting some of the wines that Virginia wineries have to offer. Wisteria Farm & Vineyard is a small operation where our tasting room pourer was also the owner and winemaker. That’s the kind of operation I like. I [...]
It’s Drink Local Wine‘s second annual Regional Wine Week. My wine rack is comepltely bare of any local wines, so how about we do like a sitcom and run a clips show with the two best and two worst local notes I’ve taken over the past year. The interesting thing about this note… Very light [...]
Attempting to set the record for most winery visits in one month, the Bloggers at Swirl Sip Snark have been blasting out a ton of posts on Virginia Wineries over the past few weeks. The writers over there are pretty blunt, so you know you’ll be getting an un-abashed review of the ins and outs [...]
The 2005 Prince Michel Symbius is described as A true Meritage (blend) of Bordeaux varietals create this full, big bodied wine with a smooth, velvety finish. Prince Michel is a Charlottesville winery with whom I am not familiar, this was my first wine of theirs. The wine is 48% Merlot, and that is apparent with [...]
I’m way behind on this one, but news came from across the Atlantic some weeks ago that the British wine trade was impressed by Virginia wines, specifically White Hall Vineyards’ Cuvee des Champs, during the 2009 London International Wine Fair. Dezel from Myvinespot.com has some details and a video reaction from the fair. The Washington [...]
April 26, 2009, 1 – 6 pm Highlandtown Wine Festival, Baltimore, MD. $20 in advance gets you goats, bocce, and some of the best homebrew wines this side of Italy. I’ll be there working and pouring some wines. Info April 25-26, 2009, 12 – 6 pm Great Grapes! Wine, Arts and Food Reston Town Center, [...]
On almost every American wine map, there are four states: California, Oregon, Washington, and New York. There is constant rumbling that Virginia is poised to breakthrough and make it five states on the map, but the rumbling has yet to to produce anything. To see how one would vault into the elite club, it’s best [...]
Taverna Corvino, the restaurant the replaced Junior’s in Federal Hill, is open. Beer in Baltimore has some scoop. I stoped by before opening today and perused the bar menu, a range of appetizers in the $6-$9 range, as well as cheese plates (three cheeses $11); dinners reportedly hover around $16-25. Grape Leaves Online reports that [...]
Savoy-Lee Winery near Smith Mountain Lake is up for sale, asking price is $1.79 million. Looks like a turnkey opportunity for someone who wanted to own a winery. Tasting room, offices, and wine making supplies: it’s all there. From the post on OWC. …located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains on 117 acres, [...]
