Friday, December 23, 2011

Charlottesville in the Running for Tastiest Town in the South

This video from NBC 29 features David King from King Family Vineyards as Southern Living Magazine included Charlottesville in their Tastiest Town in the South competition. Voting starts December 23 and a link to Southern Living Magazine's competition is here.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Virginia Wine Experience featuring Gabriele Rausse

Here's a video we found that features famed Virginia winemaker Gabriele Rausse during a tasting event at the Virginia Wine Experience (826 Caroline St, Fredericksburg, VA 22401). The video is courtesy of Odd Box Video.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Bring Your Pooch to BOW

Virginia has many dog friendly wineries, but perhaps the friendliest is Barrel Oak Winery (BOW), where dogs are welcome in the not only on the grounds, but in the spacious tasting barn. Enjoy wines with the company of canine companions - why not. The music is provided by Buddy Pendleton (Fiddlin' Joe) and the Virginia Folklife Program. Do you see your pooch? Cheers.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Voice of America Continues to Feature Virginia Wines

We are a little late featuring these broadcasts, but in 2011, Voice of America News released two videos focusing on the Virginia Wine Industry. The first video features Doukenie Winery in Loudoun County, while the second video features Hillsborough Vineyards, Lake Anna Winery, and Narmada Winery - wineries located in Loudoun, Spotsylvania, and Rappahannock counties.




Thursday, October 27, 2011

Virginia Wine Month - Ends in Style

On October 26th, the Virginia Tourism office sponsored a wine reception featuring Governor Robert McDonnell to celebrate the end of Virginia Wine Month. The event was held at the Lincoln Restaurant in Washington D.C. and included four Virginia wineries, each pouring three wines for the invited guests. These wineries represented the diverse regions that represent the industry; Chatham Vineyards on the eastern shore, Barboursville Vineyards from the Monticello Wine Trail, and Breaux Vineyards & Boxwood Winery from Loudoun County (DC's Wine Country). We were fortunate to be invited to the event, along with other wine bloggers, reporters, and restaurant owners. Based on geographic location, one would think that the Virginia wine industry would have penetrated the D.C. market; yet, in reality, progress has been slow. Even the host, the Lincoln Restaurant, just agreed to start serving Virginia wines, based on tasting wines that afternoon. And why not after tasting the Barboursville Octagon, or the Breaux Nebbiolo, or the Boxwood Topiary, or the Chatham Vintner's Blend. And those are just the reds. Remember, Virginia is also for Viognier Lovers; and two brands were poured this evening - one each from Barboursville and Breaux. Boxwood smartly brought their Topiary Rose Blend, perhaps the best rose styled wine produced in the state - but definitely the best value - less than $15/bottle. And Chatham featured their old world styled Church Creek Chardonnay, showing that the popular Chardonnay grape has a home in the Commonwealth.

As Virginia Wine Month recedes into winter, take to heart the message delivered by Governor McDonnell below. If you find yourself in a restaurant that doesn't serve a Virginia wine - speak up - and if Virginia wine is server - it should be in your glass. Furthermore, late fall and winter are still enjoyable seasons for visiting Virginia wineries - check out the many Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas events scheduled for the remainder of the Year. The Virginia Tourism office, the Virginia Wine Board, and of course, WineCompass.com, are all valuable sources for your event planning. Cheers to Virginia Wine.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Monday, October 10, 2011

Introducing the VirginiaWineTV Report

Just in time for Drink Local Wine Week and Virginia Wine Month, we have decided to aggregate newspaper articles and blog posts about the Virginia Wine Industry into one outlet: the VirginiaWineTV Report. The newspaper collects articles that have been tweeted using the #vawine and #vatravel hash tags, as well as #vabeer, just to keep us notified of beer news in the state. So, in order to be included, just tweet your post or article including these hash tags. Cheers.

Monday, September 26, 2011

2011 Wine Bloggers Conference Pre-Tour: Loudoun County (DC's Wine Country)

One of the best kept secrets of the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference was the Loudoun County Pre-Tour sponsored by Visit Loudoun. This two day tour was available to the first 25 bloggers who registered and consisted of visits to four wineries: Tarara Vineyard & Winery, Breaux Vineyards, Chrysalis Vineyards, and Boxwood Winery. Each winery rolled out the red carpet with the winemaker greeting the participants and providing tours and tastings of their regular offerings as well as reserve and barrel wines. These were very intimate engagements where the participants were able to discuss Norton or Albarino with Jenni McCloud and Alan Kinne at Chrysalis; Bordeaux with Rachel Martin and Adam McTaggart at Boxwood, Terroir with Jordan Harris at Tarara; and Nebbiolo with the Breaux crew. These wineries may be familiar to the larger group of conference attendees since they participated in many of the WBC11 events in Charlottesville, either as sponsors, the twitter tastings, the Other 46 tasting, and the Monticello dinner.

Check out the video below, which includes audio from Stacey Sheetz of Visit Loudoun discussing the wine region, to see why this area is one of the top wine destinations in Virginia and considered DC's Wine Country. The video also features the Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band "Worn Out Show" courtesy of Side One Dummy Records. And below is a list of blog posts concerning the Loudoun pre-tour and WBC11.

Dallas Wine Chick: Loudoun County Wine Pre-Trip
Tarara Winery: WineBloggers
Wine Biz Radio: X Does WBC ’11
The Wine Hub: Why Terroir Matters – Blog by: Jordan Harris – Tarara Winery Winemaker

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

2011 Wine Bloggers Conference Pre-Tour: Loudoun County (DC's Wine Country) Music Video

One of the best kept secrets of the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference was the Loudoun County Pre-Tour sponsored by Visit Loudoun. This two day tour was available to the first 25 bloggers who registered and consisted of visits to four wineries: Tarara Vineyard & Winery, Breaux Vineyards, Chrysalis Vineyards, and Boxwood Winery. Each winery rolled out the red carpet with the winemaker greeting the participants and providing tours and tastings of their regular offerings as well as reserve and barrel wines. These were very intimate engagements where the participants were able to discuss Norton or Albarino with Jenni McCloud and Alan Kinne at Chrysalis; Bordeaux with Rachel Martin and Adam McTaggart at Boxwood, Terroir with Jordan Harris at Tarara; and Nebbiolo with the Breaux crew. These wineries may be familiar to the larger group of conference attendees since they participated in many of the WBC11 events in Charlottesville, either as sponsors, the twitter tastings, the Other 46 tasting, and the Monticello dinner.

Check out the video below, which includes audio from Stacey Sheetz of Visit Loudoun discussing the wine region, to see why this area is one of the top wine destinations in Virginia and considered DC's Wine Country. The video also features Tara Nevins (Donna the Buffalo) "Beauty of Days Gone By" from her new solo release: Wood & Stone. And below is a list of blog posts concerning the Loudoun pre-tour and WBC11.

Dallas Wine Chick: Loudoun County Wine Pre-Trip
Tarara Winery: WineBloggers
Wine Biz Radio: X Does WBC ’11
The Wine Hub: Why Terroir Matters – Blog by: Jordan Harris – Tarara Winery Winemaker

Friday, August 19, 2011

The 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference Highlights

The 2011 North American Wine Bloggers Conference was held July 21-24 in Charlottesville Virginia. Here are the highlights from the various events, tours, seminars, and tastings during the weekend from the International Tasting Thursday night to the Ignite sessions Sunday morning. The video also includes footage from the vineyard tour of Virginia Wineworks, First Colony Winery, and Blenheim Vineyards. The musical theme features Tony Trischka performing at the Floydfest Front Porch courtesy of the Virginia Folklife Program. And one note, the Traminette shown in the International Tasting was from the Other 46 Tasting. Cheers.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Monday, August 8, 2011

MyJoogTV Episode 9: Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band @ Foggy Ridge Cider

This episode of MyJoogTV features SideOneDummy Records recording artist the Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band in a discussion of cider, country blues, and Charley Patton with Foggy Ridge Cider proprietor Diane Flynt. The episode was filmed during Floydfest X, the celebrated music festival located right on the Blue Ridge Parkway and minutes from Foggy Ridge. Specifically, we discussed cider and apple varieties as well as the band's latest CD: Peyton on Patton. This is the first ever compilation to honor the man who is arguably the father of Delta Blues. In fact, most modern rock music follows a lineage from Patton through Muddy Waters and Howlin' Wolf to Elvis, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. To paraphrase the Reverend, "if it wasn't for Patton, we'd be listening to Tony Bennett - all the time". The video is available to download for iTunes and Windows Media Player. To view more videos filmed at Floydfest, visit the MyJoogTV YouTube Channel.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

WBC11 Videos - From Loudoun to Ignite

During July 20-24 we traveled through Loudoun County down to Charlottesville in order to video the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference which was focusing on the Virginia wine industry. We filmed the two day Loudoun County pre-tour which featured Breaux Vineyards, Tarara Winery, Boxwood Vineyards, and Chrysalis Vineyards. Then it was down to Charlottesville for three days of conference activities which included a dinner and Virginia wine tasting at Monticello, seminars on the Virginia wine industry, and winery tours to the surrounding establishments.

We are now releasing several videos that are available from a few outlets: VirginiaWineTV YouTube Channel, Wine Bloggers Conference YouTube Channel, and VirginiaWineTV Podcast. The Loudoun County pre-tour will also be available at Visit Loudoun, who's financial assistance made the filming of that segment possible. Anyone we tasted the wonderful wines from Breaux Vineyards, Tarara Winery, Boxwood Vineyards, and Chrysalis Vineyards, Catoctin Creek Vineyards, and 8 Chains North Winery understand that this region produces exceptional wines.

Here are the list of videos and the links as they come live:

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Virginia Wine TV Now Available on iTunes

We are happy to announce that Virginia Wine TV episodes are now available for subscription through iTunes podcasts. We will be slowly adding past episodes and are looking forward to adding new releases involving the Wine Bloggers Conference and perhaps an interview with Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell. Happy sipping.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Virtual Tasting of Virginia Viognier

As a kickoff to the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference (July 22-24 in Charlottesville Virginia) and in anticipation for the campaign to market Viognier as Virginia's Signature Grape, the Virginia Wine Board sponsored "A Virtual Tasting of Virginia Viognier". Wine samples were sent to a select group of wine bloggers and the general public was encouraged to purchase and sample any Viognier produced by the Virginia wine industry - with emphasis on the wineries listed below. While sipping, participants tweeted their thoughts using the Twitter #vawine and #vaviognier hash tags. The video below contains the conversation. The wineries selected were Horton Vineyards, King Family Vineyards, Barboursville Vineyards, Blenheim Vineyards, Cooper Vineyards, and Delaplane Cellars.

Music for the video is provided by Nat Reese and Buddy Pendleton courtesy of the Virginia Folklife Program and by Andrew McKnight. Supporting local music is just as important as supporting local farms and wineries. Please visit these websites. And, do you know any "Juice Headed Woman"?

Monday, May 16, 2011

The Story of Capitol Vineyards

In April we visited the newly opened Capitol Vineyards for the WineCompass blog. In the historical tasting room we met a film student, Aaron Mullins, who was filming a documentary on the infant winery. We were impressed with his finished product and asked Mr. Mullins if we could share the video with our network and ask a few questions.

1) How did you come up with the idea to film Capitol Vineyards - I'm a film student at Boston University, Georgetown campus. Our very first project assignment was a short doc, subject of our choosing. My grandfather was a farmer, so I've always been fascinated with vineyards...not to mention I enjoy a good red! After reaching out to a hand full of VA wineries, I got in touch with Capitol Vineyards. The story of their property, plus their personal story really peeked my interest.

2) What were the major challenges to creating this video - For this project, weather, time and technology. I had a class deadline and was working around the vineyard owners busy schedule. The days we chose were sunny, but very windy. It's a beautiful property so wanted a lot of exterior shots. Some of the video is beautiful, but with the wind, the audio was a bear to mix. Also ran into a few issues transferring the footage. All in all, for the very first project, I'm happy with it. Learned a lot.

3) Before filming, what was your general experience with wine - I would say I'm a general consumer. I've visited Napa a few times and have been into the VA wine country many times over the years. I'm not a expert by any means, but know enough to be dangerous.

4) What did you learn most about the Virginia wine industry - It's growing! And for good reason. The wine is great, and the people are dedicated.

5) What do you want the audience to get out of watching the video - There's a story behind every bottle. It's not just the beautiful landscape and the tasty wine, but the fascinating history and people involved with every vineyard.

Aaron Mullins is a producer, writer and director. He is currently a film student at the Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts working in the digital film program. In addition to various student film projects, Aaron is producing, writing and directing a documentary based on the first Wesleyan Church in the American South, due in July 2011. His early career was in government and politics, working on Capitol Hill and various political campaigns, including web and TV ads.


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

American Craft Beer Week: May 16th - 22nd

Here's a little support to our brethren on the craft beer side of the house. Farm wineries, craft breweries, and micro distillers may differ in the final product; but this quote applies to all three:

"America's craft brewers are artisans that, rather than working in paint, photography, or some of those mediums, they're working in beer." Tim Myers, Strange Brewing


Monday, May 2, 2011

What's Your Favorite Virginia Wine? - Great Grapes Wine Festival: Reston 2011

Plenty of Virginia wine lovers showed up for the Great Grapes Wine Festival - Reston, held April 30th and May 1st at the Reston Town Center. Twenty two Virginia wineries poured at the event, with white wines flowing prominently on this sunny Saturday: Viognier, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Traminette, and Vidal Blanc. Here is what a few of these wine lovers have to say:




Belle Mount Vineyards

Chateau Morrisette

Cooper Vineyards

Davis Valley Winery and Vineyard

Democracy Vineyards

Fabbioli Cellars

First Colony Winery

Horton Vineyards

James River Cellars

Lake Anna Winery

Loudoun Valley Vineyards

Mattaponi Winery

Montdomaine

Philip Carter Winery of Virginia

Potomac Point Winery

Prince Michel Winery

Rebec Vineyards

Rosemont Vineyards and Winery

Stone Mountain Vineyards

Unicorn Winery

Williamsburg Winery

Willowcroft Farm Vineyards

Sip Your Way Through the Civil War Sesquicentennial

New wine trails are being created all through the Commonwealth, but one you may have missed is situated right here in Northern Virginia. The General's Wine and History Trail combines wonderful wines, Civil War history, and beautiful country - all just outside of Washington D.C. The trail includes a passport which not only describes each winery, but also historical events that occurred in the vicinity. Ever visited the historical towns of Bluemont, Sperryville, Washington, Hume, Berryville, Waterford, Aldie, or Upperville? Ever heard of the Battle of Balls Bluff? The Battle of Cool Spring? The Battle of Front Royal? The Battle of Thoroughfare Gap? Visit the General's Wine and History Trail and you will. Combine this information with the Civil War Traveler and you have all the information you need to relax and tour wineries and history.

Bluemont Vineyard
www.bluemontvineyard.com
18755 Foggy Bottom Rd
Bluemont, VA 20135
540 554 8439

Sunset Hills Vineyard
www.sunsethillsvineyard.com
38295 Fremont Overlook Lane
Purcellville, VA 20132
540 882 4560

Gadino Cellars
www.gadinocellars.com
92 Schoolhouse Road
Washington, Virginia 22747
540 987 9292

Swedenburg Estate Vineyard
www.swedenburgwines.com
23595 Winery Lane
Middleburg, VA 20117
540 687 5219

Lost Creek Vineyard & Winery
www.lostcreekwinery.com
43277 Spinks Ferry Rd
Leesburg, VA 20176
703 443 9836

Three Fox Vineyards
www.threefoxvineyards.com
10100 Three Fox Lane
Delaplane, VA 20144
540 364 6073

Philip Carter Winery
www.pcwinery.com
4366 Stillhouse Road
Hume, Virginia 22639
540 364 1203

Veramar Vineyard
www.veramar.com
905 Quarry Rd
Berryville, VA 22611
540 955 5510

Fox Meadow Winery
www.foxmeadowwinery.com
3310 Freezeland Road
Linden, VA 22642
540 636 6777

Winery at La Grange
www.wineryatlagrange.com
4970 Antioch Road
Haymarket, VA 20169
703 753 9360

Friday, April 29, 2011

Paradise Springs Winery Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

Proprietor Kirk Wiles welcomes Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore and other dignitaries to celebrate the opening of the new tasting facility at Paradise Springs Winery. The winery is located in Clifton Virginia and last year received the Governors Cup for White Wines for their 2009 Chardonnay. We featured Kirk and Paradise Springs in our inaugural episode of Virginia Wine TV. The video embedded below features Patrick Cushing introducing Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore as well as Mr. Wiles discussing the new facility. There were also many wine writers and bloggers in attendance. Please check out Virginia Wine Time and Wine About Virginia for excellent photos and commentary.

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Live Music at Virginia Wineries - April 9th 2011

Here are three videos of musicians performing at Virginia wineries.

Gary Smallwood performing at Delaplane Cellars in Delaplane Virginia on April 9th 2011.



Mike Bowers performs at Aspen Dale Winery in Delaplane Virginia on April 9th 2011.



Andre Fox performing at Quattro Goomba's Winery in Aldie Virginia on April 9th 2011.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Virginia Wineries Hosting Live Music

Farm wineries are unique in that they perform three different types of economic activity. They are agricultural entities, growing and harvesting grapes and other fruit. They engage in manufacturing by turning the juice from these fruit into wine and bottling the fermented beverage. And finally, farm wineries participate in the service economy, by hosting events in their tasting rooms in order to attract consumers. It appears that one of the most popular events is hosting live music. Since live music has become an intricate part of the Virginia Wine Industry, we will offer continual coverage of these musical events as well as the artists who regular perform at wineries. The videos will be available at MyJoogTV using the VAWine label. For now, here is a list of wineries that regularly host live music and the artists you will find performing. And please, help us keep this list current.




Sunday, April 3, 2011

Virginia Wine Week Kickoff with Virginia First Lady Maureen McDonnell

First Lady Maureen McDonnell invited several media guests to a Kickoff Celebration for the 2nd Annual Virginia Wine Week at The Wine Loft in Glen Allen Virginia. Virginia Wine Week is a government imitative to encourage retailers, restaurants, and consumers to support Virginia wine, obviously by selling and purchasing the many excellent wines crafted in the commonwealth. The music is provided by Charlottesville based Sons of Bill; if you like Americana - Rock, then you will like this band. We also have available a longer version which includes interviews with Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore; Annette Boyd, Virginia Wine Board; and Jeff Ottaviano, Proprietor of The Wine Loft. This episode is available on the Virginia Wine TV YouTube Channel. Cheers

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Talking Norton and DLW with Jennifer McCloud

Last year DrinkLocalWine.com held their annual conference in Leesburg Virginia to showcase and promote the wines crafted in Maryland and Virginia. This year, their annual conference is being held April 2nd-3rd in St. Louis Missouri to showcases the wines of the Midwest. The most popular red wine grape grown in that area is Norton - which was actually first discovered in Virginia in the early 1800s. The grape migrated west with the German, Swiss, and Italian immigrants who settled in Missouri and the surrounding states. Eventually Norton production died out along the East Coast and survived primarily within Missouri vineyards. Slightly over 25 years ago, Dennis Horton migrated east to Virginia carrying some cuttings from Stone Hill Winery and re-established Norton back to its native terrior. Jenni McCloud soon became the second grower of Norton at Chrysalis Vineyards and today, has the world's largest estate of Norton vines. In this episode of Virginia Wine TV, Ms. McCloud elaborates on the history of Norton production and tastes us through several Midwestern and Chrysalis Norton wines. The music for this episode is provided by Arlington based Memphis 59. Their latest CD, "Ragged But Right" is highly recommended; as is The Wild Vine: A Forgotten Grape and the Untold Story of American Wine.





Virginia wineries that produce Norton Wine:
Missouri and Kansas wineries featured in the episode:

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The Virginia Wine Expo 2011

For the past two years the Virginia Wine Expo has offered consumers the ability to sample Virginia wines as well as being the host for the presentation of the Virginia Governor's Cup for Red Wines. The Cup was presented by First Lady Maureen McDonnell, who is an outspoken advocate for the local wine industry. The First Lady was also kind enough to spend a few minutes with us to explain the Administration's advocacy for the Virginia wine industry. This year's Governors Cup was awarded to Fox Meadow Winery for their Meritage "Le Renard Rouge" - a 50/50 blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. Congratulations to all the gold medal finalists as well as Gabriele Rausse from Gabriele Rausse Winery and Dennis Horton from Horton Vineyards for their lifetime achievement awards. The music for this episode was provided courtesy of the Virginia Folklife Program, at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities: thirteen year old Montana Young with "Back Up and Push" and Gerald Anderson and Spencer Strickland with "Blackberry Blossom". Be sure to visit their website to hear more excellent Virginia grown music.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Virginia Wine TV Celebrates Virginia Wine Week

We would like to introduce you to the growing number of Virginia wineries operating in the Commonwealth and to our new website promoting these wines: Virginia Wine TV. The Commonwealth of Virginia is closing in on 200 licensed wineries, in which all are contributing to making fabulous wines and enjoyable destinations. On a fairly regular basis we will be releasing videos covering many facets of the industry; interviews with winemakers, the Virginia First Lady, and critics; discussions about grape varieties; as well as short entertaining segments such as this video and soon, on dog friendly wineries. Plus each video will contain a musical theme performed by a Virginia born or based musician. In this case, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge provide the score. Check back often for new video releases.

Many wineries, retailers, and restaurants will be participating in Virginia Wine Week, March 18th-27th. We ask these businesses to post their specials here in the comments sections. Cheers.


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Paradise Springs Winery - 2010 Governor's Cup Winner

This episode features Ms. Ballard visiting Paradise Springs Winery to discuss their award winning Chardonnay with owner Kirk Wiles. The music is provided by a good friend to the drink local community, Andrew McKnight.