Governor Robert McDonnell Discusses the Virginia Wine Industry

Before presenting the 2012 Governor's Cup to Jeff White of Glen Manor Vineyards, Governor Robert McDonnell joins Virginia Wine TV to discuss why he's so passionate in promoting the Virginia Wine industry. Yes jobs are an important reason and Virginia is still an agriculture dominated state. That is why he and the First Lady use the Bully Pulpit to "recommend" that restaurants and other venues in the state offer Virginia wine. His administration also actively markets Virginia wine on the world market via trad missions to Hong Kong, India, Israel, and Europe. And he believes that after is one term expires, that the Virginia Legislature will continue the momentum. At the end we toast with the gold winning Tarara Vineyard & Winery 2010 Honah Lee White Vinifera Blend. Cheers and video is also available via iTunes.

2012 Virginia Governor's Cup Presentation Video

Governor Robert McDonnell presents the 2012 Governor's Cup to Jeff White of Glen Manor Vineyards for their 2009 Hodder Hill Meritage - a blend of 63 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 25 percent Merlot and 6 percent each Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. This wine was selected among the 12 Gold winning wines. In his remarks, Governor McDonnell also discusses how important the wine industry is to Virginia's economy. Check back next Monday to watch our interview with the Governor regarding his passion for promoting the Virginia Wine Industry.

Gold Medal Wines

• Bluestone Vineyard 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon
• DelFosse Vineyards & Winery 2007 Meritage Blend
• Glen Manor Vineyards 2009 Hodder Hill Meritage
• Jefferson Vineyards 2010 Cabernet Franc
• Keswick Vineyards 2009 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
• Keswick Vineyards 2010 Merlot
• King Family Vineyards 2008 Meritage Blend
• Potomac Point Winery 2009 Heritage Reserve Meritage Blend
• Tarara Vineyard & Winery 2010 Honah Lee White Vinifera Blend
• Trump Winery 2008 Kluge SP Blanc de Blanc Sparkling
• Veritas Vineyards 2010 Vintner’s Reserve Meritage Blend
• White Hall Vineyards 2010 Gewurztraminer

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