Local Beer & Wine Pouring at the 7th Annual Wine and Food Festival at National Harbor

One Spring event I always anticipate is the annual Wine and Food Festival at National Harbor, now in its 7th year - held May 3rd & 4th. The reason: always a wide selection of wine, beer, spirits, cigars, fresh food (oysters), as well as numerous cooking demonstrations and food. Lots of food. There will be also be plenty of wine, beer, & spirits options (over 150) including local options from Boordy Vineyards, The Winery at Olney, Detour Vineyard and Winery, Fenwick Wine Cellars, Far Eastern Shore Winery, Harvest Ridge Winery, Fordham Brewing Company, Heavy Seas Brewing Company, Bold Rock Cidery, Devils Backbone Brewing Company, and Starr Hill Brewing. And the night before the festival, on May 2nd, the Old Hickory Steakhouse is hosting a wine dinner featuring Barboursville Vineyards. On Sunday I am looking forward to Theo Rutherford - Craft Whiskey Specialist for Beam Global presentation, but over the course of the weekend there will be presentations from Shannon Shaffer, Executive Chef, Design Cuisine; Michael Schlow; Victor Albisu - Del Campo & Taco Bamba; Scott Drewno - The Source by Wolfgang Puck; Chef Bryan Voltaggio - Volt | Lunchbox | Family Meal | Range; Chef Rahman “Rock” Harper; and Mike Isabella - Graffiato, Washington D.C.. Here's the promotional video from Drink.Eat.Relax:

 

Corcoran Brewing Re-opens in Purcellville

This weekend Corcoran Brewing Company reopened at their new Purcellville brewery, after outgrowing their Waterford barn next to the family's winery: Corcoran Vineyards. The brewery had been idle for the past four months constructing and moving to the new location, yet all that has changed is the volumes of beer - the selection is the same and the increased capacity means inventories will remain more constant. Although looking at the picture, Saturday may have depleted quite a bit of inventory since brewer Kevin Bills mentioned it was their biggest sales day ever. Whereas the standard lineup is intact, a new beer added to the menu is the John Champe, an English style barley wine coming in at 9.7% abv. Despite the high alcohol, the beer is quite smooth with a nice malt-hop balance. Also, the brewery continues the tradition of including detailed information in the tasting sheets such as style, ABV (Alcohol by Volume), IBU (International Bittering Units - hops), and SRM (Standard Reference Method for color). In the future expect food trucks, an outdoor seating area, and perhaps some local live music. And as always, theCompass Winery, Brewery, and Distillery Locator app can guide you to Corcoran's Brewing Company and the other area wineries, breweries, and distilleries. Cheers.