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.

CNN - Red Wine's 'Greenest' Grape

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.

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.

8 Chains North Winery Aspen Dale Winery at the Barn Barrel Oak Winery Barren Ridge Vineyards Blue Mountain Brewery Blue Ridge Vineyard Bluemont Vineyards Bogati Bodega & Winery Breaux Vineyards Casanel Vineyards Chateau Morrisette Cross Keys Vineyards & Estates Delaplane Cellars Devils Backbone Brewing Doukenie Winery Dry Mill Vineyards & Winery Fincastle Vineyard & Winery Glass House Winery Hickory Hill Vineyards Hidden Brook Winery James River Cellars Lost Creek Winery Loudoun Valley Vineyards Mountfair Vineyards Narmada Winery Notaviva Vineyards Paradise Springs Winery Potomac Point Winery Quattro Goomba’s Winery Rockbridge Vineyards Sunset Hills Vineyard & Winery Tarara Vineyard & Winery Twin Oaks Tavern Winery Veritas Vineyards

Andre Fox Blinky Moon Boys Chatham Street Connor Duffy Dave Pepper David Davol David LaFleur Don Chapman Drew Stevyns Exit 162 Gary Smallwood Jason Masi Jim Counter Josh Walker Ken Wenzel Lenny Burridge Miguel Aubertin Mike Bowers Olive Eyes Patty Reese Sabin Mills Scruffy Murphy Steve DeVries Stone Canyon William Walter

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

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: Abingdon Vineyard Winery Belle Mount Vineyards Bluemont Vineyard Bright Meadows Farm Burnley Vineyards Byrd Cellars Casanel Vineyards Castle Gruen Vineyards and Winery Chrysalis Vineyards DeVault Family Vineyards Dry Mill Vineyards Winery DuCard Vineyards Glass House Winery Horton Vineyards Hummel Vineyards Keswick Vineyards Lexington Valley Vineyard Molliver Vineyards & Winery Mountain Cove Vineyards New Kent Winery Paradise Springs Winery Potomac Point Winery Rappahannock Cellars Rockbridge Vineyard The Winery at La Grange Veramar Vineyard and Bogati Bodega Weston Farm Vineyard and Winery Wisteria Farm & Vineyard Missouri and Kansas wineries featured in the episode: Adam Puchta Winery Stone Hill Winery St. James Winery Holy-Field Vineyard & Winery

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.