Using theCompass Winery & Brewery Locator in Southwest Virginia

For those traveling down Route 81 to southwestern Virginia, take a look at the theCompass Winery and Brewery Locator. Besides wineries in Virginia, it will help you locate wineries near the border in Tennessee and North Carolina. In the past we've explored Coltsfoot Winery, Corey Ippolito Winery, and Countryside Vineyards & Winery. This year we hope to tackle Abingdon Vineyard & Winery. Cheers.

A Day of Tubing & Tasting at Twin Oaks Tavern Winery

 This Saturday we decided to spend the day along the Shenandoah River, specifically tubing the warm waters at Watermelon Park. On the return ride towards Loudoun County we had a couple of winery options, Veramar Vineyard, Bluemont Vineyard, and our choice: Twin Oaks Tavern Winery. The winery opened a few years ago behind the Evers family's stone house: Twin Oaks Tavern. This building was built around the turn of the century and operated as an inn until the 1950's. Visitors would escape the summer humidity by venturing to the Blue Ridge Mountains, and enjoying the cooler temperatures and views of the Shenandoah Valley below.  On our visit, local musician Lenny Burridge was entertaining guests on the patio where we remained the rest of the afternoon enjoying a bottle of Chardonnay.

Twin Oaks offers several wines, with the estate Chardonnay the sole white. It is aged slightly in French oak,  providing a slightly buttery flavor, but refreshingly acidic finish. The reds were also nice, the Cabernet Sauvignon full of dark, dark cherry flavors and the Raven Rocks Red more berry then cherry and a smoother finish. They also source Norton grapes from Chrysalis Vineyards and the result is a jammy, acidic wine, that should mellow as it ages in the bottle.  The winery also produces two fruit wines, a peach and a raspberry, but our party definitely preferred the grape wines. And the views of the Shenandoah Valley are quite impressive. A perfect end of the day, listening to Lenny, drinking Virginia Chardonnay, and enjoying the sites. Cheers.

Swedenburg Estate Vineyard Transforms to Greenhill Winery & Vineyards

We've been behind the times this summer and just learned that Swedenburg Estate Vineyard has closed and will soon re-open under new ownership as Greenhill Winery & Vineyards. At this time, we are not familiar with the reasons, but it's sad to see the passing of a historic Virginia winery. I've missed walking into the winery and seeing Ms. Swedenburg, then being under suspense whether she will emit a partial scowl or a welcoming smile. For those who are unfamiliar, Mrs. Swedenburg, is the reason we can now purchase wine from most states as she was the driving force behind the 1995 U.S. Supreme Court decision expanding the legality of interstate wine sales. Before the ruling, some states allowed in-state wineries to ship directly to consumers, but not out-of state companies. The ruling was a major victory for small family-owned wineries who want to expand their businesses or who simply wanted their customers to be able to ship wine to their homes. 

As Greenhill Winery moves forward, they have hired Sébastien Marquet, Doukenie Winery, as their winemaker consultant. When visiting the tasting room, they offer several wines - a Vidal, Blanc de Blanc, Syrah, and the Philosophy - a Bordeaux blend. We wish them well.

June Happenings in Maryland Wine Country

There's a lot going on north of the Potomac, so I decided to share a few special events happening in Maryland Wine Country. First, this weekend finds Old Westminster Winery hosting their official Grand Opening on Saturday, June 8th from 12 to 5 pm. If you recall, we featured winemaker Lisa Baker in a VirginiaWineTV video last year and the Baker family received wide acclaim for their offerings at this year's DrinkLocalWine.com conference. So pair some excellent wine - their Cabernet Franc is my favorite - with locally sourced baked bread and farm raised cheese as well as live acoustic music.

Not far away, but two weeks later, Linganore Winecellars is hosting their Vine Rewind Wine, Music & Art Festival during the weekend of June 22 & 23. This festival pays tribute to the music of the 70s, 80s, & 90s and features many regional performers such as The Reagan Years, All Natural, the Leslie Avenue Band, and Spiral. Attendees will be able to sample 19 Linganore wines and take tours of their eco-friendly wine-making facility. Try the Traminette, I hear its quite good and don't miss TRYs.



Finally, the Maryland Wineries Association (MWA) is preparing for Maryland Wine Week, a period (June 14-24) designated to encourage Maryland wine consumers to ask for Maryland wine at their favorite wine shop or restaurant. The MVA is also assisting local restaurants and wine shops host a range of events themed around Maryland wine; including wine maker dinners, tastings, wine flights, and more. Check back to the events website for more updated event information. Cheers to Maryland wine.

Mother's Day at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards

It seems we spend quite a few Mother's days in Charlottesville and this year we continued the trend by visiting a few wineries and breweries within the Monticello Wine Trail. On Sunday we stopped off at Michael Shap's Virginia Wineworks in order to stock up on their excellent boxed wine - yes boxed wine - made from 100% Virginia fruit. One box holds the equivalent of 4 750ml bottles and cost between $35-$40. In addition to the traditional Chardonnay, Viognier, and Cabernet Franc boxes, the winery has now boxed a White & Red Blend as well as a Rose - made from the bleed from the Michael Shap's. brand Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Merlot grapes. The White Blend consists of Traminette, Vidal, Riesling, Viognier, & Petit Manseng whereas the Red Blend is comprised of Merlot, Petit Verdot, Tannat, and Malbec. Being on a schedule, we didn't even get to the Michael Shaps branded wines but were all too happy bringing home a couple boxes.

But while browsing the barrels in the tasting room we noticed a few for Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards. We knew that Shaps is their winemaker, one among many for Shaps, and remembered that they winery hosts a full service kitchen. No need to head all the back to town; instead we became one of dozens of families who made Pippin Hill their Mother's day destination. The winery is located outside of North Garden right off Route 29, south of Charlottesville and we navigated to the winery using the new Compass mobile app. Upon arriving we realized why the parking lot was full. The view of Castle Rock and Mill Mountain are spectacular - can't believe I left the HD video camera at home. And even though the winery was crowded, the Andrews run an efficient operation. There was never a wait at any of the tasting bars and we only had a slight wait to have a large party seated in the dining area.


And we used that time efficiently by sampling several of their wines. The Pippin Hill Farm Blanc de Blanc was a favorite as was the Winemaker's Select White, Viognier, and Chardonnay Reserve. The Select White was similar blend as the White box above and the Chardonnay Reserve was my favorite white as it only exhibited a touch of oak treatment. For reds, I enjoyed the Winemaker's Select Red, an easy drinking wine that includes Merlot and Chambourcin. The single varietals were solid with the Cabernet Franc being my preferred red.

During lunch, we feasted on sliders, prawns, cheese plates, and later Chesapeake oysters and caramel popcorn - all washed down with Viognier and the Winemaker's Select White. Having a sustainable mindset, the winery sources from local and regional farmers and Chef Amalia Scatena's team created small, but filling entrees. A pretty awesome day - and according to the harshest critic - her new favorite Virginia winery. Cheers.

Middleburg Gets Some Signage For Their AVA

Courtesy of Boxwood Winery

The Commonwealth of Virginia is home to a number of American Viticultural Areas (AVA) such as Monticello (1984), the North Fork of Roanoke (1987) , the Northern Neck George Washington Birthplace (1987), Rocky Knob (1987), and Virginia’s Eastern Shore (1991), as well as sharing the Shenandoah Valley AVA (1987) with West Virginia. As you can see, the last AVA from the above list was Virginia’s Eastern Shore in 1991, with the remaining acquiring a designation in the 1980's.

In terms of the contemporary Virginia wine making industry, that's ancient history and quite a lot has changed since those early petitions. For instance, the petitioner of the North Fork of Roanoke AVA, Woolwine Winery, was the precursor to Chateau Morrisette and this AVA as well as Rocky Knob are currently home to very few commercial vineyards. In contrast, the number of vineyards in Northern Virginia have escalated rapidly in the past two decades particularly in Fauquier County and its northern neighbor Loudoun County, where there are now over 60 wineries operating between the two. 

Back in 2006, Rachel Martin, Executive V.P. at Boxwood Winery thought there was enough similar characteristics in geology, soil, climate and geography between many of these wineries that warranted a petition to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to designate a distinct AVA. The TTB defines an American Viticultural Area (AVA) as

A viticultural area for American wine is a delimited grape-growing region having distinguishing features as described in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) at 27 CFR part 9 and a name and delineated boundary as established in part 9 of the regulations. These designations allow vintners and consumers to attribute a given quality, reputation, or other characteristic of a wine made from grapes grown in an area to its geographic origin.

According to Martin, the designation matters for a number of reasons, first because it will allow wineries within the AVA to label their wines as “estate bottled” if the wine meets these conditions as stated by Steve Heimoff:

Take the term “estate bottled.” Up until now, a wine can be called “estate bottled” only if (a) it is labeled with an appellation of origin, and (b) the bottling winery is located in the labeled viticultural area, grew all of the grapes used to make the wine on land owned or controlled by the winery within the boundaries of the labeled viticultural area; and crushed the grapes (there are some additional restrictions).

Second, an AVA designation gives a wine a place of origin, even if it doesn't meet the estate condition. Since 85% of the grapes must be grown within the AVA, it gives consumers confidence that a particular wine labelled with an AVA contains fruit grown in that jurisdiction. Perfect for the locapour movement.

Finally, an AVA designation provides a huge marketing advantage to the area and even the state, particularly when the Virginia Wine Board and the Secretariat of Transportation and the Secretariat of Agriculture and Forestry get involved.  These agencies have developed the Virginia Wine Region Sign Program which, as you would expect, road signs promoting the various AVAs and wine regions within the state. 

View Midleburg AVA in a larger map

In September of 2012, the TTB announced that Martin's petition had been approved and the Middleburg AVA was officially created. The AVA boundary is quite detailed and maps to 46 unique points bounded by the Potomac River to the north and mountains to the east, south and west. The TTB lists these map points in detail here. In total, the Middleburg AVA covers approximately 190-square miles (121,600 acres) and contains 229 acres of commercial vineyards and 14 wineries.  I've created a map of these wineries that is also embedded above. It includes many of our favorite NOVA wineries, but is also interesting in terms of those that are outside the boundary. For instance, the borders exclude eastern Middleburg and Chrysalis Vineyards as well as the western slope of Short Hill Mountain and Breaux Vineyards. Other neighboring wineries may feel disappointed, but all should expect to benefit from the designation as well as the Virginia Wine Region Sign Program.

And yesterday, March 26, First Lady Maureen McDonnell and Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore unveiled the Middleburg Virginia AVA sign at a ceremony hosted by Boxwood. Both the sign and AVA designation will assist in the continued expansion of the Virginia Wine Industry. In the words of Rachel Martin, "This AVA designation promotes Northern Virginia as a recognized US wine growing region further placing Virginia in a national context of making wine and allows us to tell a more comprehensive story of Virginia vineyards, wines, viticulture and winemaking practices."

Time for LOVE By The Glass: Virginia Wine & Dine Month

It's that time of the year again. Yes Tax time; but also Virginia Wine & Dine Month, a collaboration between the Virginia Tourism Corporation and Virginia Wine Marketing Board. The theme for March is "LOVE By the Glass", where restaurants and wine retailers in the Commonwealth are encouraged to feature Virginia wines. Nearly 300 such entities have agreed to participate, and why not. There are over 230 wineries in Virginia making the state the fifth largest producer in the U.S.

Like a majority of old world wines, Virginia wines are bonded to the culinary experience. To see an example, take a look at our video pairing wine and food at Potomac Point Winery. And according to Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore, "This is a perfect match of the two." He explains further, "each year we see more restaurants and wine shops across Virginia choosing to promote Virginia wines. We hope this year's March Virginia Wine & Dine Month will spur additional interest from new trade partners. We continue to get positive feedback about the growing interest in Virginia wines and its vibrant culinary community. "

To find a sample of the participating restaurants as well as travel packages, visit the official LOVE By the Glass page. And since we favor videos, check out the latest For the LOVE of Travel webisode.