Tag Archives: Virginia wine

The 2016 presidential election

From a wine perspective, of course ? and regional wine at that. What else would you expect from the Wine Curmudgeon? Certainly not politics.

The Democratic candidate? Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado, who has been a tremendous advocate for Colorado wine. He came to the DrinkLocalWine media dinner in April, where he said all the right things and seemed genuinely interested in what we were doing. (There is even a picture of the governor and I floating around the Internet, which I have not yet been able to find. My Mom is not happy about this, so if anyone knows what happened to the picture, please let me know).

The Republican candidate? Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, whose efforts to help his state ?s wine business shame almost every other governor in the country (including and especially Texas ? Rick Perry). Maureen McDonnell, the state ?s first lady, has been an especially avid proponent ? even visiting Virginia wineries.

Book review: Beyond Jefferson’s Vines — The Evolution of Quality Wine in Virginia

BeyondJeffersonsVinesCOVERWho knew that the next big thing in wine books would be regional wine? But that's the case, with publishers scrambling to find writers who can do justice to the subject.

In this, Richard Leahy's publisher found the perfect author. I suppose there might be a couple of people who know more about Virginia wine than Leahy does, but they haven't come forward yet. "Beyond Jefferson's Vines" ($19.95, Sterling Publishing) reflects this knowledge — it's comprehensive, authoritative, and complete. Those of a technical bent will find thorough discussions of terroir and grape growing and wine making techniques, while those who want the broader picture (as well as suggestions for Virginia wine tours) will get that as well.

More, after the jump:

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The Wine Curmudgeon on #winechat

That's at  8 p.m. central on Wednesday night, where a crowd of people — representing wine from Texas, Maryland, Florida, and Virginia  – will talk about what's going on with the drink local movement as well as DrinkLocalWine's upcoming conference in Colorado (and the train ticket giveaway). This is a Twitter event, so follow the conversation at #winechat. I'm @wine_curmudgeon on Twitter.

A big tip o' the Curmudgeon's fedora to Dezel Quillen, Virginia wine blogger extraordinarie, who put this thing together and patiently answered my questions about the format.

Winebits 197: Steve Case, Geyser Peak, $3 wine

? Virgina wine gets big name: That would be the same Steve Case who founded the original America Online, and turned it into an Internet powerhouse as important in its day as Google is today. Almost everyone who used the Internet at the turn of the century had an AOL email address. Case wants to buy Sweely Estate near Charlottesville, which gives Virginia a true big name, deep pockets investor. Why is that important? Because regional wineries are traditionally undercapitalized. Case, who made a bundle when he merged AOL with Time Warner in a $350 billion deal in 2000, has the cash to take the Virginia winery to the next step — improve the quality of the wine and do increased regional and then national distribution, which is something most non-California wineries can't afford to do. This is just another example of how Virginia is starting to challenge New York and Missouri as the top regional wine state in the country, while Texas, once considered a player, is taking giant steps backward.

? Geyser Peak bankruptcy? Lew Purdue at Wine Industry Insight (behind a pay wall) reports that Geyser Peak and its corporate parent, Ascentia Wine Estates, may be close to bankruptcy. If true, it would be among the biggest casualties of the wine industry recession. Geyser Peak, which produces quality grocery store $10 wine, has had three corporate parents over the past couple of years, as the biggest wine brands have been buying and selling labels in a furious effort to appease stockholders and reduce expenses in the wake of flat sales.

? More $3 wine: Fresh & Easy, the West Coast high end convenience chain, is expanding its line of $3 wines. Called Big Kahuna, the wines have been the retailer's best seller since their introduction in 2007. Fresh & Easy will sell cabernet sauvignon, merlot, rose, shiraz, tempranillo, sweet white and crisp white for about $3. Consider that $3 wine is now a staple of some of the country's biggest and most prestigious retailers, including Walmart, 7-Eleven, Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods, and you'll begin to see a pattern emerging. Unless, of course, you're in the mainstream wine business, and desperately need to sell overpriced $15 wine whose only attribute is a cute label.

Virginia Governor’s Cup 2011

It’s almost enough to make one think Virginia wine is jinxed. First, there was the terrifically unseasonable heat and humidity during the Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville in July, and we know how that turned out. Then, Hurricane Irene hit the Atlantic coast at the same time that judging was scheduled for the white wine portion of Virginia Governor’s Cup competition.

Two judges canceled, and Landsdowne Resort, where the judging was held, was as empty as I have ever seen it (and the Wine Curmudgeon has been to Landsdowne more times than he would have thought possible). And even I was a little worried about the storm — probably from watching too much shouting on The Weather Channel.

But all went well. The wine, though entries were down from last year, was more then competent — and some were even better than that. Irene stayed far enough out to sea so that Landsdowne didn’t get any of the storm, and we had more rain on Sunday morning than we did on Saturday when the hurricane came through. Competition guru Monty Barrett did a stellar job.

Five wines made it through the first round of judging to compete for the Governor’s Cup — a petit manseng, viognier, chardonnay, vidal blanc and white blend. We tasted blind, so I don’t know the producers, and the winner won’t be announced until October. But I thought the two best wines were the viognier and vidal. The former was young and rich, almost French in style, while the vidal was fresh and citrusy, without a hint of hybrid foxiness.

My guess, though, is that the chardonnay will win. It was about as oaky and toasty as an East Coast wine can be, and that’s a style that judges like. It was well made, certainly, but I didn’t think it reflected the state’s terroir as well as the others.

Virginia wine business to Texas: Drop dead

Russ Kane at the Vintage Texas blog has the details — the Virginia wine business has called out the Texas wine business, and the latter is nowhere to be seen. The Virginia agriculture secretary doesn’t mince words:

Two of our closest competitors in the U.S., New York State and Texas, are actually cutting their wine marketing and education budgets and cutting back the things they are doing to support their industry. It doesn ?t make any sense to us but we ?re not arguing. If they want to take those steps backwards, that ?s all for the better of Virginia. We are committed to growing this industry.

There is even video (courtesy of the great Todd Godbout at VirginiaWineTV). Frankly, if this challenge doesn’t move the Texas Legislature to restore marketing and research funding for the Texas wine industry, what will? I’ve tried being reasonable, and I’ve tried being funny. Neither, apparently, made much difference.

Now, the Virginia agriculture secretary is questioning their manhood. It’s High Noon, fellows, Frank Miller is getting off the train, and Grace Kelly isn’t around to help. (Video courtesy of TheWesternReview via YouTube.)

Winebits 155: Thanksgiving wine, best wines, Kluge winery

? Wine blogs and Thanksgiving: There's a spirited discussion at Louisville Juice questioning whether wine blogs should offer Thanksgiving wine advice, and the consensus seems to be that it's kind of silly for us to do so. Or, as the blogger Thomas Pellechia wrote in a comment, "Bloggers are just like print writers – ? every holiday, every year, comes with a discussion of which wine to go with which food or a list of the best. All this proves to me is that print isn ?t dead ? writing is." Which seems an odd thing to say. People have questions about Thanksgiving wine, and it doesn't seem untoward that I — or any other wine writer — should try to answer them. Unless, of course, we're not writing for people who have questions about wine, which is another question entirely.

? Wine Spectator's top wines: A tip o' the Curmudgeon's fedora to my brother, Jim Siegel, for passing this along: The Spectator is releasing its top 10 wines of the year in a cyber-fest of video and on-line updates. It's subscription only, but you can see wines 8, 9, and 10 with a free link through Nov. 28. Two of those wines are $100 each, and the Spectator notes that the average price per bottle for the top 10 is $48. You may draw your own conclusions from the pricing.

? The end for Virginia's Kluge Estate: The winery, one of the best in the state, has been forced into bankruptcy, and an auction will be held on Dec. 8 to cover its $35 million in debts. Kluge will be missed. You can argue that its owners, Patricia Kluge and William Moses, made myriad bad business decisions, but they also made good wine. And it's always a shame when a winery that makes good wine goes out of business — and especially a winery that did so much for regional wine.