Dave McIntyre's WineLine

Local Wine Bandwagon Gains Steam With Obama's Help

Virginia wine was featured last night at President Obama's first State Dinner. The president, his guest of honor, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and invited members of D.C.'s elite washed down pumpkin pie tart and pear tatin with Thibaut-Janisson blanc de chardonnay, from the Monticello district near Charlottesville.

Thibaut-Janisson is an up-and-coming specialist in fine sparkling wine. Winemaker Claude Thibaut is convinced that Virginia has the climate and terroir to produce excellent bubbly – and evidently the president agrees.

“Here's more evidence Virginia can produce top-notch fizz,” I wrote about this wine last year in my Thanksgiving recommendations in the Post. “Elegant and stylish, with palate-refreshing acidity and subtle fruit that emerges about an hour after opening.”

Other wines served at the dinner included the 2008 Modus Operandi Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley; the 2006 Brooks Winery Riesling “Ara” Vineyard from Oregon's Willamette Valley; and the 2007 Beckman Vineyards Grenache from California's Santa Ynez Valley. The dinner's menu is available on the White House Web site here.

I've always been a big fan of Brooks. The winery farms biodynamically and produces excellent Riesling - the Ara is its best - and Pinot Noir. I had the opportunity to visit the winery last summer during the International Pinot Noir Celebration, and enjoyed the 2006 Ara then. But if you want to taste what the White House guests enjoyed tonight, you'd better hurry - the winery has only a few cases left.

This caps a banner week for Regional Wine. Last week, I wrote in the Post that “the growth of local wineries throughout the country is transforming the American wine industry.” Yesterday, my buddy Jeff Siegel, aka “The Wine Curmudgeon,” offered more proof of the changing face of American wine. Jeff noted that Eric Asimov in The New York Times included a New York wine – Shinn Estate Merlot – in his Thanksgiving recommendations, while Boston Globe wine columnist Stephen Meuse praised Massachusetts Cabernet Franc, even if he didn’t include a specific recommendation for one.

“What's with these big deal wine writers suddenly hopping on the DrinkLocalWine.com bandwagon?” Jeff asked. Not that we're complaining!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Please comment here on what wines you'll be enjoying for the feast.

Regional Wine Week - half way point

If you haven't yet checked out REGIONAL WINE WEEK on DrinkLocalWine.com, you should. We've got harvest updates on the Finger Lakes and Niagara from Lenn Thompson's New York Cork Report, plus a post from Paul Vigna on how the bad economy has some prime Pennsylvania vineyard land languishing on the market. Rémy Charest has reported on the current scandale in Canadian wine - a legal loophole that allows wine from elsewhere to be labeled "cellared in Canada". Brian Kirby is scouting out some exciting developments in Maryland. And Richard Leahy writes about wines produced from goofball grapes that will surprise you with their quality.

Remember - Think Globally, Drink Locally. And support Regional Wine Week by visiting DrinkLocalWine.com!

Loudoun County - DC's Bedroom Community AND its Wine Country!

Loudoun County in Northern Virginia has been experiencing the same growth in number of wineries as the state overall. Three of those - Tarara, Boxwood and Sunset Hills - are leading a new wave of quality improvements. Read about new and exciting developments in DC's Wine Country in my feature in today's Washington Post Food section.

And here is my video with Todd Thrasher, sommelier of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Va., discussing our favorites from a tasting of 28 Loudoun County wines. Warning - the video is long, about 10 minutes, and I never really figure out what to do with my hands. And someone should give Todd a tissue. But after all, this was only 2 days after I got my nifty new Flip videocamera, so I was really really new to this.

The Vintner and the Herbalist

"White wine with fish, red wine with meat" - remember how that used to define wine and food pairing? It's still fairly safe, if unadventurous. Wine lovers will often tell you to match wine not with the meat, but with the sauce, or the seasoning. These flavors, after all, are often the accent that determines how food speaks to our palates. 

In this video, I speak to Mary Watson DeLauder, a noted sommelier who is revered (for the lack of a better word) in the Virginia wine industry for her support of the Old Dominion's wines, about how different herbs affect the flavor of wine. We're at Corcoran Vineyards in Loudoun County, with winemaker Lori Corcoran. Listen as Mary identifies the "magic" herb that complements nearly every wine, and as she and I deal with flying hair. And just for titillation, Mary even cusses! Hey, it's the Internet! We can say anything!

Regional Wine Week Starts Tomorrow! (Oct. 11, that is … )

Regional Wine Week starts tomorrow, Sunday, October 11, and we’ve got an exciting lineup of bloggers and writers who will be writing about their local wines and wineries they’ve experienced on their travels around this great land. Remember, wine is now made in all 50 states – not just the West Coast! You might not know that if you rely only on the major wine publications, so let’s light up the blogosphere with reports on “wine from around here.”

So where will you be able to find these scintillating and fascinating reports, you ask? They will be linked at DrinkLocalWine.com, the Web site “Wine Curmudgeon” Jeff Siegel and I created last year for the first Regional Wine Week. Bookmark it and return throughout the week (and afterwards!) to see what new articles have been posted. Then you can discover some of the underground wine writers who are chronicling your local wine scene. If you're a Washington Post reader, you'll find my feature on Loudoun County, Virginia, wines in Wednesday's Food section.

Jeff and I will also try to remember to update our Twitter feeds #dlw09 and alert our Facebook friends and fans of DrinkLocalWine.com of new postings throughout the week.

Just as a tease, I will report on my recent visit to a winery that makes this singular boast on its welcome sign:

Can you guess? Leave a comment if you think you know. Then check in here and at DrinkLocalWine.com to find out.