Dave McIntyre's WineLine

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.

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.

It's Harvest Time!

The grape harvest is in full swing throughout the Northern Hemisphere. In my column today in The Washington Post, I give insights into how harvest is progressing in Bordeaux, Virginia and California – plus my monthly “Recession Busters” recommendations of eight terrific wines that cost $10 or less.

And don’t forget that next week is the second annual Regional Wine Week, during which bloggers around the country will write about “wine from around here, wherever ‘here’ might be.” These will be linked at DrinkLocalWine.com. Look for my Washington Post Food section feature next week on the quality explosion in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Is Wine Really an Agricultural Product?

Of course it is, but society doesn’t always acknowledge that fact. If it did, you’d probably see more wineries selling their products at farm markets. But that’s not so easy here in the Washington, D.C. area. I explore the topic – along with a move to make it easier for Maryland wineries to participate in farm markets – in my column today in The Washington Post. Check out my videoblog as well, including interviews with Sarah O’Herron of Black Ankle VIneyards, Mitch Berliner of the Bethesda Central Farm Market, and Amanda White of Willowcroft Farm Vineyard.

From the Post column, click on the link for recommended wines to see my personal faves from the recent Virginia wine festival at Bull Run Regional Park, sponsored by the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Association.

Black Ankle, by the way, recently won the 2009 Maryland Governor’s Cup for best wine in the state for their 2007 Crumbling Rock Bordeaux blend. Not bad for a winery that only opened for business last year, and also won the Governor’s Cup for their 2008 Crumbling Rock before they’d even built their tasting room.

Black Ankle Goes to Bethesda

Fans of the Bethesda Central Farm Market will have a chance to taste some local wine with all that local produce this Sunday, Sept. 13, from 9 am to 1 pm, when Black Ankle Vineyards will be pouring and selling their new Leaf Stone Syrah. According to market organizer Mitch Berliner, it is the first time a winery has been allowed to participate in a farm market in Maryland.

That may seem strange, considering a vineyard is nothing if not a farm. But of course, we’re talking alcoholic beverage here, so the laws and politics are different.

Berliner said he wanted wineries to participate in his market because wine should be part of the “eat local” movement. He picked a good winery to feature – Black Ankle just won the Maryland Governor’s Cup for the second year in a row with its 2007 Crumbling Rock, a Bordeaux-styled blend. Not bad for a winery that just opened its doors in 2007. The 2006 Crumbling Rock won the Governor’s Cup last year.

The 2007 Leaf Stone Syrah is no wallflower – it took “Best of Category” as best syrah in the recent Atlantic Seaboard WIne Competition, and created quite a buzz among the judges, including me. (“Leaf Stone” is another way of saying “Crumbling Rock,” and is emblematic of the soil at the Black Ankle vineyards, near Mt. Airy.)

As I wrote about Black Ankle a year ago in The Washington Post: “This is not your father’s Maryland wine.”

Don’t miss this chance to taste the wine, because you won’t see Ed Boyce and Sarah O’Herron, the husband-and-wife team behind the winery, at the farm market on a regular basis. Maryland law only allows a winery three special permits per county per year, and this is using up one of Black Ankle’s, Boyce said.

Berliner hopes to change that when the Maryland legislature convenes in January. It could be an exciting year for Maryland wine lovers, with hopes high that the legislature will also ease restrictions on having wine shipped directly to consumers’ homes.

For now, though, taste the Leaf Stone Syrah on Sunday. If it catches your fancy, there will also be a Farm Market dinner on Monday, Sept. 14, at Redwood restaurant in Bethesda Row, featuring Black Ankle wines. Cost is $75 per person.

For more info: http://www.bethesdacentralfarmmarket.com/ and http://www.blackankle.com/

The Judgment of DC

It may not have the cachet of the Texas Twitter Tasteoff, but at The Washington Post we conducted our own version of the famous Judgment of Paris, pitting the US vs France in an oenological grudge match. Only we slipped in some local wines without telling anyone.

What did our professional judges – three retailers and three sommeliers – decide? Virginia can go toe-to-toe with the big boys!

Read about it in today's Washington Post.

Oregon Pinot Noir - Sustainably Good

Oregon pinot noir offers an ideal opportunity to explore the effects of terroir, as the state’s main wine region, the Willamette (rhymes with ‘dammit’) Valley features two main soil types, each with its own expression in the wine.

I explore these expressions in my column this week in The Washington Post, written after my enjoyable sojourn in McMinnville at the International Pinot Noir Celebration.

The Oregon wine industry leads the way in the United States in sustainable, organic and biodynamic viticulture. There is a state certification for sustainable viticulture and a regional group called “LIVE” - that's Low Input Viticulture and Enology – that stresses environmentally friendly practices in the vineyard and in the winery. Its members include familiar names such as Adelsheim, Bethel Heights, Chehalem, and Rex Hill, among many others. LIVE works with the “Salmon Safe” certification that monitors wineries for practices that protect fisheries, and the IOBC, the International Organization for Biological and Integrated Control of Noxious Animals and Plants. (Whew – that's a mouthful!)

This environmental consciousness is to be applauded, for it stands to reason that healthier land will produce healthier grapes and better wine. No one can prove that yet, and any honest winemaker will admit that bad wine can be made from great grapes, and no great wine can be made from bad grapes. So maybe land wins out over the winemaker’s hand, after all.

Price, of course, is always a factor. Oregon has positioned itself in the $35 - $55 range for fine wines, and is beginning to feel the pinch of the recession, as luxury wines from other regions such as Napa Valley experience steep price cuts. Oregon pinot noir has not yet responded to this pressure, though Ted Casteel of Bethel Heights said his winery will be increasing production of its regular cuvee and de-emphasizing its top wines with the 2009 harvest.

Even without the economic climate making its presence felt (yet) on the price of Oregon pinot noir, there are several that provide good value at $25 or less. Here are a few worth seeking out, in alphabetical order:

A to Z Pinot Noir 2007, Oregon, $20

Anne Amie Cuvee A Pinot Noir 2007, Willamette Valley, $25

Benton Lane Pinot Noir 2007, Willamette Valley, $25

Firesteed Pinot Noir 2007, Oregon, $18

A Tight-Knit Cru - Beaujolais as it Should Be

If you think Beaujolais is just grapey Nouveau or insipid plonk, think again. It's time to discover the delicious, mineral and food-friendly wines of the Beaujolais crus, the 10 appellations that give added expression to the gamay grape. You can read about these wines in my July 29 column in The Washington Post.

Life Through Rosé-Colored Glasses

In Bordeaux, Vinexpo week has been blessed with stunningly beautiful weather – bright, sunny skies, warm-to-hot-but-not-stifling temperatures, and steady breezes leading into cool nights. It’s been such a treat after all the rain back home.

That rain had me in a bit of funk as I was writing two columns on rosé for The Washington Post, with summer temperatures in mind. You can still check them – one from June 17 on Old World rosé, the other from June 24 on some worthy ones from the New World. (Don’t forget to click on the links for “Rosé Recommendations” to find some extraordinary wines for your summer sipping pleasure!)

Cheers!

Dave

Photo: Julia Ewan, Washington Post