There are several ways to participate in Regional Wine Week. The most obvious is to drink local wine. Acquiring local wine may take some work though. You can visit your local winery, taste from their portfolio of wines and choose the one you like. A drive in the country is a great Sunday afternoon activity. Discover what your local wineries are producing. Match the wine with locally grown foods to create a total “eat and drink local meal” for Sunday evening.

When visiting local wineries, ask a few questions. Not all wineries source grapes from the local growers. It is a common practice to source grapes out of the state or even out of the country. Consider asking at the winery where the grapes came from for the wines you are interested in purchasing. On the other hand, don’t assume that if the winery doesn’t have grapes on the property, that they source all their grapes outside the state. There is a difference between a winery and a vineyard. Many wineries that do not have vineyards source their grapes locally.

The primary idea for this week is to taste wines made from the grapes grown in your region. Local wineries are a good place to discover the “taste of the place.”