Four Reasons Why To Drink Local Wine

With the 5^th Annual Drink Local Wine Conference taking place in two weeks in Baltimore, perhaps its time to look at what wine enthusiasts are missing if they ignore local wines. While many people support the local food concept, it seems that drink local is not considered part of the local food movement.

Here are four reasons for you to decide to visit local wineries:

1. Visiting a winery can provide a great experience for visitors. In addition to discovering the wines, visitors can enjoy the ambiance. Experiences may include any combination of things including views of the vineyards, perhaps a tour of the winery, food pairings, music, and art. While your local wine shop or grocery store may be friendly, do they offer an experience? How many people rush in to the store to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner and quickly leave? Consider a visit to a local winery as an event where you can meet people, perhaps listen to music and enjoy conversation as well as taste wines.
2. Support the local people in your community. Most wineries do better by selling wine directly from their tasting room rather than using a middleman who takes a large cut.
3. Travelers gain insight into the climate/terroir of a region by ordering local wines when traveling. Drinking different wine varieties and styles can be exciting and put you in touch with the culture and history of an area.
4. A winery’s entire wine portfolio will not be available at your local wine store. This may be due to limited shelf space at the shop or that the winery does not produce sufficient quantities to keep the shop stocked. By visiting wineries, one can discover all of the wines that a winery produces.

If you can make to the Drink Local Conference we hope to meet you there.

Cheers! Kathy