The Wine Century Club turns 5 years old this spring. It has grown to 721 members. Have you heard about this club? Afterall 721 members in five years doen’t seem like a large number. However, the Wine Century Club is a great learning and fun opportunity for wine enthusiasts. The 721 members have tasted at least 100 different varieties of grapes. Since there are tens of thousands of grapes, tasting 100 different varieties should be a cinch. However it isn’t that easy. The first 40 varieties may be easy, then it gets harder. It took Kathy and me three years and travel to hundreds of wineries to reach the 100 varietal grape threshhold. It turns out that this is a lofty goal.
If you are interested, visit the Wine Century Club website and download an application. On the application, you simply note the varieties that you have tasted. If you taste a blend, you can count all the varietal grapes in the blend. The process is quite educational. You will find yourself searching for unique varieties from around the world. You will also discover varieties that you like as well as those you probably won’t try again. See how long it takes you to discover and taste 100 different varieties of grapes.
Yesterday I wrote about the drinklocalwine.com conference being held the weekend of April 25. Here is a little more information. The conference will be at Lansdowne Resort in Virginia. Primarily the participating wineries will be Virginia wineries. However in addition to Virginia wineries, several Maryland wineries will be participating including Black Ankle, Serpent Ridge, Sugarloaf Mountain, Elk Run, Cygnus Wine Cellars and Fiore Winery.
Topics included in the conference will be Thomas Jefferson was Right, Social Media, If Local Food, Why Not Local Wine and the Twitter Taste-off.
On April 26, winery tours will take place at Loudoun County wineries.
Check out this second annual drinklocalwine.com conference. Support local wineries. The number of wineries in Virginia and Maryland are continuing to increase. Limited tickets are available. Order tickets online.
Cheers! Kathy
There are lots of wine events during April. Check out the winery events calendar on the Wine Trail Traveler website at http://winetrailtraveler.com/calendar.php.
For the weekend of April 17 and 18 there are also an array of wine festivals. Travel to Waynesboro, Virginia for the 10th Annual Virginia Fly Fishing & Wine Festival on April 17-18. This is the perfect time to learn everything you need to know about fly fishing. In addition seven wineries will have wines to taste, purchase by the glass or bottle. Check out this one of a kind festival at http://www.vaflyfishingfestival.org/index.html.
Another possibility in Virginia is the Northern Neck Wine Festival on April 17. This festival will be held at ye olde courthouse tavern, Rice’s Hotel & Hughlett’s Tavern from 9am to 5pm. More information is available at http://northernneckwinefestival.com/.
If you haven’t visited Texas yet, April may be a great time to visit. The GoTexanWine website lists numerous wine events for April. Don’t miss the Texas Hill Country Wine Trail event -Wine and Wildflower or the Texas Bluebonnet Wine Trail.
Enjoy traveling to wineries around the country or in your own backyard.
Cheers! Kathy
In late March, Governor Granholm called for April to be Michigan Wine Month. Wineries in Michigan are becoming increasingly known from the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas to the west section of the state where Lake Michigan influences the climate.
Currently the state has four wine trails including Leelanau Peninsula Vintners Trail, Wineries of Old Mission Peninsula Trail, Lake Michigan Shore Wine Trail and Southeast Michigan Pioneer Wine Trail. Wine lovers will find a large array of wines being produced in Michigan with Michigan grown grapes.
Tourists will also discover small intimate wineries such as Contessa Wine Cellars where visitors can spend a long time enjoying wines and talking with the winemaker. Also visit Domaine Berrien, where you will discover their specialties include red vinifera estate grapes. Both of these wineries are located in the Lake Michigan Shore region. For anyone interested in lodging at a winery along with cooking classes, consider Chateau Chantal – a remarkably large winery with beautiful views. Despite its size it is also a very friendly winery to visit. Chateau Chantal is on Old Mission Peninsula.
Enjoy a trip to Michigan and visit some of the many wineries around the state. One of the Michigan wineries recently wrote and said that the wineries in Michigan are not allowed to charge a tasting fee, so when you discover a wine you enjoy be sure to consider purchasing a bottle or two.
Cheers! Kathy
By Kathy
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Posted in Wine News/Commentary
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Tagged April, Chateau Chantal, Contessa, Domaine Berrien, Lake Michigan Shore, Leelanau Peninsula, Michigan, Michigan Wine Month, Old Mission Peninsula, wine, wine trail
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If you are looking for an unusual salad to prepare for Easter dinner, consider Honeydew and Pancetta Salad with a Lime Icewine Vinaigrette. This is a salad with the main ingredients of honeydew melon, greens and pancetta. (Pancetta is a type of Italian bacon.) The vinaigrette is composed of several ingredients including an icewine, rice wine vinegar, raspberry vinegar and lime juice. This recipe was provided to Wine Trail Traveler by Chef Shaun Zwarun, DesBarres Mano Inn in Nova Scotia.
Have a wonderful day preparing for Easter!
Cheers, Kathy
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Are There Too Many Wineries in the United States?
Wine and Vines reported yesterday some statistics about the number of wineries in the United States. As of April 2010 there are 6590 wineries in the US. That makes our task of visiting these wineries and writing about them rather daunting. We’ve visited 465 wineries to date however some of those were in Canada, United Kingdom and Italy.
It is interesting as we travel to hear people make some unusual claims. A tasting room attendant at a Virginia winery was over heard telling travelers from California that Virginia has almost as many wineries as California. It must be the new math they are teaching. Or some people from New Jersey claiming their state is the second largest wine producing state in the country. More new math.
So what are the numbers as reported by Wine and Vines? Here is the current list of the top ten wineries.
California 3115
Washington 593
Oregon 502
New York 259
Virginia 176
Texas 172
Pennsylvania 149
Ohio 129
Michigan 119
North Carolina 109
The lion’s share of wineries is in California representing 47% of US wineries. Virginia and Texas seem to move back and forth for fifth place depending on what statistics are used. Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina are also very close. In any event, the number of wineries is increasing. The 6590 wineries in the US are up from 4740 just five years ago.
There are only so many wine drinkers. Is the United States wine industry over producing wine? Or will wine enthusiasts continue to see the opening of hundreds of new wineries over the next five years?