This week through Sunday is Virginia Wine’s Love By the Glass promotion, March 18-27. More than 340 restaurants and wine stores throughout Virginia are participating in Virginia Wine Week with specials, tasting and events. Visit Virginia Wine for more details. Many wineries are having special tasting and release events.
If you haven’t explored many of Virginia’s 190 wineries, this week is a great time to start! Its also a great time to try a new type of wine. Last month at the Virginia Wine Expo, several Virginia wineries had wine varieties I had never tried.
* Wisteria Vineyard‘s fantastic owner Moussa Ishak was serving up a few new discoveries.
- Seyval 2008: Made from 100% Sevyal white grapes, this is a nice refreshing wine with a citrus aroma and hint of pear. Its smooth finish also has a slight nutty aftertaste. The Seyval grape is a French hybrid.
- Carmine: Carmine is a red grape cross of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Carignane developed by Dr. Harold Olmos, of the University of California. He developed it as a Cabernet alternative for California’s cool coastal regions but it never took off in California. Wisteria’s wine was a dark red in color with an aroma of berries and hint of persimmon. Its explosive taste has a clean finish. Wisteria is the only Virginia winery growing this grape.
Be sure to visit their lovely winery located on the western slope of the Blue Ridge Mountains outside Luray, Virginia.
* Rosemont Vineyards, in Southern Virginia, had a nice Traminette wine. This white grape is a hybrid of Gewürztraminer made in 1965 by H.C. Barrett, then of the University of Illinois. Their Traminette 2008 is a Silver Medal winner from the Virginia Wine Lovers Classic. Its a crisp, dry wine with aromas of apricot, honey and peach.
See if a local restaurant offers them by the glass and if your favorite restaurant doesn’t, ask them to add some to the list.
Cheers to Virginia Wine Week![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]