The Other 46

After discovering New Mexico’s Gruet Winery more than a year ago in the pages of Wine Spectator, their non-vintage sparkling wines (Brut, Blanc de Noirs, Rose, and Demi-Sec) have become a permanent fixture in my home.  Whether celebrating a special event, enjoying a holiday meal, or relaxing after a long day at work, Gruet Winery [...]

I often find myself drinking the same wines over and over again.  So when I pulled the Sharpe Hill Vineyard 2007 Select Late Harvest Vignoles from the cellar recently, it was a nice change.  I’ve had my fair share of Late Harvest wines produced from Riesling, Vidal Blanc and several other grape varieties, but never [...]

The Idaho wine industry has experienced tremendous growth in the past decade, increasing from 11 wineries in 2002 to just over 40 in 2010.  With the recent designation of the Snake River Valley AVA, Idaho’s wine industry is well-positioned for continued success and growth.  Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to experience an [...]

Last month I had the opportunity to participate in my second TasteLive event coordinated and hosted by friend and fellow wine blogger Lenn Thompson of the New York Cork Report in conjunction with the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association.  I had a great time tasting through the Finger Lakes Pinot Noirs a few [...]

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the quality of Maryland wines sampled during the Twitter Taste-off at the DrinkLocalWine.com 2010 conference.  I’ve praised Maryland wines for some time now (see my earlier recap) and continue to be impressed with the quality of wines being produced.  I didn’t have time to sample all of [...]

4,000,000 is a large number.  It also represents the points of contact made from tweets, re-tweets, and other social media messages sent from attendees during the DrinkLocalWine.com conference.  An impressive number, especially considering the conference is in it’s infancy.  If memory serves me correct, I believe the number was around 200,000 from the inaugural conference [...]

A few weeks prior to the DrinkLocalWine.com conference, a few of us tossed around the idea of a Twitter Tweet-Up in Virginia.  Jennifer Breaux Blosser, Director of Sales and Hospitality at Breaux Vineyards, jumped on board and rolled out the red carpet for our small group this past Saturday.  Anyone who follows my blog, knows [...]

The DrinkLocalWine.com conference festivities kicked off with an informal gathering of wine writers at Lansdowne Resort to enjoy a tasting of wines from the other 47 states.  Hosted by Dezel Quillen at On The Potomac, we each brought an assortment of wines from New York, Texas, Colorado, Maryland, Hawaii, Utah, North Carolina, and Virginia, the [...]

The second annual DrinkLocalWine.com conference has come and gone, but the friendships formed are here to stay.  Held in picturesque Loudoun County, Virginia, the 2-day conference included a reception/winemaker dinner on Saturday night (invitation only) followed by Sunday’s activities which included a series of panel discussions and the popular Twitter Taste-off featuring some of the [...]