“The Virginia Wine Board is pleased to sponsor the second annual Drink Local Wine Conference,” says Rock Stephens, the wine board chairman. “In 1979, Virginia had only six wineries and today we have well over 150. From the Shenandoah to Jefferson’s Monticello to George Washington’s birthplace to Virginia’s Eastern Shore, we are proud of the diversity and quality of wines produced in Virginia and look forward to providing attendees the opportunity to experience, as well as, sample some of our outstanding vintages.”

The conference is a great opportunity to showcase the wineries, winemakers, and people helping to put Virginia wine on the global wine map.  I’m hearing a rumor a few Maryland wines will also be on display.  Yours truly, TheOther46.com has already made travel plans!  For more information or to register for the conference call (978) 276-9463 or send an email.

The conference follows the success of the Web site’s Regional Wine Week last fall, in which more than 40 wine bloggers, writers and columnists from the U.S. and Canada wrote about their favorite regional wines, ranging from Ontario to New York to Florida to Texas to Colorado.

Texas is the fifth-largest wine producing state in the country, with 177 wineries and 280 commercial vineyards. The Texas industry has made important strides this decade, focusing on Italian, Spanish and Mediterranean varieties. As presenting sponsor, the Texas Department of Agriculture’s GO TEXAN program sees the conference as an opportunity to tell the Texas wine story.

“Local wine is no longer a novelty,” said Dave McIntyre, wine columnist for The Washington Post and co-founder of DrinkLocalWine.com. “The conference will show that Texas – along with at least a dozen other states like Virginia, Missouri, New York, and North Carolina – produces quality wine.”

For registration and schedule information, go to DrinkLocalWine.com. For more information about the Texas wine industry, go to www.GOTEXANWine.org.