Regional Wines and Abundant food

Have I let all of you know lately how much I love my job?

It has taken me awhile to write about my trip to Virginia Tech the weekend before last because I spent last week in the land of snow and hockey pucks. Yes, Canada.

I have to say, being from Canada I always thought everyone in the world was crazy when commenting on how Canada is always covered in ice and snow. That was until last Tuesday when my wife Jen and I went to the Gala for the Uncorked Wine Trade Show we were there for. The gala was outside, and I do not think they were expecting May 27th to be 38 degrees F. It was a mighty chilly dinner, but fun none the less.

Now to get back on track, six of us from Tarara made our way down to Virginia Tech on Friday May 23rd for the first Vintners Table Weekend. This is an VT Alumni organized weekend to celebrate some of the finer things in life and all based around the great wines of Virginia. Although we probably would have liked a bit larger of an audience the event was a great success for the first of many.

On Friday we started with tours of the sophisticated labs of VT's oenology labs with our gracious host Dr. Bruce Zoeklein. Dr. Zoeklein has been the leader of VT's wine program and also for Virginia's wine industry for many years. He deserves accolades from all of us in the wine trade here in Virginia. One way I am sure he would be happy to accept our gratitude would also be in a cheque form to the Virginia Tech Oenology Department to help fund the program that helps us all so much.

After our lab tours we made our way to the Grand tasting in the Presidents Box of Lane Stadium. Before I get to the wine let me briefly talk about Lane Stadium. In Canada, sports are not a big part of the educational systems so I must say when I almost dislocated my jaw since it dropped so fast. This is a miraculous building and the President's Box is not to shabby either. Wow. The wines and the food around the room were superb. The wines were from wineries stretching to all corners of Virginia and we had the opportunity to taste so many wines from Agliancos and Syrahs to Riesling, Chardonnay and Viognier to of course Tarara's Cabernet Franc Reserve and Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve. I must say our Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve was truly incredible with the Beef Wellington, and my mouth watered at the idea of our Chardonnay with the Lobster in a Brie Sauce.

After an evening of food and wine several of us did what us in the wine industry do. We went out for dinner and round two of the wine and food experience. Unfortunately most of the food and wine got lost by the incredible conversation around the table. Looking back, I really hope no one was listening, we would have sounded like some of the nerdiest people on the planet. That said, who am I kidding, when it comes to wine, I may just be the nerdiest person on the planet. The table was a great cross section of people in the Industry from wine writers like Dan Berger and Doug Frost, to Distributors, winemakers and of course Dr. Zoeklein. Much of the conversation was about microbials, varieties and the affect of terroir, and even filtration. If that does not excite everyone I do not know what will. I will admit it was on of the most fascinating conversations I have been involved in in ages and all joking aside I would like to that all of those that were there for a great evening.

Saturday was filled with tasting and fun. We started the day tasting a line up of Virginia Viognier and Cabernet Franc. The Viognier in particular re-iterated what we are constantly trying to inform everyone about. The Viognier in Virginia is almost impossible to beat. The wines showed incredible richness, with great acidity backbones and lovely tropical and floral characters. The wines in general were a great balance of richness and elegance as well as complexity and freshness. In the afternoon we tasted through an incredible range of wines showing the versatility of Virginia. We tasted varieties like Petit Manseng (stunning wines), GSM blends, Petit Verdot, Nebbiolo, Aglianco, and Norton. The tasting showed the Dr. Jekyell and Mr. Hyde of Virginia. Some of the wines were mean and aggressive with meaty and earthy aromas, some were pleasant, supple wines that showed elegance and grace. Go figure.

Between the tastings was the tailgate party. What event at Virginia Tech would be complete without tailgating. Now to be fair this was not your average tailgating. We all stood behind some of the 2008 Saturn series including their roadster (sorry I don't recall the model name, I am a wine guy, not cars), with a string quartet, beef tenderloin sandwiches and some of Virginia's finest wines selected by a panel of wine enthusiasts from around Virginia. The six of us had a huge smile on our face as we listened to peoples comments on our 2007 Pinot Gris which had been released only a week earlier.

Saturday evening was a culinary marathon. The event's gala was beautiful with a trio of Violins, guest speakers Doug Frost and Dan Berger and..... yes 9 courses of food and 19 wines. All of the tables were supplied with dump buckets to be certain not everyone in the room consumed three bottles of wine each. The food featured some great dishes including a Crab dish (that even Margie our GM thought was great, and she is a Crab connoisseur), Rare Tuna, Beef Tenderloin, Duck and the list goes on. Most of the wines paired beautifully from the peppery Syrahs with the beef to the Viognier and Sauvignon Blanc with the Crab to the Late Harvest Petit Manseng with the Chocolate Bomb (well this might not have been a great match, but both the wine and the dessert were....well.. yummy).

As the night and weekend came to a close the six of us asked for the assistance of a forklift to lift us from the table to get to our wonderful rooms at the new Virginia Tech Conference Center. All and all it was a delightful and successful weekend. It was a weekend of spending time with friends, meeting new friends and of course doing it all around some of the best wines on the planet. Some of Virginia and Tarara's finest. Salute.