Browsing CategoryVirginia

Coming in June: The Cork Report’s 2015 Eastern Rosé Tasting

New York wine remains the core of this website, but — as you’ve probably noticed — I’ve started to stretch my legs a bit. I’ve been learning about and tasting wines from other eastern states, which I’m arbitrarily defining as any state that isn’t California, Oregon or Washington, more. My time organizing TasteCamp up and down the east coast, as well as my time on the Drink Local Wine board, taught me something: there are some seriously delicious wines made in places even a local wine advocate might not expect — places like New Jersey, Connecticut, Colorado, Michigan, Virginia, Vermont,…

Pearmund Cellars 2015 Petit Manseng

Petit Manseng isn’t a grape that I know a whole lot about. I know it’s mostly grown in southern France and that it can get very ripe while retaining a lot of acidity — and thus is often made in a sweeter, even dessert, style to balance that acidity. I also know that it’s gaining some traction in the Virginia wine industry. Retaining acidity is always a plus in a region where summers can get very warm. But its thick skins and loose clusters also help in a region that deals with humidity, heavy rain and hurricanes. With high brix levels (and…

Virginia #Tastemaker: Jim Law | Linden Vineyards

“Tastemaker” is a term typically used to describe a person — either a sommelier or writer in the wine world — who decides what is good, cool or otherwise interesting. With our new #Tastemaker profiles, I’ve decided to usurp the term to mean someone who actually makes the wines, ciders, spirits, etc. that we love. A “tastemaker” should make something, after all. I’m always wary of labeling any single person or thing the “best” or “most” anything — but Jim Law, winegrower and owner of Linden Vineyards, is at least among the most influential figures in Virginia wine. Winemakers and grape…