{"id":4205,"date":"2011-05-04T20:38:54","date_gmt":"2011-05-05T00:38:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=4205"},"modified":"2011-05-04T20:38:54","modified_gmt":"2011-05-05T00:38:54","slug":"is-virginia-on-the-wine-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/is-virginia-on-the-wine-list\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Virginia on the Wine List?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Travel Away From Wine Country and Your Restaurant Selections Diminish<\/strong><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve chosen the restaurant with care.\u00a0 After all, it\u2019s an important occasion for your spouse or significant other, be it a birthday, anniversary or promotion celebration.\u00a0 You\u2019ve also braced yourself for the cost of a bottle of fine wine to accompany your celebratory dinner. \u00a0It will add a hefty amount to the final bill.<\/p>\n

So here\u2019s the question.\u00a0 You\u2019re seated at your table, the subdued lighting frames the face of your companion who is waiting eagerly for the announcement of your wine selection and your server is poised with pen and pad. Would you order a bottle of Virginia wine?<\/p>\n

It might well depend on where the restaurant is located.<\/p>\n

\"\"The cost of enjoying wine with a restaurant meal is fraught with mixed emotions.\u00a0 Many restaurants charge up to three times their wholesale purchase price for a bottle.\u00a0 Wine is a valued source of income for dining establishments but shelling out hard earned cash for the same wine that is three or four times less expensive at your local wine shop can feel like a shakedown.<\/p>\n

Perhaps more importantly, the evening\u2019s success or failure could depend on you picking a winner.\u00a0 Select an indifferent wine and your unfortunate decision will be staring at you during the entire meal.\u00a0 How romantic.<\/p>\n

But Virginia wine is increasingly being applauded for its quality and diversity. It can compete when positioned against wines from around the world.\u00a0 If given a chance.<\/p>\n

Recently, this writer devoted a few days to chatting with sommeliers, wine buyers and restaurant managers at upscale establishments located in the Piedmont region of Virginia, the District of Columbia and suburban Maryland. \u00a0And an interesting pattern emerged.\u00a0 As Virginia wine moves further from its birthplace, the lonelier it tends to get.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s a shame. \u00a0Because a vast number of the region\u2019s diners are not getting a chance to experience Virginia wine when dining out.<\/p>\n

Virginia Professionals Supportive<\/strong>
\n\"\"It\u2019s instructive to start our restaurant tour in the heart of Virginia wine country.\u00a0 At Foti\u2019s in Culpeper, owner Frank Maragos features one hundred wines on his list, including twenty state bottlings. \u201cMany of our guests are out of state visitors and they are intrigued with the idea of Virginia wine and eager to try it.\u00a0 It can require what we call a \u2018hand sell\u2019—that is, describing the wine in some depth—because many people are not familiar with the state\u2019s rising reputation. But it must be priced to sell.\u00a0 Anything above $50 a bottle and resistance sets in, he says.<\/p>\n

Liza Kaiser, Dining Room Manager at the Hazel River Restaurant in Culpeper, echoes Maragos thoughts saying, \u201cVirginia has a rich history and visitors and tourists want to experience local wines. We also feature farm to table cuisine and locally produced wines complement our fare. Fifty percent of our wine sales are Virginian.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosalee Lysaght, Restaurant Manager at the Blue Rock Inn near Little Washington, has a list of sixty wines, ten of which are Virginia. \u201cMany diners are curious about Virginia wines but still reserved.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s because the wines are relatively new, unfamiliar, and in some cases expensive.\u00a0 It can be perceived as a gamble purchase compared with selecting a California wine.\u00a0 However, people are very receptive to Virginia wines by the glass.\u00a0 It provides an opportunity to evaluate the wine without the commitment of a bottle purchase,\u201d she emphasizes.<\/p>\n

\"\"Christopher Roberts, Manger at The Restaurant at Potowmack Farm in Lovettsville, has assembled seventy wines on his list, twelve of which are Virginia. \u201cWe have significant interest in local wines given our proximity to wine country. Virginia has a wide range of quality so I focus on the top tier wineries. The wines fit nicely into our locally produced meats and produce theme.\u00a0 And we price them competitively,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

DC Diners Are Tougher Sell<\/strong>
\nAs we cross the Beltway and head toward the Nation\u2019s capital, the Virginia story begins to weaken.\u00a0 David Tomaselli, Manager at the Carlyle restaurant in Arlington states, \u201cWe have fifty selections on our list but no Virginia wines. In my two years here I can\u2019t recall any request for them.\u00a0 While I enjoy Virginia wines myself, our guests don\u2019t think Virginia when ordering.\u00a0 I think the state\u2019s industry needs to do a better job of self-promoting.\u00a0 They need to get the word out to a broader audience about the rising quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Ross, Wine Buyer for The Prime Rib on K Street in DC says, \u201cWe have two hundred selections on our wine list but none from Virginia. Past experience has shown us they don\u2019t sell. For whatever the reason our distributors never show us any offerings. I think Virginia could compete with other wine regions but I simply haven\u2019t been exposed to many of them. There’s not a lot of interest in Virginia among our guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brent Kroll, Sommelier at The Oval Room on Connecticut Avenue, oversees two hundred selections on his list but only two are from Virginia. \u201cMost wine regions have earned reputations for a single varietal such as Napa Cabernet, Oregon Pinot Noir or Washington State Rhones.\u00a0 Virginia is too diverse and needs to focus on its best grape, such as Viognier. Many diners simply don\u2019t know what level of quality to expect if they order a Virginia wine.\u00a0 It\u2019s taking a chance to buy it,\u201d he cautions.<\/p>\n

Min Kwon, Wine Director at Addies in Rockville, MD, manages a 127 bottle list with five selections from Virginia.\u00a0 \u201cI find Virginia wines are of greater interest to people focused on locally grown fare.\u00a0 Otherwise, most diners ignore them. Hand selling is required and we simply don\u2019t have the time for that type of sale. I think the state needs to generate more positive press coverage in magazines such as Wine Spectator<\/em> to convince buyers to consider Virginia,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"\"Steve Uhr, General Manager, J&G Steakhouse just a block from the White House, shepherds a wine list with 250 choices, six of which are Old Dominion bottlings.\u00a0 \u201cMost DC restaurants have just a small placement of Virginia on their lists.\u00a0 I think the state could parallel Chile\u2019s experience.\u00a0 For years, Chile had a quality issue and then things improved dramatically.\u00a0 Today, their wines generate a lot interest.\u00a0 Virginia\u2019s quality is improving and our list reflects it.\u00a0 But the focus on quality must continue and awareness among wine drinkers must grow to produce greater sales,\u201d he opines.<\/p>\n

The Virginia Conundrum<\/strong>
\nIn listening to wine professionals from upscale dining venues, its clear Virginia is advancing its cause but at a slow pace.\u00a0 There are many challenges for the industry and its limited production is one of them.\u00a0 With most wineries selling a majority of their wine in tasting rooms, there is little incentive to hire an expensive sales force to increase placement on high-end restaurant wine lists.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also clear most distributors are not devoting significant time to showcasing the wines. Without a professional marketing organization touting your product, little other than personal experience or word of mouth will advance the cause of Virginia to a broader audience.<\/p>\n

The good news in all of this?\u00a0 Virginia wine drinkers can be secure in the knowledge that the wines they know and love are readily available throughout the state.<\/p>\n

Perhaps being a best kept secret is its own reward.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

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Travel Away From Wine Country and Your Restaurant Selections Diminish You\u2019ve chosen the restaurant with care.\u00a0 After all, it\u2019s an important occasion for your spouse or significant other, be it a birthday, anniversary or promotion celebration.\u00a0 You\u2019ve also braced yourself for the cost of a bottle of fine wine to accompany your celebratory dinner. \u00a0It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[258,254,255,252,253,259,257,256,260],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n