{"id":5245,"date":"2011-05-31T20:57:38","date_gmt":"2011-06-01T00:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=5245"},"modified":"2011-09-10T21:44:05","modified_gmt":"2011-09-11T01:44:05","slug":"virginia-wine-factory-debuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/virginia-wine-factory-debuts\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Wine Factory Debuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virginia<\/strong> and International Wine Bar Comes to Brambleton Town Center<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wine sales in the United States are surging.\u00a0 Last year, the U.S. surpassed France as the world\u2019s largest wine-consuming nation.\u00a0 Here in Virginia nearly 200 wineries are in operation, up from zero in 1974.<\/p>\n

Sounds like a good time to get into the wine business, hey?<\/p>\n

\"\"Michael Matthews and Michael Sawyers clearly think so.\u00a0\u00a0 After nearly three years in the planning, the Virginia Wine Factory started uncorking bottles on May 27 at their tasting room in the Brambleton Town Center, Ashburn, Virginia.\u00a0 The extensive wine list will reflect the tastes of Northern Virginians by showcasing offerings from both the Old Dominion and points worldwide.<\/p>\n

The entrepreneurs are engineers by trade. Matthews is a virtualization web architect and Sawyers a geotechnical expert.\u00a0 Both believe that Virginia wine is fast approaching the \u201ctipping point\u201d of national recognition.<\/p>\n

The vision for their tasting bar is a comfortable—almost living room-like setting—where the best of the Commonwealth\u2019s wines can be tasted alongside noted global producers.\u00a0 \u201cThe quality of Virginia wine has risen dramatically in the last decade.\u00a0 I think local wine lovers are going to be impressed when tasting Virginia side-by-side with other leading regions,\u201d says Matthews. \u201cWe\u2019ve worked hard to bring the best of Old Dominion wines to the Factory,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

And the gentleman does know quality.\u00a0 He planted his first vineyard in 2003 on Virginia\u2019s central peninsula near Tappahannock.\u00a0\u00a0 Shortly thereafter, he met Sawyers, a home winemaker whose passion equaled his own.\u00a0 \u201cOur mutual love of wine led us to Michael\u2019s basement a few weeks later and the collaboration produced our first wine, Isabel\u2019s Revenge. \u00a0Since we were full-time engineers, our nascent winery, Vino Curioso, was a small operation producing just a few hundred cases a year.\u00a0 We couldn\u2019t afford a traditional tasting room so my mother offered us the use of a garage and an old spring house on her property in Winchester.\u00a0 The deal was if we cleaned it up, we could use it.\u00a0 We renovated and turned the spring house into the \u2018World\u2019s Smallest Tasting Room\u2019,\u201d says a smiling Sawyers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an apt description since the facility was all of 120 square feet in size.\u00a0 What wasn\u2019t small, however, was the caliber of wines the men were producing. \u00a0After Vino Curioso was launched, the pair began to connect with some of the leading names in Virginia wine.\u00a0 The industry is known for its camaraderie and willingness to share production and marketing advice among fellow winemakers.\u00a0 \u201cWe owe a lot to some of the best wine talent in Virginia.\u00a0 Now we hope to repay them by showing the greater Washington area what the state is achieving,\u201d emphasizes Matthews.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michael Matthews & Michael Sawyers<\/p><\/div>\n

While he knows Virginia\u2019s top tier wines are impressive, he also thinks many of the state\u2019s producers are still honing their marketing skills to gain traction in the hyper-competitive world of wine sales.\u00a0 \u201cMany Virginia wineries are tightly focused on producing a quality product.\u00a0 Where the industry could use some help is in developing a wider audience.\u00a0 The state supported Virginia Wine Board Marketing Office is fast tracking business development and the results are impressive.\u00a0 With the Virginia Wine Factory, we hope to further expand both Vino Curioso and Virginia wine sales,\u201d says Matthews.<\/p>\n

The Tasting Room<\/strong>
\nThe enjoyment of wine is enhanced with the proper setting and food. The d\u00e9cor of the Virginia Wine Factory will be anything but \u201cfactory\u201d. \u00a0The name of the business was selected to emphasize the laser-like focus on wine.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re striving to create a warm and down-home atmosphere.\u00a0 A Brazilian wood floor and an impressive 22 foot hand-crafted tasting bar will be augmented with nooks and alcoves of chairs and couches, in addition to conventional dining tables.\u00a0 When guests stop by, we want them to enjoy the wines in a relaxed setting,\u201d says Sawyers.<\/p>\n

Light fare will be served, including gourmet soups, Panini sandwiches and similar foods suited to accompanying wine<\/p>\n

The Wine List<\/strong>
\nThere will be about fifty wines available on opening day, 25 Virginia offerings and some 25 selections from the other USA and international regions.\u00a0 The emphasis will be on wines that accompany food.\u00a0 Virginia wines will hail from around the state and include Tarara, White Hall, Rappahannock Cellars, Ingleside, Mont Fair, Jefferson, Virginia Wine Works, Blenheim and others.\u00a0 Additional wineries will be added over time.\u00a0 Various selections from California, New York, Washington and Oregon will round out the domestic list. \u00a0Internationally, the focus will be on France, Spain, Italy, Australia, South Africa and other well-known regions.<\/p>\n

The focus of the tasting format will be on wine \u201cflights\u201d; four to six wines in categories of white, red, bubbly, sweet, and others.\u00a0 They will be matched or contrasted with wines from various regions, or the same region by varietal.\u00a0 \u201cGuests will select from flight menus or create their own flights.\u00a0 At any given time, we will have over forty open bottles of wines to taste.\u00a0 Wine vibrancy will be assured since we are employing state-of-the-art gassing systems to block oxygen from opened bottles.\u00a0 From the first taste to the last, all wines will display a \u2018just opened\u2019 freshness in the glass,\u201d explains Matthews.<\/p>\n

The flight format will be the center piece for tasting Virginia.\u00a0 \u201cWe really want to spotlight the state by positioning it with wines worldwide and have guests tell us how they stand up in \u2018blind\u2019 competition. \u00a0The format will make the experience not only fun, but educational.\u00a0 For instance, a wine drinker can choose to taste four different Viogniers from around the globe; they will rate the wines and we will archive them in our online rating system.\u00a0 We\u2019ll have all wines by the glass, bottle or available for shipping to family or friends,\u201d says Matthews.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Michael Shaps<\/p><\/div>\n

Michael Shaps, proprietor and nationally and internationally known winemaker at Virginia WineWorks says, \u201cMichael Matthews is an imaginative and creative guy.\u00a0 He has developed a solid business concept at the Virginia Wine Factory.\u00a0 My personal experience is that anytime you position quality Virginia wines against the global competition they show exceptionally well.\u00a0 People are going to be impressed at what Matthews and Sawyers have created for Northern Virginia wine lovers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the Brambleton venture is up and running, the men will turn their focus to opening a 4,500 square foot urban winery in Gainesville.\u00a0 The expansion effort will house Vino Curioso\u2019s own winemaking operations, creating a winery similar in feel to a city brew pub but located in the middle of thriving Northern Virginia.\u00a0 Their current portfolio of Vino Curioso wines in Brambleton will include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and their signature wines Chardontage and 954, a Bordeaux style blend.<\/p>\n

The Virginia Wine Factory is located at 22855 Brambleton Plaza, Suite 104, in the Brambleton Town Center<\/span><\/a><\/span>, Ashburn, VA.\u00a0 They are open seven days a week from 11am till 11pm.\u00a0 Visit them at VirginiaWineFactory.com<\/span><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0 703.542.5659<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Published in the May 26, 2011 edition of the Loudoun Times-Mirror.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virginia and International Wine Bar Comes to Brambleton Town Center Wine sales in the United States are surging.\u00a0 Last year, the U.S. surpassed France as the world\u2019s largest wine-consuming nation.\u00a0 Here in Virginia nearly 200 wineries are in operation, up from zero in 1974. Sounds like a good time to get into the wine business, […]<\/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":[361,362,360,359],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n