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Dear Virginia Wine Lover,
The month of
February is choc-full of special events at
Virginia wineries. You and your Valentine can
enjoy a romantic dinner at Barboursville’s
Palladio Restaurant or reserve a table for the
Valentine's Day wine dinner at DelFosse Vineyards
and Winery. Opportunities for “chocoholics” and
wine lovers are limitless as many wineries
celebrate Valentine's Day with heavenly pairings
of chocolates and award winning wines!
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Wine & Chocolate...A
Romantic Pair! Dezel Quillen, A true
Virginia wine oenophile and contributor to the
Official Virginia WINE LOVER newsletter
 When paired correctly,
chocolate and wine can be a match made in
heaven! Of course there are some basic rules
such as serving dark chocolate with a full and
flavorful wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot
or other stronger wines. For milk chocolate, try
a lighter red like a tasty Virginia Cabernet
Franc, Norton or other similar fresh fruit
wines.
And what about white wines? Select
something delectable, rich and buttery like
white chocolate, which will marry nicely with
some of the fruity and semi-sweet springtime
sippers Virginia offers. Also in that group
would be a nice off dry Riesling or a fruity
unoaked Chardonnay or a delicious Late Harvest
wine.
Try some of these heavenly
combinations with a visit to some of my favorite
Northern Virginia Wineries that are hosting
Weekend Wine and Chocolate events in
celebration of Valentine's Day on February 10
and 11. (Be sure to contact the
individual wineries for times and fees.)
Breaux
Vineyards
Breaux Vineyards Cabernet will
be paired with fine Dutch chocolates.
www.breauxvineyards.com
/ (800) 492-9961. Mediterranean
Cellars
Try a glass of their signature
Romance wine that pairs nicely with semi-sweet
and milk chocolate, and pick up a few bottles
for Valentine's Day.
www.mediterraneancellars.com
/ (540) 428-1984. Pearmund
Cellars
Chocolate and Dessert Wine
Tasting hosted by Chocolaterie Wanders of
Manassas. They will offer three vintages of
their dessert wines and release their first late
harvest Viognier. Receive half a heart at
Pearmund, and the other half at their sister
winery La Grange, which is 10 minutes
away.
www.pearmundcellars.com
/ (540) 347-3475. Winery at La
Grange
Tasty sweets and award winning
wines for your pairing pleasure. Sip a glass of
wine by the fireplace in one of the parlors.
Truly a romantic setting. Complete your Pearmund
heart with a special Valentine surprise.
www.wineryatlagrange.com
/ (703) 753-9360. Hillsborough
Vineyards
Chocolate fondue! Decadent
chocolate covered fruit paired with
Hillsborough’s Ruby and Moonstone wines.
www.hillsboroughwine.com
/ (540) 668-6216. Rappahannock
Cellars
Enjoy Valentine chocolates and
music and the splendor of the Blue Ridge
Mountains.
www.RappahannockCellars.com
/ (540) 635-9398. Veramar
Vineyard
Tasty treats and chocolates as
well as a chocolate fountain and Veramar award
winning wines.
www.veramar.com
/ (540) 955-5510. Gray Ghost
Vineyards
Irresistible Chocolates and
Cabernet. Twelfth annual event includes decadent
chocolate desserts (over 25!) and gold-medal
winning Cabernets wines.
www.grayghostvineyards.com
/ (540) 937-4869. Fox Meadow
Winery
Wine, chocolates and wonderful
mountain views. For the "chocoholics", tastings
with different types of fine chocolates and Fox
Meadows Syrah.
www.foxmeadowwinery.com
/ (540) 636-6777. NOT A CHOCOLATE FAN?
WORRY NOT, DEZEL QUILLEN HAS OTHER
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Lost Creek
Winery – Valentine Soup Weekend
Feb.
10-11
Enjoy a delicious bowl of soup, a glass
of wine and a loaf of hot bread while listening
to live music by David Duvall.
www.lostcreekwinery.com
/ (703) 443-9836. Loudoun Valley Vineyards
– Winter Soup Day
Feb. 10
Your choice
of Santa Fe Black Bean Chili or Texan Chili
served with a basket of French bread and glass
of wine.
members.aolcom/lvwinery1
/ (540) 882-3375. DelFosse Vineyards and
Winery
Valentine's Day Wine Dinner -
Feb. 10
Six-course dinner prepared by Chef
David Simpson of C&O Restaurant and paired
with award winning wines. Music by harpist
Virginia Schweninger. Reservations are
required.
www.delfossewine.com
/ (434) 623-6100. Happy Valentine's Day.
Have fun mixing and matching and indulging
yourself in decadent chocolate treats and
Virginia Wine! You can contact Dezel at
myvinespot.com
or visit his blog at vinespot.blogspot.com.
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Will The General Assembly
Unlock the Jeffersonian Dream for Virginia To
Become A Leader in the American Wine
Industry? By: Philip Carter
Strother (shown in photo) & Robert Jackson
Allen*  For nearly 400 years,
Virginia has been recognized as having an ideal
climate and environment for viticulture. In
1608, Virginia became North America’s first wine
producing state. However, despite the best
efforts of the colonists and founding fathers,
the industry did not attain significant success
until recently.
Virginia is now home to
over one hundred wineries, poised with the
potential for more growth. In 2004, Governor
Warner initiated a study that culminated in the
strategic goal of doubling Virginia’s wine
market share. In recent years, farm wineries
lost the ability to self-distribute and sell in
ABC stores, threatening to undermine that
goal.
Many farm wineries rely heavily on
wine tasting activities and events to market and
sell their products, such as wine tasting
lunches, dinners and weddings. In certain
instances, tasting activities and events have
caused tensions with neighbors and localities
have responded. The situation has raised legal
questions about whether wine tasting activities
and events are subject to local regulation or
whether they are exclusively within the
regulatory purview of ABC.
In 2006, the
General Assembly commissioned a year-long study
into Virginia’s farm winery industry at the
direction of the Office of the Secretary of
Agriculture and Forestry to examine the economic
viability of the farm winery industry in
Virginia and, in doing so, the Secretary was to
“also address the relationship between farm
wineries and the communities in which they
operate, including an assessment of local land
use regulations as they relate to efforts to
market Virginia wine through activities.”
Similarly on the national level, a comprehensive
study was conducted in 2006 to assist the U.S.
Department of Agriculture in determining the
economic impact of the American Wine Industry,
entitled “The Impact of Wine, Grapes and
Grape Products on the American Economy 2007.”
The results of these studies reveal that on
the national level the full economic impact of
the U.S. Wine Industry on the American economic
is $162 billion, of which the Virginia portion
is estimated to be roughly $290
million.
As of the date of publication,
multiple Bills are successfully moving through
the Virginia General Assembly as legislators are
beginning to realize the importance of the wine
industry’s impact on the State, as well as the
National, economy. This effort has been the
result of the united efforts of many dedicated
individuals who have worked tirelessly to shape
history by enacting laws that support the growth
of the Virginia Wine Industry that will set the
stage for unprecedented expansion and will
enable the Virginia Wine Industry to truly
unlock the Jeffersonian Dream to become a leader
in the American Wine Industry.
*Philip Carter Strother
is the founder and managing partner of Strother
Law Offices, PLC in Richmond, Virginia, a law
firm that represents a number of Virginia farm
wineries in various capacities. He holds a
Master of Laws degree from The George Washington
University Law School, a J.D. from Thomas M.
Cooley Law School, and is a graduate of the Love
School of Business, Elon University. Robert
Allen is an associate with Strother Law Offices,
PLC. He holds a Bachelor of City Planning from
the University of Virginia and a J.D. from the
University of Richmond.
Visit their
website at www.strotherlaw.com.
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Palladio Restaurant
at Barboursville Vineyards Melissa Close,
Executive Chef at Palladio Restaurant
 Palladio Restaurant
promises classic dining based on the finest,
locally-sourced produce, paired with world-class
wines from vineyards in Italy and
Virginia.
The spacious Dining Room, with
views overlooking the Ruins and vineyard in the
ample shelter of a 100-year-old willow oak at
the door, furnishes a vivid statement of our
debt to Andrea Palladio, Jefferson's inspiration
in architecture, with rare prints of his
16th-Century Teatro Olimpico enveloping the
high-ceilinged space. The intimate Veranda Room,
virtually a completely al fresco porch, is
enclosed by French doors for all-weather
dining.
Executive Chef Melissa Close, a
native of Mobile, Alabama, Melissa has been
working in kitchens since she was 16 years old,
and attended New England Culinary Institute. For
more than 10 years, beginning at Bottega
Restaurant in Birmingham in the early '90s, she
has focused in Italian regional cuisine. After
leaving Alabama, she cooked at Rose Pistola in
San Francisco, before being called by Craig
Hartman to serve as his Sous-Chef at the Cliff
House in Colorado.
During the
restaurant's annual January closing, Melissa and
her staff stage at some of northern Italy's
finest restaurants, which has led to the
restaurant's renown for continuous innovation.
Jeremy Butterfield is Palladio
Sous-Chef.
This year Melissa & Jeremy
visited the Ligurian region of Italy, spending
several days at La Bitta, a one Michlen star
restaurant located in the heart of the port town
of Genoa. The two had the opportunity to learn
classic seafood recipe from the chef Rosa.
Melissa & Jeremy also spent a few days in
the small mountain town of Conscenti di Ne
staging at the Antica Trattoria dei Mosto, a
small family run trattoria visited several times
a day from the local farmers dropping off their
wares harvested just hours before. The recipes
learned in Liguria make an appearance on the
February menu at Palladio Restaurant.
For reservations to
Palladio Restaurant, call (540) 832-7848. Or
visit their website at www.palladiorestaurant.com.
Palladio
Restaurant Recipe: Torta Speziata
Genovese
Genovese Style Chocolate, Pinenuts
Dried Fruit Cake from Melissa Close, Executive
Chef
I learned this cake while
staging at the Antica Trattoria dei Mosto in
Canscenti di Ne, a small mountain town in the
foothills of the Ligurian region of the Italian
Riviera. It is a rich, dense chocolate, fruit
& nut cake. The spices in this cake can be
adjusted up or down to your taste. Serve it with
whipped cream or vanilla gelato.
Preheat
oven to 325 degrees. Prepare a 9” spring form
pan with pan release spray or butter and
flour.
Cake
2 ˝ ounces
hazelnuts, chopped
2 ˝ ounces almonds,
chopped
2 ˝ ounces walnuts, chopped
1 ˝
ounces pine nuts, chopped
2 ˝ ounces candied
dried fruit, chopped
2 ˝ ounces raisins,
soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
2 ounces
high quality cocoa powder
3 ˝ ounces dark
chocolate, melted
1 ˝ teaspoon ground
cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1
teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground
black pepper
6 Tablespoons honey, warm
12
ounces all purpose flour
1 Tablespoon fennel
seed
Ganache
1 cups heavy
cream
8 ounces dark chocolates,
chopped
Combine all the nuts, fruit,
spices, cocoa & chocolate. Stir in the
honey. Add the flour & fennel seeds. Spread
in prepared pan and bake for 30
minutes.
Allow the cake to cool slightly.
Remove from pan and cool completely. When cake
is cool, make the ganache:
Place chocolate in
a bowl. Heat the cream to a boil and pour over
chocolate. Stir until smooth. Pour warm ganache
over cake and allow to set. Slice and serve with
whipped cream or gelato. Keep covered at room
temperature for 5-7 days.
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My Choices of Virginia
Wines for Valentine's Day
Kimberly Eakin, The
Virginia Wine Gourmet  February 14 is a day of
roses, wine and romantic dinners.
Small-production Virginia wines made with the
loving care of their winemakers will enhance
your Valentine’s Day meal.
Blenheim
Chardonnay 2003 Star Label is the perfect start
to any special dinner. Light and lively, this
white wine from Brad McCarthy (winner of
Governor’s Cup ‘98 and ‘99) primes the palate
and pairs nicely with salad for two.
In
the mood for a light and simple entrée? Slow
cook chicken in a bath of Blue Ridge Riesling
2005. Winemaker, Barbara Kolb, made her
inaugural white wine from old vine (over 20
years) Riesling in an off dry style. Serve
chicken with the same wine and presto! You’ve
got the perfect food and wine
combination.
Going all out with the main
course? Linden Petit Verdot 2002 is rich yet
delicate enough to stand up to a juicy prime rib
or frenched lamb chops. Jim Law uses painstaking
hand-harvesting and double-sorting methods to
ensure every bottle he produces is the epitome
of Virginia’s best. If you cannot find Linden
wines, AmRhein and White Hall make a very nice
Petit Verdot too.
To finish the meal,
indulge in a bottle of Afton Mountain Sweet
Afton 2005. Shinko Corpora is a talented
winemaker and makes her intensely aromatic, yet
delicate dessert wine from Muscat and
Gewurztraminer grapes. Kimberly is the co-owner
of Wine Gourmet, a retail wine shop north of
Roanoke. She has been in the Virginia wine
business for 23 years, and is one of 400
Certified Specialists of Wine in the USA. Her
family owns and operated Blue Ridge
Vineyard.
Wine Gourmet, 112 Kingston
Drive, Daleville VA 24083 / 540-591-2012
www.winegourmet.biz.
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If you would like to contribute to our
e-newsletter, please send information to
frank@brittmarketing.com.
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Want to impress your
Valentine with a special gift? How about a
winery tour in a chauffeured limousine? Premier
Limousine Service of Lynchburg is at your
service.
St. George Productions is a
troupe of actors who specialize in educating and
entertaining audiences about life in Renaissance
England during the reign of Elizabeth I. Made up
of some 20 performers, the troupe provides a
view into a time when individuals were born into
their place in society by the will of God. The
costumes, weapons, and dialect are as near to
historically correct as modern limitations
allow.
