THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504130051
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F2 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: HUMBLE STEWARD
SOURCE: JIM RAPER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
ABOUT A hundred people recently compared crisp and austere French wines to fruitier examples from Virginia, during a white-wine tasting sponsored by Alliance Francaise, de Grasse Chapter, in South Hampton Roads.
The springtime tasting was at Williamsburg Winery, which supplied its own wines to represent Virginia's emerging industry. The French wines poured are imported by the winery's sister company, Williamson-Mallet.
Comments about the wines were offered by Marie Odile Egnell, who appraises wines for an auction house in Paris, and Guillaume Lefebure, who represents Williamson-Mallet in France.
I was particularly impressed by three of the wines:
The Labaume Aine & Fils 1992 Chablis Vaucoupins ($16) is a premier cru with trace flavors of vanilla, figs and hazelnuts in a medium-bodied and clean-finishing chardonnay.
The Williamsburg Winery 1991 Chardonnay Vintage Reserve ($15), on the other hand, is a big wine with fruit flavors leaning more toward the tropical.
And the Loberger 1992 Gewurztraminer Alsace ($12) is a splendid example of the dry and spicy gewurztraminers made in northeastern France.
The local members of Alliance Francaise are serious wine tasters who promote France and its culture. For information on the de Grasse Chapter, write to Latitia Priest, Alliance Francaise, P.O. Box 5084, Virginia Beach, Va. 23455. ANNUAL WINE AND FOOD GALA
Each year since 1981, jury-selected Virginia wines have been paired with the cuisine of Marcel Desaulniers for the Virginia Vintners Barrel Tasting and Spring Preview Dinner at his Trellis restaurant in Williamsburg.
The 15th annual gala on May 3 will include a salute to the state's wine industry, and especially to the wineries that started it all. Tickets cost $50; for reservations, call 1-229-8610.
Wines to be served this year were selected from about 60 entries; a panel of tasters included mostly members of the Trellis family. There were Desaulniers, co-owner John Curtis, dining room managers Noreen Graziano and Beth Poslusny, and bar manager Luke Lambert.
South Hampton Roads wine merchant Peter Coe, perennial moderator of the barrel tasting, joined the panel. I was invited to sit in, as well.
The 13 wines selected for the 1995 tasting are:
Meredyth 1993 Seyval Blanc
Afton 1994 Gewurztraminer
Oakencroft 1993 Chardonnay
Horton 1993 Viognier
Wintergreen 1993 Chardonnay Black Rock
Piedmont 1993 Chardonnay Special Reserve
Linden 1992 Chardonnay
Williamsburg 1993 Chardonnay Acte 12
Barboursville 1993 Cabernet Franc
Willowcroft 1992 Cabernet Franc
Ingleside 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Reserve
Oasis 1991 Cabernet Sauvignon
Rockbridge 1993 Montebello (late harvest vidal)
Wines of Meredyth, Ingleside, Piedmont and Barboursville were among those poured at the first of barrel tastings in '81.
Three wineries making their first appearances - Afton, Horton and Wintergreen - are producing some extraordinary wines and deserve the attention the tasting will bring them.
Wintergreen, which is near the resort of the same name, also in the Charlottesville area, is owned by Mike and Kathy Riddick. Mike, a Suffolk native and former general contractor on the Outer Banks, has been making wine for only three years, but already has a shelf full of trophies and medals.
His 1993 Chardonnay won a gold medal in last year's Governor's Cup competition. And in the winter 1995 competition of the Eastern Wine Festival (open to the wines of Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia), Wintergreen surprised the field, winning three gold medals and one silver, plus the best-in-show Monteith Trophy. The three golds were awarded to the winery's 1993 Chardonnay Black Rock, 1992 Cabernet Sauvignon and 1993 Cabernet Franc. A TREAT FOR 4 BUCKS
A friend invites you over for spaghetti and meatballs and asks you to bring wine. You've tasted his spaghetti before and you decide $4 is what you want to spend for the wine.
Look in your grocery store for Francesco 1992 Chianti and scratch the price sticker off before unveiling it at dinner. This is a nice wine for $4. The cook will be flattered.
Or, perhaps you're on your own for dinner. Pick up a roasted chicken in the grocery store deli and slide over to the wine department to get a bottle of Concha y Toro 1993 Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc Maule Valley (Chile), which is often priced at about $4. This light and citrusy wine goes very well with most chicken and seafood dishes.
Either way, for $4 you've turned a common meal into an uncommon treat. by CNB