RobsWineReview.com

Well, I missed the Virginia wine festival last weekend.  Yep, had to work both Saturday and Sunday and by all accounts now circulating around the wine blogosphere, et al, the weather was spectacular, the musics was awsome and the wines delictable.  Had I actually taken a day off, it would have rained.

But fear not Virginia Wine lovers, there's another festival right around the corner, same place and same format. Yes, it will be at the Bull Run Park on September 20th-21st, 2009.  Here's a link for the Virginia Wine Festival for all of the details.

I'd like to organize a big group to hit this one too.  Maybe caravan or get some kind of hired transportation?  Make  some T-shirts and possibly get a bulk discount on tickts?  Stay tuned folks, it's going to be a good one.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of heading out to Notaviva Vineyards for a business seminar and networking meeting hosted by the Loudoun County SBDC (small business development council). The seminar was on how to promote you business through social networking, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc., and I'm so glad I went for multiple reasons.

First, I had never even heard of Notaviva. With new wineries popping up all over the state, especially in Northern Virginia, it's getting really hard to keep track of all of them let alone visit every one of them report back to my faithful readership. Nonetheless, you bet I will keep trying.

Second, I was really eager to find some kind of definitive source to help make some sense of all of this Web2.0 mess. Its seems like there is a non-stop cadre of websites and businesses out there saying, "Follow us on Twitter, Fan us on Facebook," but is really working for anyone? Is anyone really making any money through this stuff, other than bloggers that give the ubiquitous "Top 10 Reasons Why Your Business Should Be On Facebook" post with their pages littered with AdWords pointing readers to buy books, e-books and online seminars on, you guessed it, "How to make money on FB?"

Hence, it was very fruitful on both accounts.

The Social Networking Seminar

Stephen Mackey, one of the owners of Notaviva Vineyards, is also the owner of Mesh Multi Media, a video production and webdesign agency. He's an expert in everything social networking and has helped numerous companies bridge the gap into the 21st century and bolster their online marketing efforts. My only complaint was that two hours was not nearly enough to even scratch the surface on such a subject. We rocketed through how to set up a page, how to tweet and much, much more, and I still had about a thousand questions. However, it was a good base and I got some great resources to further the education on my own. Hopefully, the SBCD will do a full day seminar down the line.

The Wines of Notaviva

2008 "Vincerò" Viognier - $22

This one had a true expression of the fruit with honeysuckle and lots of subtle citrus fruit and a bright vibrant nose.I took a bottle of this home and we had it with shrimp scami over jasmine rice.Perfect combination.

2008 "Celtico" Chambourcin - $20

My first thoughts were, "Oh great, Chambourcin. Maybe I can chase it with some Norton or some Concord grape wine?" However, he first thing I asked Mark after tasting this wine was, "What did you do with all of your Chambourcin grapes?" He of course gave me a very puzzling look until I explained my inquiry and said, "this doesn't taste like green peppers rolled in dirt, so you couldn't have put them in the wine, correct?" I took a bottle of that home too. We had it with some grilled pork chops and the smooth character with well-balanced and pronounced fruit notes made it a great pairings. I'd really like to try it with some BBQ, maybe pulled pork or ribs with North Carolina sauce. This is not just drinkable Virginia red wine, it is good Virginia red wine and the price tag ain't too bad either.

Over all, the tasting room is very cozy and the view of the vineyard from the bluff is beautiful. It's really hard to believe that they are only a few years old. It's a little off the beaten path, but well worth it if you are in the area visiting Breaux and Hillsborough. And if you can pick up some marketing tips along the way, all the better.

Never mind the fact that we got four inches of snow on Monday......It's Spring Time in Virginia Win Country!!!

"But, Rob, you just said there's still snow around, plus ice and sub-whatever temperatures, right?"

Right, but I just also got my first email about a local winery tasting room opening up this weekend.  The winery:  Miracle Valley.

Now I know, a lot of the big boys stay open all year round, or at least just on the weekends, but this is great sign to see some of the smaller and newer vineyards getting reved up for the season.

Miracle Valley will definitely be on the touring circuit for Rob this year.  I haven't been out there yet, but I've tasted several of thier wines and they are good and we've had great success tasting them out at WineStyles.  I'm sure I'll do a full tasting report with the new releases down the line, but here's the skinny:  Whites with the true expression of the fruit and Reds that taste like good red wine (as opposed to green peppers fused with sour grape juice).

Oh, and let me know if you have anyother great pics for wineriest this season.  As always, shoot me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or just leave a comment below.