Courting Locapours

By Warren Rojas

Following the 2010 Drink Local Wine Conference, Chrysalis Vineyards owner Jennifer McCloud absolutely gushed about being part of a group that had stoked a “real, vital renaissance of Eastern viticulture.”

Too bad most restaurateurs’ passion for “local” flames out once wine enters the picture.

Fellow critic Todd Kliman chided area restaurants for rolling out the red carpet for surrounding farms while turning up their nose at neighboring vintners. “These wines have to be seen as integral to this whole conversation of local,” he warned conferees.

To wit, Tarara Winery vintner Jordan Harris suggested that the era of proximity-based favoritism was over.

“Local is important, but it cannot be the number one driving factor,” he maintained. “Quality-to-price ratio must be.”

McCloud couldn’t agree more. She’s looking to build on her cult following by growing her VIP Club rolls and is flirting with renaming her Sarah’s Patio Red (a signature Norton rose) something catchier.

“The gulf between what’s in people’s minds and what’s in the bottle needs to be reconciled,” McCloud surmised.

Hungry for more? Keep tabs on all the Virginia winery action at: www.virginiawine.org.

(June 2010)