|
|
ngleside Vineyards uncorked a trend when it introduced the first Virginia-made sparkling wine 24 years ago.
The Westmoreland County winery's Virginia Brut was a novelty at the time, and owner Doug Flemer wasn't even sure it would be profitable.
"But it was successful right from the start," he said.
Today, Ingleside sells nearly all of the 250 cases of sparkling wine it produces in a year. And it is no longer the only Virginia winery making bottles of bubbly.
Oasis Winery in Fauquier County has produced sparkling wine since 1981, and recently released its new "Infinity" Celebration Cuvee D'Or Brut.
Other Virginia wineries with sparklers include Barboursville Vineyards and Horton, both in Orange County; Prince Michel Vineyards in Madison County; and, most recently, Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard in Albemarle County.
All are expecting sales to soar like champagne bubbles today as people toast their valentines.
"We sell most of our sparkling wine at Valentine's and at the holidays at the end of the year," Flemer said. "Lots of people also want it for birthdays, weddings, any festive occasion."
Virginia's sparklers--only wines made in the Champagne province of northeastern France truly can be called "champagne"--aren't household names. But they are gaining respect. Wine Enthusiast magazine, for example, has named Oasis Brut one of the top 10 sparkling wines and champagnes in the world.
And Kluge Estate's new Virginia Champagne won raves from food, wine and travel writers who attended a breakfast held in New York City Tuesday to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the "Virginia is for lovers" slogan.
"We served Kluge's champagne with oysters, and the New York press loved it," said Mary Davis-Barton, the Virginia Wine Marketing Office's program director.
Barboursville Vineyards' Barboursville Brut also has gained national attention, and is featured in the February edition of Country Living magazine.
"We're seeing more and more attention toward Virginia wines in general, especially in magazines," said Luca Paschina, Barboursville's general manager and wine maker.
While Virginia's sparkling wine output is growing, it is still dwarfed by states with bigger wineries, such as California, Davis-Barton said.
Few of the 85 wineries across the commonwealth want to spend the time and money on the special equipment and hand labor involved in turning still wine into its sparkling cousin, she said.
"In California, all the [sparkling wine] bottles are turned by machine during the fermentation process," Davis-Barton said. "Our wineries do them by hand because they're not that large."
That's one reason Virginia sparkling wines are more expensive than the champagnes typically found on grocery store shelves. Barboursville Brut, for example, is $14.99, while Oasis's "Infinity" Celebration is $89.
"When you show people all that's involved in making sparkling wine, then the light bulb goes off," said Tareq Salahi, Oasis' owner. "They'll say, 'I didn't know that it takes that long to make a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine.'"
Ingleside got into sparkling wine production because its original wine maker, Jacques Recht, had been involved in the champagne industry in France.
"He said, 'Let's try it,' so we did," Flemer said.
Ingleside used the Methode Champenoise to make sparkling wine from a French hybrid grape called Rayon d'Or. The process is traditional; the grape was not. And that intrigued many of the tasters at a wine competition in New York.
"Once they tried it, they were pleasantly surprised," Flemer said. "It got us off to a good start."
Ingleside still uses Methode Champenoise, in which wine is allowed to ferment a second time inside the bottle. But its Virginia Brut is now a more traditional blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes.
"That, typically, is what the French would use to make their champagne cuvee," Flemer said. "We're fortunate to have those varieties here, so that's what we use."
Other Virginia wineries are using different grapes. Horton, for example, makes a sparkling wine from Viognier and Chardonnay. And next month it will release a new sparkler made from Rkatsiteli, a grape popular in the Republic of Georgia.
"The White House served our sparkling Viognier at two state dinners during the holidays," said Neil Glaser, Horton's sales rep. "The pastry chef loves it."
These days, Flemer is eyeing yet another trend: blush champagne. Ingleside released one in 1986, the year he got married. It was later dropped when pink champagne fell out of fashion, but blush is now back in style.
"The time is right to bring it back," Flemer said. "We'll probably have one in another year."
To reach CATHY JETT: 540/374-5407 cjett@freelancestar.com
