of wine
of history
of culture
of food...
Being from Virginia, I've heard this saying my entire life. My recent visit here reaffirmed this old mantra. I got to spend a day with Christine and Rob from our distributors The Country Vintner in the beautiful, historic town of Charlottesville.
First stop is a Charlottesville institution - Tastings. There I met Bill Curtis who is no stranger to Oregon wine & its cast of characters. I'm pretty sure he knows more people in the valley than I do! I admire his philosophy which is to buy on taste and not rely on scores or big money advertising. He liked our Pinot gris & Winemaker's Pinot so cross your fingers C-ville!
Next stop was Siips Wine Bar where owner George Benford gets seriously creative with his shop. The last wine night included a burlesque show and I am really bummed that I missed it. Hmmm, where can we do this in Portland...
Rob and I stopped for an amazing lunch at l'etoile where shared a table with buyer Jonathan for a quick run through our wines. There are currently no Oregon wines on his list but I'm pretty sure we've rectified that! Our Amrita and Pinot Gris paired beautifully with Rob's crabcake while the Winemaker's Pinot Noir was a perfect match for my shrimp and mushroom risotto. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
A special shout out to Farrell, owner at the Ivy Inn for not only using all local products but supporting domestic wine only. They have been pouring our Amrita and Winemaker's Pinot for a while now - thank you!
Pictured above is Christine with Clifton Inn Dining Room Manager Deniz Dikmen who just happened to be celebrating his 30th birthday. The Clifton Inn is rich in Virginia history as the land owned by the Jefferson family was passed down to Thomas Jefferson's daughter and son-in-law where they built the house. It is a gorgeous 100 acres and there is fine dining where you can of course enjoy a glass or two of Anne Amie Pinot Gris and Winemaker's Pinot.
Oregon Pinot Camp Alum Robert Harllee owns a great little shop called Market Street Downtown (He has another Uptown Market Street Shop as well). He's also been a big supporter of Anne Amie wines and he and his staff are lots of fun.
Last stop of the day was the beautiful and historic private Farmington Country Club. Built before 1780 this estate also has ties to Thomas Jefferson who designed part of it. Dining Room Manager Daniel Kaufman gave our wines a big thumbs up and you'll soon see our Pinot Gris (to start) on their list and hopefully we'll get to see Daniel in June at OPC.
On a side note, I'd like to thank Ellen Hewit from Country Vintner who I've yet to meet. Ellen has been promoting our wines all over southern VA and this is before she even knew that my best friend was her babysitter. Small, small world.
Go to Charlottesville and visit these great folks and enjoy a glass of Anne Amie while you're at it!
Cheers VA,
Kim
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