100 - LIVE Wine Tasting, Market Street Wine. Why is Petit Manseng so vilified?

Edacious

Why is Petit Manseng so vilified? Just one of the topics we discuss during this very special LIVE event recorded at Market Street Wine to celebrate its new owners, Siân Richards and Thadd McQuade, and the 100th episode of Edacious. This special partnership acts as both celebration of our two businesses reaching an important benchmark, and one of community, sharing, and learning. Four celebrated local winemakers join us to offer a special taste of two different varietals and to discuss the future of winemaking in Virginia: Corry Craighill of Sunset Hills Vineyard and 50 West Vineyards, Kirsty Harmon of Blenheim Vineyards, Matthieu Finot of King Family Vineyards, and Ben Jordan of Early Mountain Vineyards.

How do winemakers decide what grapes to grow and exactly where on the land to grow them depending on wind, slope, elevation, soil, and amount of sunlight? Which sites and grape varieties make your best wines? How do we adjust to the terroir as winemakers, especially in terms of breaking from classical approaches set forth by other regions? What grapes are good for Virginia's soil? What grapes are winemakers discovering actually work surprisingly well with our dense clay and warm humid temperatures? What are some current trends in winemaking and where should we go in the future with our sites and grapes varieties? Where is the next great vineyard going to be located?

Did you know a wine can turn into a completely different one depending on its serving temperature? King Family Vineyards Viognier is a great example because this small-batch wine tastes COMPLETELY different when it's cold than when it's served at room temperature, which can affect pairings. One restaurant even serves it with two separate courses! Fascinating.

As Kirsty says, every year, every grape is an experiment. Winemaking is science. But it's also farming. Even if you use cloned grapes you depend on the amount of rain, the wind, the copious sunlight or lack thereof. Not sure what the cloned grape process entails? Listen to my exclusive clip with Matthieu Finot of King Family Vineyards available to all Patreon sponsors! Not a sponsor yet? Find out more here. For as little as $1/month you can ensure this community podcast stays edacious.

Whether you're a wine newbie like me or a geeked-out expert this episode has something for everyone. Pour yourself a glass, find your favorite spot, and enjoy! One hundred episodes. Wow. That's a lot of talking. What was my favorite of the 100? You'll just have to listen to find out. See you in 101.

All the wines we tasted are listed below. Every one of them is now available at Market Street Wine except for the Sunset Hills Shenandoah Springs Chard, which will be available at the winery this summer. Thank you to all of the attendees, winemakers, and to Siân and Thadd for allowing me to mark this milestone in such a badass way. Cheers!

Blenheim Albarino Blenheim Sauv Blanc Sunset Hills Shenandoah Springs Chard Early Mountain Petit Manseng 2016 King Family small batch Viognier (orange wine) Lightwell Weird Ones are Wolves 2015 Sunset Hills Mosaic Red King Family Mountain Plains Red

SHOW NOTES – Links to resources talked about during the podcast:

• My buddy and past podcast guest, Polina Chesnakova is on the FRONT PAGE of the Food Section in this Wednesday's Washington Post! Read her story then listen to our conversation. This young food writer is destined for great things, mark my words. Go Polina!
• Subscribe to This Podcast. Stay Edacious! - Come on, after this episode? You know you want to. Subscribers get new episodes instantly, while non-subscribers have to wait a few hours or days depending on the iTunes gods. Never miss a chance to be edacious!
• Subscribe to Edacious News - Never miss a food event in our area! Learn about regional and national food stories so you can stay edacious!
• Leave a review about Edacious! - Click the link, then "View in iTunes" then "Ratings and Reviews". Whether you think it's great, or not so great, I want to hear from you. I might just read your review on the air! Whoa! #famousforahotminute

This episode is sponsored by Teej.fm and listeners like you who donated their support at Patreon, who wants every creator in the world to achieve a sustainable income. Thank you.