Pollak Petit Verdot, and More
Pollak Vineyards in Greenwood won the Monticello Wine Trail Cup 2 weeks ago with their rich and powerful 2008 Petit Verdot. I was a judge in the competition and was impressed with the entire flight of...
View ArticleThe Wines of Lombardy: An Eclectic Cornucopia with Some Original Gems
On June 22nd I had the pleasure of tasting the wines of Lombardy at a media/trade event in Washington, D.C. About two dozen producers attended, and the wines ran a fascinating, eclectic gamut from...
View ArticleWines of the Week 8/22/10
Since this posting category has been vacant awhile, I’m posting two today to represent the last 2 weeks. #1: Hermann J. Wiemer Johannisberg Riesling Late Harvest 1999, Finger Lakes, NY Readers of this...
View ArticleWinners of 2010 Int. Cold Climate Competition Announced
The Minnesota Grape Growers Association, chief sponsor and organizer of the 2nd International Cold Climate Wine Competition are pleased to announce the Best of Category Winners as follows: 2010 ICCWC...
View ArticleWine of the Week: Braganini Reserve 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Michigan
It’s been a record hot year across the country (except for California), and if you want to cool off to top domestic sauvignon blanc, this is a brilliant, refreshingly Loire Valley interpretation of the...
View ArticleVirginia Wines Win 3 Silver, 8 Bronze Medals in Decanter Competition
Virginia wines won three silver and eight bronze medals in the The Decanter World Wine Awards, one of the largest and most comprehensive wine competitions in the world. Virginia wines were judged...
View ArticleVirginia Wines: Are They Fairly Priced for the Quality?
This is a question that has long been debated by Virginia wine consumers and those in the retail and restaurant trade. First, we heard that Virginia wines were “unassuming little wines, but we might be...
View ArticleWine Matching Holiday Food on the Monticello Trail
The week before Thanksgiving, Blue Ridge Wine Excursions (URL) hosted a media tour with myself and participating bloggers Dezel Quillan (http://vinespot.blogspot.com/) and Frank Morgan...
View ArticleVA Sparklers Blind Tasted, Ranked by Bloggers
On Saturday February 5th, Keswick Vineyards hosted a tasting of Virginia sparkling wines organized by bloggers M.J. and David of “Swirl, Sniff, Snark” and Frank Morgan of “Drink What You Like”. Other...
View ArticleWine of the Week and the Rewards of Long-Term Cellaring: Smith-Woodhouse 1977...
There’s a lot of champagne being opened and guzzled and written about at this time, but I’ve always thought it odd that the wine that requires a lot of chilling is consumed the most at the coldest time...
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Heritage Grapes: The Garaganega Wines from Menti
A heritage grape is one that is closely associated with a particular place and has built fame for how that grape expresses there (cabernet sauvignon in the Medoc, merlot in St. Emilion, chardonnay and...
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Highlights on the Virginia Wine Trail
This month I traveled around Virginia wine country from the Monticello AVA to northern Loudoun to the Shenandoah Valley. Some of that time I traveled with the long-standing Canadian wine writer Edward...
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My Favorite Wines of 2015
Welcome back to richardleahy.com, a blog focused on wines of Virginia and the East. My website has been under re-design for the last month, so to get current here are details of the East Coast wines I...
View ArticleWinter Reds and Port-style Wines from Virginia
I expect many of you are cruising the Web today since Winter Storm Jonas has immobilized the Mid-Atlantic, and I expect most of you are either drinking a glass of robust red wine or port, or planning...
View ArticleVA Vineyards Association Names Bill Freitag “Grower of the Year”
On January 29th, Bill Freitag was named “Grower of the Year” at the annual technical meeting of the Virginia Vineyards Association. Freitag is chairman of the association’s Sustainability Workbook...
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Gold Medal Winners Announced in the 2016 VA Wine Governor’s Cup
The Virginia Wine Governor’s Cup competition took place Jan. 31-Feb. 2nd at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, under the direction of Jay Youmans, MW. The Virginia Wineries Association has released the...
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Keswick Vineyards Cabernet Franc Estate Reserve 2014 Wins 2016 Virginia...
Keswick Vineyards owner Al Schornberg accepting the Governor’s Cup from Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (right) On Feb. 22nd at the Marshall Ballroom in Richmond, Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe...
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Notable Wines Tasted En Route To And At the Eastern Winery Expo
Two of my favorite recently tasted wines, both from New England At the end of the first week of March, I drove to Lancaster, PA to help run the 5th Eastern Winery Exposition, the largest and most...
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2015 VA Whites Very Promising: Tasting Notes on New Releases
Virginia wine lovers now have two excellent vintages for white wines: 2014 and 2015. The 2014 vintage was cooler and drier than most, yielding white wines with marked freshness, delicacy, vibrant fruit...
View ArticleDry, Skillfully Made Dark Fruit Wines from Hermit Woods
Hermit Woods Winery in New Hampshire is one of the cutting edge wineries of the East. They make no grape-based wines at all, but offer a cornucopia of original and thoughtfully blended wines from local...
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