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AMERICAN WINE SOCIETY
A non-profit corporation

Northern Virginia Chapter

“Tea can very well take the place of wine at breakfast.”

 -- Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French food writer

FEBRUARY MEETING: 

Mary Anne and Mike Wassenberg took us right to the Heartland last month.  Even though it was a very informative tasting with wines from Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and Ohio, we had to work for our education.  The wines were served blindly, first the whites and then the reds, each with a different colored ribbon.  By group consensus, we selected which color ribbon to taste and then had to identify the varietal (Chardonnel, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Vignoles, Chambourcin, Cynthiana, or Norton) and state of origin.  Needless to say, this venue generated much discussion on the wines!  Along with the two social wines, and the Port for the finish, the wines tasted were as follows:

Producer
 Varietal
 Cost
 Comment
Chateau Pomije (IN) Cherry$ 15.00social wine
Mount Pleasant (MO) Rayon d’Or$ 21.00social wine
Stone Hill (MO) Vignoles$ 14.99 favorite white
Chateau Pomije (IN) Riesling$ 18.75
Altos Vineyards (IL) Chardonnel$   9.99 second favorite white
Winery at Versailles (OH) Pinot Grigio$ 11.49
Chateau Pomije (IN) Chardonnay$ 18.75
Altos Vineyards (IL) Chambourcin$ 15.99 favorite red
Holy-Field Winery (KS) Chambourcin$ 14.95
Stone Hill (MO) Norton$ 17.99
Holy-Field Winery (KS) Cynthiana$ 25.00
Winery at Versailles (OH) Port$ 15.99

And, if the wines weren't enough, Mary Anne and Mike provided us with a genuine Heartland picnic: breads, cheeses, sausages, olives, mushrooms, fruit, cookies -- all great foods to go along with the wines. Thanks again, Mary Anne and Mike, for bringing these wines and educating us in a fun way about the Wines from the Heartland! We all learned that there are some nice wines being produced there.

MARCH MEETING: 

Karen Stokes is planning our next meeting.  She will present "Long Island, it's not just for iced tea cocktails anymore."  Come out and enjoy these wines that Karen brought back with her on a recent visit to the area.  As always, Karen should provide quite a bit of interesting background on the wines and area. The meeting is scheduled for Friday, March 18, 2005, at St. Mary's Church.  The gathering will begin at 7:30 p.m. while the formal meeting should get underway at 8:00 p.m.  Please RSVP at least 24 hours in advance if you are planning to attend so we will have enough of everything.  Call 703-941-2384 or complete the following RSVP form. 


TOUR GUIDES:

The Virginia Festival and Tour Guides are now being distributed.  Pick up your copy and start planning your visits to the over 90 wineries in the Commonwealth.  Remember that Virginia is for WINE Lovers!
See you on the 18th!   Looking into the future, the following meeting will be on Friday, April 15th.  Don't put off completing your taxes and miss another great meeting!   You've been warned!


Cheers,       
Dave Barber
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