The East

Wines & Vines, Dec, 2004

ALABAMA: WINEMAKER CHANGES COUNTIES

After an unsuccessful campaign to allow alcohol sales in Chilton County, Ala., winemaker Tom Vizzini bought a parcel of land in nearby Shelby County on which to build a winery. Vizzini had committed $750,000 to plant a vineyard complete with a winery, a wine-tasting facility and a home on the Chilton property.

GEORGIA: NEW TASTING ROOM OPENS

Georgia Winery, which raises certified organic Muscadine grapes on 15 acres near High Point in Walker County, is completing a new 16,000-square-foot tasting center and store near the company's winery in Catoosa County. Owner Patty Prouty says she hopes eventually to have vineyards at the new site. The new facility also has a reception area for meetings or weddings.

MARYLAND: FIRST WINERY AT HISTORIC SITE

Ken Korando's Chapel Cellars is new at St. Mary's City, a state-operated historic park in southern Maryland. This year, the winery produced 300 cases in the basement of Farthing's Ordinary, a tavern on the property; production could reach 25,000 cases in 2005. Korando has leased 6 acres to be planted next spring, but now buys grapes. The effort may eventually represent an investment of $2 million, including a winery and a 40-acre vineyard.

NEW YORK: MONTH-LONG EVENT PROMOTES LOCAL WINES

For the fourth year, more than 50 top restaurants and 20 wine shops in New York City participated in a month-long program to promote New York wines. Restaurants featured special dishes or fixed-price menus featuring foods produced in New York State, and offered New York wines by the glass. Wine stores featured special selections of New York wines. Organized by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, the event was designed to make New York wines more visible and available to consumers.

NEW YORK: FINGER LAKES WINE PRICES HIT NEW HEIGHTS

Saying his wines are as good as any French Bordeaux, Dick Reno at Chateau Lafayette Reneau in Finger Lakes now charges $49.99 a bottle for his 2001 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, probably the highest price ever charged for a Finger Lakes table wine.

NEW YORK: BOOZE BAGS ALLOW WINE TO GO

Diners in New York restaurants can now take home leftover wine rather than swilling the last drops or wasting it. A new law allows customers to take an unfinished bottle home--but they must use special tamper-proof plastic bags and include a receipt showing the wine was ordered with a full-course meal.

NEW YORK: LONG ISLAND WINE TRAILS MERGED

The two wine trails in eastern Long Island have been combined into the Long Island Wine Region. It merges the North Fork Wine Trail and Hamptons Wine Trail to promote the East End's growing wine and related agritourism industry.

NORTH CAROLINA: YADKIN WINEGROWERS RECEIVE GRANT

The Yadkin Valley Winegrowers Association received a $250,000 agricultural market development grant from USDA Rural Development to open a wine store in Charlotte Douglas Airport featuring wines from North Carolina's Yadkin Valley. The store will open in early 2005.

VIRGINIA: RARE TOURS OFFERED OF MOUNT VERNON CELLAR

Sixteen Virginia wineries held their annual Wine Festival and Sunset Tour at Mount Vernon Estate to celebrate the history of winemaking in the Old Dominion. Included were exclusive tours of the mansion's seldom-visited wine cellar. Proceeds benefit the ongoing preservation and restoration of George Washington's historic estate.

VIRGINIA: NEW BOOK ON VIRGINIA WINERIES

Veteran wine writer and grapegrower Walker Elliott Rowe has written a 95-page book on Virginia wineries and vineyards, available for downloading at no cost from the Internet. The book, which includes a look at Governor Mark Warner's vineyard and an inside look at the Mexican migrant workers at Horton Vineyards, is a series of essays It is available at walkerrowe.com.

NEW JERSEY: GARDEN STATE GAINING REPUTATION

The number of wineries in New Jersey has increased from 17 to 26 since November 2003, and is expected to rise to 30 by the end of the year and to 40 by the end of 2005, according to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Winemaking is a $36 million industry in New Jersey, according to the Garden State Wine Growers Association. New Jersey ranks fifth in wine production, behind California, Washington, New York and Oregon, said Tom Sharko, president of the association and operator of a vineyard in Warren County.

Nearly 1,000 acres in 11 of New Jersey's 21 counties were devoted to producing more than 1 million gallons of 40 varieties of wine last year, according to the association.