by Richard Leahy | Feb 14, 2021 | Tastings/Evaluations, Varietals, Virginia Wine
This is part two (red wines) for my blind tasting report on the very good 2019 vintage now being bottled and sent to market. Whites, rosés and light to medium-bodied reds like Cabernet Franc and some Meritage blends have been bottled and will be released soon. This...
by Richard Leahy | Feb 13, 2021 | Tastings/Evaluations, Virginia Wine
There’s good news on the Virginia wine scene: the very good (some would say “great”) 2019 vintage is coming on the market. Whites, rosés and light reds like Cabernet Franc have been bottled and will be released soon. This is good news because the 2018 vintage was a...
by Richard Leahy | Jan 24, 2021 | News/Announcements, Regions & Terroir, Tastings/Evaluations, Virginia Wine
“Un-Wine’d”, a Virgina Public Media/PBS show about Virginia food and wine, produced by Shari Pennington of VPM and hosted by Tassie Pippert of James Madison University, kicked off its third season on Friday, with an episode featuring this writer,...
by Richard Leahy | Dec 31, 2020 | Tastings/Evaluations, Virginia Wine, Winery Visits
If you’re reading this, you’re probably as relieved as I am that we’re in a new year. What a great year 2020 was (to focus on fine food and wine, music, or anything else than covid and politics), although there is hope now on those two fronts for the...
by Richard Leahy | Dec 17, 2020 | Tastings/Evaluations, Virginia Wine
Last summer I was invited by Breaux Vineyards owner Jennifer Breaux to participate in a virtual tasting of their ’15 and ’16 Meritage blends. They were both fine; the ’16 was a bit lighter with more Merlot, and the ’15 was big and brooding with...
by Richard Leahy | Nov 22, 2020 | Regions & Terroir, Tastings/Evaluations
It’s time for my annual Thanksgiving wine recommendations. As a locavore and also as an historian, I promote drinking locally, especially since Thanksgiving is an East Coast tradition (first celebrated at Berkley Hundred on the James River in Virginia, on Dec....