By Nancy Bauer Walsh Family Wine: Loudoun Wine Country’s New Crush Walsh Family Wine opened last month in Purcellville, and the owners are feeling loved. What was once their side project – growing and making wine from a Catoctin Ridge vineyard just outside of Waterford – had exploded into farming five vineyards over 50 acres and the eventual purchase and re-launch of a winery. More than 500 guests descended on grand opening weekend. But instead of feeling exhausted, co-owner Sarah Walsh says the outpouring of community support and is what kept them going. Taking over from an icon can be tricky, and the Walsh’s predecessors, Mark and Vicki Fedor, owners of the former North Gate Vineyards, were – not to overstate it – just crazily beloved. From their work ethic – they made and sold wines at farmers markets and held garage tastings for years before opening the winery – to the passion they put into creating an extreme eco-friendly business, to the humility they showed while earning top wine awards made many fans over the years. But Walsh Family Wine owners Nate and Sarah Walsh are no pretenders. They’ve been part of the Virginia wine community for more than a decade already, Nate as gold-medal-winning winemaker at Sunset Hills Vineyards in Purcellville, and Sarah in fine wine sales and hospitality. I asked Nate for his thoughts about where they’ve been and where they’re headed with the new Walsh Family Wine. About winemaking at Sunset Hills Vineyards Sunset Hills was and is a wonderful wine producer. Mike and Diane Canney took a real chance on me, as I had never been a head winemaker when they hired me, and they allowed me to develop my farming and winemaking style pretty much on my own terms. It was a period of growth…
By Nancy Bauer Mediterranean Cellars Wins Big Love at Fauquier Wine Awards For years now, it’s been impossible to find a ticket to the annual Fauquier County People’s Choice Wine Awards. They sell out every year, and it’s easy to see why: no queuing in crushing lines, beautiful (indoor) venue at Airlie, tasty wines, and ever-flowing hot and cold hors d’oeuvres. Plus, you get to vote. Each guest gets three color-coded voting cards – Favorite Red, Favorite White, and Favorite Sweet. At first, the voting concept seems easy enough: when you taste a favorite, you drop your card into a little box on the corresponding table. This year, fifteen wineries poured tasting samples on two floors of Airlie House, with live music and plentiful platters of cured meats, fancy cheeses, and creative empanadas and such on each level. Forty-one wines were poured “officially,” though a few enthusiastic wineries raised the count with even more unofficial bottles. As the clock ticks down, the voting cards start to burn a hole in your pocket: time to choose. But how? So many factors enter in: the wine itself, the friendliness of the people pouring the wine (yes, this should not be part of the decision-making process, but let’s admit: it is), your memories of a relaxing day you may have spent at that vineyard. It’s tough, and you may find yourself avoiding eye contact with one table as you drop your card at the next. But quickly, it’s all over but the counting. While we wait, we talk to Fauquier’s tourism officials to pass the time. “This event happens at a time of year where it is usually pretty quiet for most tourism businesses including the wineries, so this is a really great chance to get out and shake off your cabin fever…