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Morgan Goodman wins 47-word essay contest

Morgan Goodman's homage to Virginia wine is the winner of this year's 47-word essay contest to celebrate Regional Wine Week. Wrote Goodman:

Virginia wine… a way of life.
I met my husband over a bottle of Horton’s Sparkling Viognier.
We fell in love while traveling to vineyards around Virginia.
We said “I do” at Potomac Point Vineyard.
Now we have family picnics at Barrel Oak Winery with our daughter.

Goodman wins two tickets to DLW 2012: Colorado, our fourth annual conference in Denver in April, plus an autographed copy of Todd Kliman's best-selling book, The Wild Vine.

Seven other entries won prizes:

• Renee Keele, who wrote about Arizona wine (wine lovers combo pack from from Laurie Forster, The Wine Coach).

• Kimberly Marshall, who wrote about Maryland's Patuxent River region (copy of The Wild Vine).

• Stephanie Wetherill, writing about Texas (copy of The Sipping Point, Laurie Forster, The Wine Coach).

• Jean Wilson, the Red Wine Diva, writing about North Carolina (copy of The Sipping Point).

• Nancy Bauer, who wrote about Virginia wine (10-pack of Wine Shields wine closures).

• Paul Dickman, writing about the norton grape (10-pack of Wine Shields).

• The pseudonymous Swirl, Sip, Snark's take on Virginia wine (copy of The American Vintage wine book).

Our thanks to everyone who entered.

Coming Monday: 47-word essay contest winners

The judges are almost done sifting through the entries, and we'll announce the winners on Monday in our 47-word essay contest to celebrate regional wine. The judges report that they are having a difficult time selecting the top essays, but that's not surprising. These are regional wine aficionados doing the writing, after all. It looks like we'll have two grand prize winners, with six other winners to share the various prizes.

Regional Wine Week 2011: Thank you

This was the most successful wine week in our history, with posts, videos, and interviews from 24 of the 47 regional wine states and some 90 items aggregated on the DLW web site. And, frankly, given our limited resources, there may well have been more out there that we missed because we were so busy cataloging what we did get. It's always amazing to us, when we ask the regional wine community to participate, how willingly and wonderfully that they respond. Thank you.

Or, as Tim McNally of New Orleans' WIST radio noted after devoting most of one show to regional wine: "The discussion was fun and these folks are doing some incredible work in places that I’ll bet 95 percent or more of wine lovers never even think about. ... I thought bringing this up to the attention of our listeners along the Gulf Coast was important."

The official news release is here, and all of the links are here. Among the highlights:

• We got about 100 entries in the 47-word essay contest, and we're judging them even as this is being written. Look for results later this week.

• Eric Asimov of The New York Times visited the Finger Lakes, and liked what he tasted.

• Blogger Pia Maria Finkell, in an intelligent and eloquent post, asked "Eating local is all the rage. But what about drinking local?"

• Richard Leahy's essay about regional wine grapes elicited some interesting comments, as well as a blog post in response.

Regional Wine Week 2011: Friday

Talk about a wealth of regional wine riches: Posts about Nebraska and Vermont wine. And, in the third of our three commissioned essays -- the Wine Curmudgeon's 7 things you need to know about regional wine.

All of the links are here. Among the other highlights for Day 6:

• Sandra Silfven on Michigan's St. Julian Winery.

• MichWine discussing how success has led to unexpected problems for the Michigan wine business.

• Local food and wine pairing video from Colorado's Local Winos Media.

Update: 47-word essay contest

How successful has the essay contest been so far? We're swamped with entries; so swamped, in fact, that we're not able to do links to everyone who has has posted their essays to their blogs or web sites. You've taxed our modest resources, for which we are most grateful.

The contest ends at midnight Saturday. We'll ponder the entries, and announce the winners next week. The complete details are here. Briefly, write 47 words about your favorite local wine, producer or region, and win terrific prizes -- tickets to DLW 2012: Colorado, copies of Todd Kliman's Wild Vine and Laurie Forster's Sipping Point book and DVD, and Wine Shields.

The only rule? That the blog post or article be about something that isn’t from California, Washington or Oregon -- and anyone, even consumers, can enter. To submit essays, send us an email.

How successful has the essay contest been so far? We're swamped with entries; so swamped, in fact, that we're not able to do links to everyone who has has posted their essays to their blogs or web sites. You've taxed our modest resources, for which we are most grateful.

The contest ends at midnight Saturday. We'll ponder the entries, and announce the winners next week. The complete details are here. Briefly, write 47 words about your favorite local wine, producer or region, and win terrific prizes -- tickets to DLW 2012: Colorado, copies of Todd Kliman's Wild Vine and Laurie Forster's Sipping Point book and DVD, and Wine Shields.

The only rule? That the blog post or article be about something that isn’t from California, Washington or Oregon -- and anyone, even consumers, can enter. To submit essays, send us an email.

Regional Wine Week 2011: Wednesday

Is that really Eric Asimov of the New York Times writing about regional wine during Regional Wine Week? Apparently so, and though Asimov doesn't mention what we're doing here or wine week, we'll take it. He's one of the best wine writers in the world, so any mention is a good mention.

All of the links are here. Among the other nuggets for Day 4:

• Richard Leahy's essay on regional wine grapes, one of the three we've commissioned especially for wine week.

• Dave McIntyre looks at Maryland wine.

• Wine Industry Insight has had quite enough of Donald Trump, thank you.

Regional Wine Week 2011: Tuesday

Day 3 adds half a dozen more states and Canada, plus VinoVerve's nifty primer on how to drink local wine. Coming Wednesday: Richard Leahy's 18 regional wine grapes to taste before you die.

Go here for the links. Among the other items posted today:

• Barbara Ensrud's reviews of North Carolina wine.

• Dandelion wine from Maryland.

• Palate Press' take on Colorado wine (where DLW 2012 will be held).

Day 3 adds half a dozen more states and Canada, plus VinoVerve's nifty primer on how to drink local wine. Coming Wednesday: Richard Leahy's 18 regional wine grapes to taste before you die.

Go here for the links. Among the other items posted today:

• Barbara Ensrud's reviews of North Carolina wine.

• Dandelion wine from Maryland.

• Palate Press' take on Colorado wine (where DLW 2012 will be held).

Regional Wine Week 2011: Monday

Day 2 provides more links, including interviews with six regional winemakers, courtesy of the legendary Tim McNally and The Wine Show on WIST-AM in New Orleans. Coming Wednesday: Richard Leahy's 18 regional wine grapes to taste before you die.

Go to this page to see the links. Among the other items posted today:

• New Hampshire's Flag Hill Winery.

• A review of Minnesota's WineHaven Marquette Reserve.

• Pinnacle Ridge Winery in Pennsylvania.

Regional Wine Week 2011: Sunday

Lots of links from lots of states as we begin our fourth annual regional wine week. Plus, we have DLW co-founder Dave McIntyre's essay on why regional wine matters.

Go to this page to see the links. Among the stories posted so far:

• East Coast Wine Geeks on Pennsylvania wine

• Russ Kane at Vintage Texas on the Highway 290 wine trail

• The Ancient Fire wine blog on a New England wine tasting

• An interview with DLW co-founders Jeff Siegel and Dave McIntyre on Lynn Krielow's iWineRadio

Why regional wine matters

DLW co-founder and Washington Post wine guru kicks off our fourth annual Regional Wine Week with an essay about why regional wine matters. Writes Dave:

It's easy to think of local wineries as novelties instead of neighbors. But as we increasingly support local farmers and ranchers, why not vintners as well? Viticulture is agriculture. Locavore should be locapour. This nexus also cuts against the common complaint that local wine costs too much. If we are willing to pay a little more for local carrots or grass-fed beef, we shouldn't complain when a winemaker wants to recoup his or her investment of money, time and sweat.