Customer Reviews

Virginia Wines & Wineries

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It is bad enough that Virginia Wines and Wineries consists of a mere 64 pages of large text and photographs, but what makes this publication by Howell Press even a more dubious effort is the fact that, except for the first 16 pages of introductionary material, almost all of the text and maps are lifted directly from the free Virginia Festival and Tour Guide issued by the Virginia Marketing Office, a guide available at any Virginia winery or via the internet by contacting virginiawines.org. And the original text contains mistakes, such as this flawed tasting tip. Ms. Rogan states that on the question of swirling the wine in a glass and evaluating the resulatant "legs" that steam down the inside of the bowl, "the thinner the legs, the more alcohol in the wines," while it is universally accepted that the opposite is true, that alcohol contributes to the viscosity of the wine. Charles Shoffner's photography of the Virginia wine country is evocative, but is it worth the price of admission?

This really is a great little book to help readers learn about Virginia wines. I find myself carrying it with me in my car when visiting local wineries. It gives the reader a little history of the Virginia wine business, and provides directions and little blurbs about each of the wineries in Virginia. If you're interested in learning a little more about Virginia wine, this is a great book to get!