Tag: Food & Drink

The third annual Top of the Hops Beer Festival took place last Saturday, September 22, and a record crowd descended on the Downtown Mall, packing the walkways and breaking a new record by selling out the Ntelos Wireless Pavilion.

Lines wrapped around the mall, heading east and west trying to get everyone inside the door. Once inside, festival goers were greeted by rollicking blues coming from the stage, as well as craft beers by the dozen served from draft jockeyboxes. In the northern streetside in front of City Hall, there was a Cider Garden, an Import Beer Garden, and a Cask Garden, providing a diverse variety of ciders, Belgian beers, and warmer, less carbonated beers on cask. These gardens provided a lot of interesting commentary to be overheard, as people (perhaps per this blog’s suggestion?) wandered well outside their comfort zones. Monk’s Café, a sour Flemish red ale, provided some of the most colorful feedback.

Four columns of beer vendors branched from the stage toward the lawn, with over 50 different brewery booths providing at least two offerings each. Onstage, VIP ticket holders were treated to special limited-access beers, plentiful seating, and food provided by local sponsor Boylan Heights. This stage setting also made for a good vantage point from which to observe the photo booth, in which ticket holders could receive a complimentary photo of their group.

Additional features included educational sessions provided by Devil’s Backbone and Fifth Season Gardening Company, and food vendors such as Mellow Mushroom and The Lunchbox. On the lawn, a bracket-based cornhole tournament took place, with the winners taking home prizes. The crowd rejoiced when they were informed that tasting would be graciously extended from 7 to 7:30 PM, which was perhaps an olive branch extension after wait times were a little longer than expected. There were lots of choices to enjoy, but some jumped out in particular.

Beer Highlights:

Crabbie’s: An alcoholic ginger-flavored malt beverage, served at the festival on ice with lime wedge. Super refreshing; an absolute hangover assassin.

Brew Ridge Trail Collaboration Black Tripel: Local bias notwithstanding, this was a solid beer with roasty malt flavors and Belgian yeast characteristics.

Goose Island Sofie: Refreshing farmhouse beer with a pleasantly wild side. Light hop bouquet and a quick finish.

Heavy Seas Plank II: Doppelbock aged on poplar and eucalyptus planks, with a distinct malt sweetness and herbaceous flavor profile. Firmly experimental.

 Samuel Adams Octoberfest:  Amber colored and malty without being sticky sweet. A pleasant revisit with an old college friend of mine.

Please let us know what your favorites were below. With the festival selling out completely for the first time, it looks like a safe bet that we’ll continue to enjoy this day full of great beer for years to come!

We’re fifth in the nation for wine production and are one of the Travel Channel’s Top 7 beer destinations in North America, so it only makes sense that Virginia’s jumping on the craft distillery bandwagon. And it’s moving at a pretty good clip considering that America went from having 14,000 distilleries at the start of the 19th century to barely a dozen following Prohibition. According to the American Distilling Institute, the number of craft distilleries in the U.S. rose from 24 in 2000 to 52 in 2005 and now stands at 240. Virginia is home to six established craft distilleries with at least two under development, not counting, of course, that backcountry booze with the toothless reputation that’s still alive and well in Franklin County (and on the Discovery Channel).

While Virginia has a long-standing history with two big box booze-makers (Laird’s been making its AppleJack in North Garden with Shenandoah Valley-grown apples for more than five decades, and A. Smith Bowman Distillery in Fredericksburg’s been bottling Virginia Gentleman Bourbon ever since Prohibition ended), all but one of our craft distillers have been at it for fewer than six years.

The oldest of our state’s gang, Belmont Farm Distillery in Culpeper, got its start 25 years ago selling legal moonshine derived from an illegal family recipe. Chuck and Jeanette Miller produce White Lightning (a clear 100-proof whiskey) made with corn that they grow and mill themselves. Their 86-proof Kopper Kettle whiskey is more refined, using a three-grain mash and local oak and apple wood barrels for aging. They distill both liquors in the same 2,000-gallon circa 1933 copper pot still.

Richmond-based Parched Group got in the game spring of 2006 with Cirrus, a hand-crafted, small-batch vodka made from potatoes. Chesapeake Bay Distillery in Virginia Beach had its corn-based Blue Ridge Vodka on shelves two years later. Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville bottled their first batch of Wasmund’s Single Malt Whisky summer of 2006, making their mark by being the only distillery in North America to hand malt its own barley and the only distillery in the world to use smoldering apple and cherry wood (instead of peat) to flavor the malted barley. Certified organic and kosher rye whiskey and gin from Catoctin Creek Distilling Company went on the market in 2009, while the Loudoun County distillery itself predates Prohibition.

Though mainly for show, the distillery that George Washington owned and operated at his home in Mount Vernon in the late 1700s was restored in 2009 to 18th century-esque conditions to demonstrate colonial-era distilling. They use only water for the daily demos, but 750ml bottles of unaged rye whiskey are sold in the plantation’s gift shop for history buffs looking for a collectible—or a drink.

With an estimated future annual production of 100,000 cases of Scottish-style whiskies, the Virginia Distillery Company in Lovingston will be the largest craft distillery in the state. Scotch doesn’t happen overnight though. The single malt’s been aging for the past four years and will stand before the ABC for approval in October, followed by three months of paperwork-filled lag time before it makes its way to our lowballs. But even if it’s not available for Christmas gifts, Scotch-heads (or those who love them) can pony up $6,000 to reserve a cask of it for the start of 2013.

Distillery growth might be exponential if it weren’t for Prohibition laws still on the books. It was only in 1980, for example, that the government lifted the regulation that a federal agent must be on site daily to oversee distillery operations (and given their own office and restroom to boot). To this day, distilleries can’t provide tasting samples as we’re used to at wineries. This law was just rewritten this summer for breweries (whose own revival began just 25 years ago), so distilleries shouldn’t be too far behind.

The American Distilling Institute pro-jects that the number of distilleries in our country will grow to between 400 and 450 by 2015. We already have our eyes peeled for the completion of Ragged Mountain Distillery on Taylors Gap Road. Consider it a spiritual renaissance.

New AVA for VA
Wine producers are duly proud of their terroir and now the 14 wineries and 10 vineyards in and around Middleburg, Virginia have an AVA (or American Viticulture Area) to call their own. Thanks to the efforts of Boxwood Estate Winery’s Rachel Martin, this area located 50 miles west of D.C. received official designation in the Federal Registry on September 14. For a winery to adopt an AVA, its wines must be made from no less than 85 percent of grapes grown in the area. The Middleburg AVA brings Virginia’s total to seven.

Liquorspeak 101
Generally speaking, whisky (often spelled whiskey in the US and Ireland) is an alcoholic beverage distilled primarily from grain. Bourbon is distilled from mainly corn, rye whiskey is distilled from mainly rye, and Scotch Whisky (which we often call just Scotch) is distilled from malted barley.

There are those salads that make you feel deprived the minute you order them. And then there are those salads that make no apologies, satisfying like a steak and potatoes. They’re of generous size and chock full of delicious (and not necessarily healthy) ingredients. We call them Big Ass Salads and we love them. These places serve up B.A.S.s that you’ll devour with gusto, feeling anything but denied.

The chicken marrakech at Aromas Café isn’t called a salad, but since shredded romaine, tomatoes, cucumbers, kalamata olives, and grilled pita triangles surround Moroccan-spiced chicken and rice, we call it one —and a tasty one at that.

Protein fiends already know the delight of a good Niçoise salad, and the one at Court Square Tavern loads up mixed greens with albacore tuna, hard-boiled eggs, capers, artichokes, olives, roasted red peppers, potato salad, green beans, and a saffron aioli.

Fast and fresh is the M.O. at Eppie’s and we’d add fantastically filling after a Santa Monica salad—baby spinach leaves, grape tomatoes, chopped dates, sweet corn, goat cheese, and champagne vinaigrette—with chicken breast on top and a small loaf of pumpkin bread on the side.

Orzo always has a special salad or two bound to entice, and the combination of tender, braised calamari with arugula, capers, shaved fennel, and lemon vinaigrette is a summer special-gone-permanent that’ll stay on the menu just a few weeks more.

Everyone loves a wedge salad and the folks at Rapture make a mean one. Iceberg lettuce gets gussied up with shaved red onion, local eggs, and house-cured bacon before a generous pour of pimento cheese ranch dressing steals the show.

You’ll skip the entrée instead of the bread at Zocalo, where the warm rolls and the Adobo Caesar (cool romaine with sweet-as-candy grape tomatoes, salty slivers of pecorino, and squares of polenta that are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside) is one delicious dinner.

Got leftovers?
Last night’s dinner makes quick work of a B.A.S. for lunch the next day. Anything goes, but here’s a trio of favorites:

Burger bowl: Lettuce becomes the base and your burger (beef or NoBull) and all the extras (including toasted bun croutons) become the topping. You can even make a dressing by adding a little pickle juice to some honey mustard.

BLT bowl: This holy trinity makes a perfect salad, especially if you add diced avocado and some cheese. Thin out your leftover basil- or garlic-spiked mayo with a squeeze of lemon to drizzle over top.

Fajita bowl: Grilled meat, rice, black beans, sautéed onions and peppers, cheese, guacamole, and sour cream over lettuce? Almost better than the night before!

“All I did was hand someone a bag.”
Remember the “Seinfeld” episode when Elaine asks George to get her a Big Salad from Monk’s and then George’s girlfriend hands Elaine the bag and accepts her thank you for the salad even though George paid for it? “What I would like to know is, how does a person who has nothing to do with the Big Salad claim responsibility for that salad and accept the thank you under false pretenses?” Classic Costanza.

And what does Jerry say when George asks what’s in the Big Salad? “Big lettuce, big carrots, tomatoes like volleyballs.”

Summer’s on its way out and with it go the breezy drinks that require little more thought than “what time is it anyway?” Let’s brush up a bit on the beverage that makes adulthood and the return to routine much more bearable.

1. What are the by-products of wine’s fermentation process?
a) Sugar and vinegar
b) Uranium and currants
c) Alcohol and carbon dioxide
d) Lewd comments and public urination

2. What’s the most common way to make a wine sweet?
a) By halting fermentation early
b) By adding frozen cans of grape juice concentrate to the tanks
c) By adding a sugar cube to each bottle
d) By saying really nice things to it

3. What should you do at a restaurant when a server pours you a taste of the wine you’ve just ordered?
a) Shoot it back and then ask for a refill
b) Smell it and nod your approval
c) Close your eyes and pretend you’re asleep
d) Return it no matter what—you should never accept the first wine you’re brought

4. The astringent, saliva-sucking quality in big red wines comes from
a) Drinking too much of it
b) Australia
c) Being filtered through a pair of woolen socks
d) Skins, seeds, stems, and oak exposure

5. What does it mean when a wine is described as flabby?
a) It is especially caloric
b) It lacks acidity
c) It’s young and hasn’t shed its baby fat
d) It’s let itself go

6. What are wine legs?
a) The wobbly sensation you get after dinner when it’s time to stand up
b) The brand’s marketing and social media teams
c) Its stems
d) The rivulets left on the inside of the glass after swirling

7. Which of the following quotations about wine is not attributable to someone famous?
a) “You haven’t drunk too much wine if you can still lie on the floor without holding on.”
b) “I can’t feel my face.”
c) “Wine, from long habit has become an indispensable for my health.”
d) “What contemptible scoundrel stole the cork from my lunch?”

8. What does it mean when a wine is corked?
a) It’s sealed with a cork instead of a screw cap
b) You’ve been cut off
c) It’s tainted with a chemical compound called TCA
d) You’ve finished the whole bottle

9. Which of the following is not the name of a grape?
a) Kékfrankos
b) Agiorghitiko
c) Rotgipfler
d) Shakira

10. Wine is best stored on its side to prevent
a) the cork from drying out
b) premature cork poppage
c) reverse osmosis
d) spontaneous combustion

How’d you do?
Answered 8 to 10 questions correctly? Look who’s a wine wizard! Celebrate your know-it-allness with a bottle of every wine geek’s favorite­—Riesling.

Answered 4 to 7 questions correctly? You are a budding wino! With a few weeks of extensive tasting and tutoring, you could be a wiz. You buy the wine and I’ll bring some runny cheese.

Answered 0 to 3 questions correctly? You are already drunk. Enjoy your evening and try again in the morning.

Answer key:
1. c, 2. a, 3. b, 4. d, 5. b, 6. d, 7. b, 8. c, 9. d, 10. a.

For those of you out there who don’t like beets, you’re missing out. Since many a beet-hater’s distaste comes from having first tried them in a can (instead of raw or roasted), it’s time to try again, but this time, without holding your nose closed. Beets’ hues range from ruby red to gold to pink-and-white candy striped, and their flavor—both earthy and sweet—makes them the star of the dish. These restaurants pay heavenly homage to nature’s treat, the beet!

At Blue Moon Diner, golden beets join mixed greens, tart Granny Smith apples, toasted sunflower seeds, and shavings of aged Parmigiano in a salad dressed with the diner’s house vinaigrette.

Pizza’s undoubtedly the mainstay on Dr. Ho’s Humble Pie’s menu, but you’d be remiss not to start your meal with its salad of shaved beets, local arugula, Caromont goat cheese, and spicy roasted pecans all drizzled with a balsamic reduction.

Mas tips its hat to the Middle East with moutabel—a spread (à la hummus or baba ganoush) made from beets, tahini, roasted peppers, and garlic—served with warm slices of charred-crust brick-oven bread.

Food was always farm-to-table in the colonial days and that’s how it’s stayed at Michie Tavern, where the buffet lunch includes whole baby beets to mitigate the potential health hazards of an entire plate of Southern-fried chicken.

While the scallops at tavola come out perfectly seared every time, it’s the day-glo pink leek and beet risotto that they’re perched on that makes the dish—and the white truffle oil doesn’t hurt either.

Zinc’s latest salad with beets, marcona almonds, mâche, compressed watermelon, bruléed watermelon rind, farro, farro puff crisp, in a pickled watermelon/cider vinegar dressing is as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the mouth.

A, Beet, Cs
Beets grow locally in both the spring and the fall, taking about 60 days to mature. In the spring, beets should be harvested before the weather gets very hot, and in the fall, they should come up well before a frost or freeze is expected. Bellair Farm’s Jamie Barrett says that while spring beets store better (they’re bigger with a higher sugar content), the smaller fall beets are more tender and flavorful.

If not using right away, cut the beet greens off with about 1/2″ to 1″ remaining above the root and store them, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to three weeks. Beet greens, stored the same way, will last a few days.

The easiest way to capitalize on beets’ buttery texture is to roast them (scrubbed clean and dried) in a foil pouch at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to one hour and 15 minutes, depending on their size. Beet greens, washed very thoroughly, can be wilted with garlic and olive oil and stirred into pasta, risotto, or alongside the roasted beets.

Sneaky beet
Beets aren’t just for dinner—they add moisture and a natural sweetness to baked goods, replacing additional oil, butter, or sugar. Try them in chocolate desserts like brownies and in red velvet cake, where their red color keeps things au naturel.

Scarlet stamp
Beets leave their mark on everything from your cutting board to your fingers, but you can keep your hands stain-free by wearing a pair of latex gloves or by peeling the beets under cold, running water. If it’s already too late, rubbing your pink fingers with a halved lemon should do the trick.

Un-beet-able
Sometimes called nature’s multivitamin, beets are among the top 10 superfoods with roots full of betacyanin, folate, manganese, and potassium, and greens packed with beta-carotene, iron, vitamin C, and calcium.

This Saturday, September 22, the 3rd annual Top of the Hops Festival descends upon the Ntelos Wireless Pavilion, and beer lovers like yours truly rejoice! Dozens of fantastic craft beers from all over the world will be available for tasting, and forecasts show temps in the mid-70s and clear skies. All signs point to a fantastic sunny and beer-soaked day in the ‘Ville. But don’t go without a game plan.

If you’ve been before, you’ve seen the less mindful of the crowd stumbling out and looking a little rough around the edges. Rule #1: Don’t be that guy. Nobody will be impressed with any intoxication that you’ve accomplished in 3 hours of craft beer sampling. Have fun, taste great beer, and keep your dignity.

Now that you know what not to do, here’s what you do. Rule #2: Drink what you are most interested in first. You can pace yourself like a pro, but be sure to taste what you’re most stoked about early on. Not only is there the possibility that your favorite beer will run dry, but also the most crucial thing to consider is that your palette will burn out. It’s not a matter of if, but when. So take the time, look through the guide, seek out your targets, and execute.

Rule #3: Eat. Before, during, and after. Take in a solid late breakfast or lunch before the festival; you don’t want to find yourself surprised by the beer samples or sudden hunger. There are also plenty of great food vendors at the event to keep you full throughout the event. I don’t think you’ll need any encouragement to have dinner afterward.

 Rule #4: Go from light to heavy. While adhering to rule #2, you don’t really want to seek out barleywines, Russian Imperial Stouts, Belgian quads and the like if you expect to appreciate that cider, wheat beer, or Lager soon after. Also, starting with the big beers results in staring in disbelief at your watch when you realize it’s only 5:30.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly: Rule #5: Go by cab or hoof it. Unless you’re with one of the walking angels willing to purchase a DD ticket and drink soda throughout the event, plan to ditch the whip for the day. Even with appropriate pacing, samples add up and you want to be sure to make the smart move.

Two pieces of advice that aren’t necessarily rules: attend the educational events, and get outside of your comfort zone. The educational sessions are a great opportunity to find out about your favorite styles and brewing techniques, and the amount of effort you put into learning about beer is proportionate to the degree of your enjoyment of beer. As for the comfort zone, get out there and try some beers you haven’t even heard of. Avoid stuff you’ve had by the six-pack.  You’ve paid for the variety, and you’ll be rewarded by expanding your horizons.

Meanwhile, at Champion Brewing Company, we are receiving our tanks from California this week! This means we’ll be brewing just across the tracks from the Pavilion in a matter of weeks. I can’t wait to get cracking, and I can’t wait to see everyone at the festival this Saturday. Cheers!

Mangia l’etoile
L’etoile might be Virginia cuisine with a French influence, but on Tuesday, September 25, gourmet fineries from Foods of All Nations and wine from The Country Vintner will help it go Italian at its 6pm Italian Wine Dinner. For $80 per person (plus tax and gratuity) expect six family-style courses and eight wines that span from the boot’s kneecap down to its toe. Need further enticement? In one course, broccolini, crispy Sharondale mushrooms, and housemade burrata join lemony Falanghina from Campania; in another, 120-day dry-aged ribeye, braised cannellini beans, Tuscan kale, and salsa verde join a 2005 Barolo. Now wipe your drool and call 979-7957 for your reservation.

40 days of Oktober
Horse & Hound knows that 31 days isn’t enough time to celebrate Oktoberfest, so it’s getting a head start. Beginning this Saturday, September 22, it’ll offer a special German menu (like a huge soft pretzel with grainy mustard and “choucroute garni”—sausages, thick cut bacon, potatoes, sauerkraut, and apples in a stew cooked with beer) and a wide range of Oktoberfest and other seasonal beers. Buy a beer stein early in the festivities and get discounted refills every time you use it through the end of October. Happy hour’s still every evening from 5-7pm. There’ll be live entertainment on the patio, and there are gifts and prizes to be won all month long. Check the restaurant’s Facebook page for daily updates and specials.

Drinks and a movie
Going to a movie’s a lot more fun after a little vino—especially when the film’s all about wine. The Paramount’s Food, Wine, & Film series kicks off for the year on Sunday, September 23 at 5pm with the film Sideways. First, you’ll prime your palate with savory and sweet treats from Fellini’s #9, Fleurie, Paradox Pastry, Petit Pois, and Tempo, and a wine tasting (do you like Pinot Noir or Merlot or both?). Then, take a seat in the theater to hear a panel discussion with Virginia wine experts and to watch Jack and Miles cruise the Santa Ynez Valley. Tickets cost $25 and can be purchased online (theparamount. net/2012/food-wine-film-sideways/) or at the door.

Afton Mountain
Afton Mountain After Hours
Saturday, September 22: Dallas Wesley and Band (6-9pm)
(540) 456-8667
www.aftonmountainvineyards.com

Barboursville Vineyard
Italian Harvest Feast
Saturday, September 22 at 1pm: Enjoy a traditional five course feast paired with Barboursville wines, prepared by Guest Chefs Cesare Lanfranconi, formerly of Washington’s Café Milano, Tosca, and Spezie, and Shannon Overmiller of The Majestic in Alexandria. $95 per person all-inclusive. Reservations required.
(540) 832-7848
www.barboursvillewine.com

Cardinal Point
November 10-11: Ninth annual Oyster Roast
Oysters will be served raw, steamed, fried, and stewed.
Live music and plenty of oysters from our friends at Rappahannock River Oyster Co.!
Saturday music: The Cashmere Jungle Lords (surfabilly rock at its best)
Sunday music: The Atkinsons (roots rock from Richmond). Cover Charge: $8 per person in advance, $10 per person at the door; $5 for Case Club members; kids under 18 admitted free.
(Cover charge includes a wine glass and free wine tasting; it does NOT include wine to fill your glass or oysters).
Advance Tickets on Sale starting October 1, noon-5pm each day.
(540) 456-8400
cardinalpointwinery.com

Delfosse Vineyards
French Crêpe Day: September 30, 2012
Come and celebrate another French crêpe Day on September 30, 2012 from 1 PM to 5 PM. Select from a menu of 5 different crepes: Savory (sauteed Shrimps and Broccoli in white wine reduction and Mediterranean herbs
Mushrooms shallots, garlic and egg with Mornay sauce); Sweet (strawberries, chocolate and mascarpone vanilla); Nutella and Bananas (French-style crepe, plain sugar and a sprinkling of Grand Marnier). $5 per crepe.
263-6100
www.delfossewine.com

Glass House Winery
All BELOW MUSIC EVENTS ARE 6:15-9pm
Friday, September 21: Beleza Brasil
Sunday, September 23: Stephanie Nakasian and Hod O’Brien (2-5pm)
Friday, September 28: Pat Craig
975-0094
glasshousewinery.com

Keswick Vineyards
Friday, September 21: Wine & Cigar Night, 5-8pm
Rob Barker, who is a member of The Virginia Wine & Cigar Trail, Cigar Volante and Panacea Pairings have all come together to bring you the perfect match of cigars and Keswick wine. Price is $25.00 for wine club members, $30 for non-wine club members. Event will be held poolside at Edgewood Estate. Reservations recommended.
244-3341
keswickvineyards.com

Mountfair Vineyard
September 22: ’10 Wooloomooloo Release Party! (5-8pm)
Join us in celebration of our 2010 Wooloomooloo’s release with an evening of food, wine, and music by Paulo Franco & Turtle Zwadlo!
Open for complimentary tastings March-November Fri.-Sun. Noon-5pm or by appointment.
4875 Fox Mountain Rd., Crozet
823-7605
mountfair.com

Stinson Vineyard
Tasting Room hours are Thursday through Sunday 11am-5pm, or by appointment.
823-7300
www.stinsonvineyards.com

Trump Vineyards
Third Thursdays: September 20
Enjoy FREE live music in the Tasting Room from 5:30-7pm on the third Thursday of every month.
Can’t make Third Thursday? Trump’s Tasting Room is open seven days a week! Come out and taste our award-winning wines at your liesure.
Tasting Room Hours: Sunday-Friday 11am-6pm, Saturday 11am-8pm
3550 Blenheim Rd.
984-4855
trumpwinery.com

White Hall Vineyards
October 13-14: 10th Annual Art in the Vineyard (11am-5pm)
Come see what local artisans have on display while tasting our award-winning wines and touring the winery. Be sure to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains! The $10 entry fee includes a tour, tasting and embossed wine glass to keep.

White Hall Vineyards is open for tours and tastings, Wednesdays through Sundays from 11am-5pm.
5282 Sugar Ridge Rd., Crozet
823-8615
whitehallvineyards.com