Wine Festival 101

Fall has arrived at Smith Mountain Lake and with it the annual SML Wine Festival, one of the lake’s most popular and well-attended events.

            Wineries from around the state eagerly offer samples of their workmanship for thirsty patrons to enjoy alongside scrumptious foods. Bands play live music for the pleasure of dancing festival-goers. Vendors offering crafts, gifts and souvenirs complete the picture.

            Of course, when it comes down to it, the wine festival is about wine. So, what is the best way to learn which offerings correspond to your taste and are worth buying?

            You could visit every booth and sample everything available – a strategy that virtually guarantees you’ll be tossing your cookies at some point during the day. In addition to shear quantity, the hot weather that often accompanies the wine festival can exacerbate the effects of alcohol.

            Consider a smarter approach. First, if you intend to drink more than a couple of samples, make sure you’ve lined up a designated driver.

            Second, spit the wine out after you taste it so as to not ingest much alcohol. Professional wine-shop buyers and restaurant owners always spit when sampling copious wines at trade tastings, thereby avoiding bad wine purchasing decisions made with impaired judgment.

            While spitting sounds like a disgusting breach of etiquette, it can be done discretely. Carry a plastic cup with you and hold it close to your mouth when expectorating. When the cup gets full, slip to an area bereft of people and pitch the wine into the grass. When you get into your car to leave, you will be glad you don’t have a stomach full of wine. Law enforcement officials at the wine festival will detain anyone who is visibly intoxicated until he or she has a designated driver.   

            You may find that jotting down notes about wines is also useful. I use a clipboard with a wine-glass holder clamped to it. Some events have seminars conducted by wine professionals that can be quite educational and you may want to take notes there, too. The SML festival’s seminars are open to sponsors only.

            Be aware that many varied and vastly different philosophies of winemaking will be represented at the festival. Concoctions can run the gamut from wines fermented from apples and seasoned with exotic flavorings such as cinnamon and habanero peppers to wine made from classic grape varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and mellowed in French oak barrels. All styles from unctuous, syrupy dessert wines to crisp, bone-dry white wines and robust, tannic reds will be represented. Since wine taste is subjective, people’s individual preferences vary as widely as the spectrum of styles that are produced. 

            It’s a good idea to determine your personal taste and conduct some research in advance. Log on to visitsmithmountainlake.com to find out which wineries are participating in this year’s festival. Visit the wineries’ Web sites and learn their specialties. If you like classically made wines like Bordeaux or New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, avoid the wineries that focus on sweet or fruit-flavored wines. If a winery extols the virtues of its Petite Verdot or its Viognier and you enjoy those grapes, then you know that booth would be worth a visit.

            Conversely, if you do like sweet wines, seek them out, as there are usually plenty available. Many wineries are now using creative varieties of fruit and innovative flavors. Just ask the folks manning the booths. But if you ask about Viognier and they offer sweet blackberry nectar, just move on.

            If you find some wines that you like, consider buying a few bottles or even a case to take home and enjoy. Most wineries offer graduated discounts on multiple bottles, so the more you buy, the more you save. The SML Wine Festival also provides a wine pickup service where purchased bottles are transported by a volunteer in a cart to a pickup point near the exit gate. So you can grab your purchased wine when you leave and avoid lugging it around all day.

            If you happen upon a wine that you particularly like, talk to the winemaker about how the wine is made. Discovering what techniques are used will help you find wine made in your favored style in the future.

            Lastly, be selective. Just as you would not want to taste every item sold in a supermarket, you don’t have to taste every wine available at a wine festival.

            Enjoy!

The Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival will take place Sept. 26-27 at LakeWatch Plantation. For more information or to purchase tickets, log on to visitsmithmountainlake.com. For more advanced coverage of the event, pick up a copy of the Sept. 25 issue of Laker Weekly.

Gordon Kendall has more than 20 years of experience in the wine business and is currently the wine, beer and sprits columnist for The Roanoke Times. He teaches wine classes and enjoys educating people on all things related to the industry. Kendall lives in Roanoke with his wife and assorted cats. If you have an idea for a future Spirits column, please email gmoney007@cox.net.