Refreshing resolutions

Ten years is a long time – long enough for this magazine to grow from a modest 24-page, black-and-white publication into Smith Mountain Lake’s top source for area entertainment and lifestyle features. While I’ve only been contributing to the Laker for a few of those years, I felt compelled to mark the occasion of its 10th anniversary. To do so, I developed a list of 10 things Lakers can resolve to try this year that will introduce them to new flavors and experiences. So get out there, attempt a few of these suggestions in 2011 and broaden your horizons.

1 - Visit a Local Winery
It’s surprising how much you can learn about wine by walking through a winemaking operation with the person who grows the grapes or fruit and makes the wine. SML residents are fortunate to be a short drive away from several wineries that produce a wide variety of wine (five in Bedford County and one in Franklin County). They range from delightful fruit wines at Peaks of Otter Winery to seriously concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon at Hickory Hill. Most wineries offer tasting and a place to relax while you enjoy the wine. Find more information online at smithmountainlake.com.

2 - Attend a Local Wine, Craft Brew or Spirits Dinner
Benjamin’s at the Pointe, The Landing Restaurant and Blackwater Café are among SML-area restaurants that regularly host informative dinners, where gourmet foods are paired with gourmet wines. The events usually include an importer or winemaker as a guest speaker, which gives patrons an opportunity to learn about the featured beverages. Sign up for e-mail newsletters from all three restaurants to receive advance notice. And make sure to call early for reservations as all three owners said the events usually sell out.

3 - Experience the Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival
The lake’s annual event is a great opportunity to learn more about Virginia wines and converse with winemakers and grape growers without having to leave the area. If you’re hesitant to invest in a bottle of wine before tasting it, the wine festival allows you to try before you buy. Festival-goers are issued a glass when they arrive and can sample small amounts of many different wines from the 27 wineries present. Tasting booth representatives can point you in the direction of your preferred style, such as sweet, dry, heavy red, crisp white or sparkling. The festival also includes food, craft vendors and live music.

4 - Plan a Lakeside Picnic
When the weather cooperates, there’s nothing more pleasant than enjoying a nice bottle of wine and some gourmet goodies by the lake. If the temperature is warm, consider pinot grigio from Villa Appalaccia paired with a creamy cheese such as Brie. During the fall, kick back with a richer, more robust wine such as Amrhein’s Petite Verdot  and roast beef sandwiches with horseradish mayonnaise. Don’t forget to pack glasses, a cheese board, knives, a tablecloth and napkins.

5 - Visit a Local Brewery
Take the opportunity to learn more about the process and ingredients used to create craft beer.  Unlike mass-produced commercial beers made with rice and corn, conscientious craft brewers use a more expensive all-malt recipe for richer flavors and a fuller-bodied product. Awful Arthur’s at Towers Mall in nearby Roanoke is brewing some delicious beers. They usually have five different styles available from a well-hopped, crisp Pale Ale to a darker and more robust Porter. You can order a sampler featuring a small glass of each riding on a board designed to hold them securely. The brewing equipment is on display and tours are available.  

6 - Start and Maintain a Tasting Notebook
A great way to determine and remember your preferences is to keep a record of the beer, wine and spirits you’ve tried. For example, if you are keeping a wine notebook, write down where you purchased bottles and the price, so if you want to buy more, you know where to look. Other useful information includes the date you tasted the wine and the foods you paired with it. Write down how the wine appeared, what aromas and flavors you detected as well as the palate feel or weight of the wine. As my friend Kevin Zraly, who operates the renowned Windows on the World Wine School in New York, likes to say, “You are the world’s leading expert on what you like.”

7 - Try Some Dam Lager
A relatively new beer that has become quite popular at watering holes around the lake, Dam Lager, the brainchild of SML resident Jerome Parnell, has been produced at Roanoke Railhouse Brewing Company. The beer is brewed in accordance with the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Beer Purity Law of 1516, which stipulates that only water, malted barley, hops and yeast can be used as ingredients. The all-malt recipe results in richer flavors, but the beer is still smooth and light-bodied without aggressive hop bitterness.

8 - Start a Wine Club
Smith Mountain Lake Wine Tasters is a popular group whose members meet monthly at the Blackwater Café to sample wines with a particular theme. Right now, the club is not accepting new members because meetings fill the restaurant to capacity. However, the club’s president, Ralph Brush, said he is happy to add people to the club’s waiting list (call him at 297.8390). Forming your own wine club is easy. Invite friends you know would enjoy learning more about wine, decide on a location and a theme (such as similar wines) and have everyone bring a bottle and some food to share. Cover the wines with paper bags and number them. Have members write down their tasting impressions for each numbered wine and then read the comments before the wine identities are revealed. A lively debate will likely unfold.

9 - Try a Virginia-Made Spirit  
Virginia is emerging as a producer of some fine whiskey as new distillers are opening up and producing a quality product. Consider a visit to the Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville. Rick Wasmund founded the company in 2000 after visiting Scotland and walking amidst the castles, sea spray and fog. Wasmund uses thoroughbred barley from a local producer smoked over fruitwood peat and distilled in a copper pot still to produce Wasmund’s Single Malt whiskey, which displays robust, complex, earthy and woody flavors. He also produces a smoky Copper Fox Rye Whiskey made from malt smoked with apple and cherry wood, double distilled and aged in used Bourbon barrels for a savory and complex flavor. Another tasty rye whiskey is made by Catoctin Creek Distillery in Purcellville. Organic, locally-grown rye is used to produce the clear Mosby’s Spirit named for the cunning Confederate Colonel John Singleton Mosby. The clear spirit is aged in oak barrels for a time to produce the amber-hued Roundstone Rye Whiskey, which displays notes of spice, light caramel and citrus.

10 - Plan a Wine-Inspired Vacation
If you’re ready to be adventurous in 2011, plan a trip to one of the major wine-producing areas of the world. Consider the Rhone Valley in France where you can walk around castle ruins in Avignon where the Pope lived for a time in the 14th century. Taste delicious local wines such as Chateausneuf du Pape, Gigondas and Cotes du Rhone. Another great place to visit is the Napa or Sonoma valleys of California.  Most wineries are friendly and welcome visitors. If you like sweeter, white wines consider visiting the Rhine or Mosel region of Germany, which are justifiably famous for their mineral-tinged and often semisweet Riesling. The vineyards are situated on steep slopes adjacent to the river and offer stunning views.


Gordon Kendall has more than 20 years of experience in the wine business and is currently the wine, beer and spirits columnist for The Roanoke Times. He teaches wine classes and enjoys educating people on all things related to the industry. If you have a question or an idea for a future Spirits column, please e-mail editor@smithmountainlaker.com.