Rant: More Local Wineries

Local wine continues to grow and grow, a positive sign that Americans are embracing more local wineries. Delicious wine is being produced all across the country, as well as in Canada and Mexico. I've long been advocating for local wine and I'm glad to see the latest statistics, showing significant growth. Let us hope that trend continues.

Wines & Vines recently posted an article citing the new statistics on winery growth across North America. In 2014, almost 600 new wineries opened in North America, with 525 in the U.S., a much higher growth rate than in 2013. The total number of wineries in North America is now 8,990, with 8,287 in the U.S. and the rest in Canada and Mexico. California remains the largest home for wineries, with 3,913 wineries, almost 50% of all wineries. There are now 15 U.S. states and Canadian provinces which have 100+ wineries, including states like Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina.

You should be exploring the wineries located in your own state, and I bet you'll be surprised by the quality your find. There are over 30 wineries in Massachusetts, from Travessia Urban Winery to Westport Rivers Winery, and you'll find even more wineries in the rest of New England. With the new Direct Wine Shipment law in Massachusetts, you will also be able to order wines from other states, to try more of the intriguing wines being made across our great country. Over at the Welllesley Wine Press, Robert Dwyer has provided an excellent list of the U.S. wineries which can currently ship to Massachusetts.

Though the list is dominated by California wineries, there is some interesting diversity as well. Some of the other wineries are from states including New York, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, Virginia, Oregon and Washington. Curiously, one of the license holders appears to be Nimrod Wines, which imports Hungarian wines, so I'm not sure how they qualified for a license. There are some excellent wineries on the list, and more wineries will be added in the future. I'm especially excited to see Abacela Veinyards on the list, an Oregon winery I've visited that uses numerous Spanish grapes, such as Tempranillo, I've already made my plea to MA wine lovers about what they can do to support the new shipment law. They need to contact their favorite wineries and ask them to get a license to ship to Massachusetts.

Wine lovers have much to be happy about, and let's hope it continues.

Rant: Local Wine Ignorance

Are you ignorant about the wines produced in your state? How much do you know about these local wineries? Have you tasted any of their wines? Or have you made an assumption that the wines aren't worthy of tasting?

The time is now to battle ignorance about local wines.

Today starts the 7th Annual Drink Local Wine Week, an event founded by Drink Local Wine (DLW), an organization whose goal is to bring greater attention to regional wines. I am on the Board of Directors for this organization.  Drink Local Wine Week is an annual event that encourages bloggers and wine columnists to write something about their local wines, to increase attention for local wines among both the wine trade and consumers. We want to combat local wine ignorance.

All fifty states now produce wine, so you can be assured that if you live in the U.S., you'll be able to find local wines which you can sample and taste. California, Oregon and Washington are not the only states producing worthy wines. The quality of wines in the other 47 states has been increasing over the years, and you can find some true gems all across the country. However, many wine lovers still don't know much about their local wines and that needs to change. Wines from the other 47 need to gain greater recognition, and that requires efforts on several fronts.

We can't forget that we are also close to both Canada and Mexico, and they produce some excellent, local wines too. If you live close to the borders, you should seek out their wines, and I'm sure you will be impressed with the quality of what you find. I've enjoyed wines from Mexico and various parts of Canada, so know the types of wines they are making, and they are worthy of your attention.

Local wines, first and foremost, need better local recognition, to become more well known in their own respective states. As I have traveled, I have found many residents who seem largely ignorant of the wineries in their own states. The biggest problem seems to be that many of those people make assumptions that the wines in their states are not that good, so they don't seek out the wines. That hurts local wineries as those residents are potential customers, ignorant of the worthy products in their region.

For example, in Massachusetts there are over 30 wineries, and many locals I have spoken to are unaware of  most of those wineries. I have even spoken to local wine store owners who didn't know about some of the best wineries in Massachusetts. Some of those same stores promote all the local foods they carry, yet generally fail to carry a decent selection of local wines. These are people who know about wine, and who should be cognizant of the wines being made in their own state yet they still are ignorant. That is a significant problem as those wine stores won't carry local wine if they know nothing about it.

Local wineries need greater local recognition. They need to spread the word about themselves to the people in their own state, those who will most likely become their customers. Gaining a high score in Wine Spectator won't help much if the people in your state don't know you exist. Such wineries are better off gaining recognition in more local press, educating local residents about the wonders in their own backyard. They can benefit from holding large wine tasting events, gathering together a number of local wineries to show consumers what they can find in their own state. Locals who know about good local wineries can mention them to wine stores and others.

We help to enlighten local consumers, to shatter their preconceptions about those wines. More effort is needed as well, by local wineries, local media, wine bloggers, and others, to help spread the word.

Let us work together to destroy local wine ignorance.

2014 Drink Local Wine Week: Starting October 12

Drink Local Wine (DLW), the organization whose goal is to bring greater attention to regional wines, announces that the seventh annual Drink Local Wine Week (formally Regional Wine Week) will take place the week of October 12, 2014. The members of DLW encourage all North American wine critics, bloggers, and broadcasters to participate in the virtual event by publishing an article, blog, or broadcast on wines from their local area.

“We’ve made great strides over the past several years with building recognition for lesser known areas,” said Michael Wangbickler, President of the Board of Directors for Drink Local Wine. “Regions in the states of Virginia, Michigan, Maryland, Texas, and Colorado have all been receiving more press and consumers are starting to realize that wine is made in other states besides California, Oregon, and Washington. I’d like to believe that DLW has played a part in that, but there is still more to do. Drink Local Wine Week gives us an opportunity to showcase wines that don’t get as much recognition in the press.”

Drink Local Wine Week is an annual event that recruits and encourages bloggers and wine columnists to write something about their local wines. It is the original activity on which Drink Local Wine was founded, and continues to this day to increase attention for local wines among both the wine trade and consumers.

“The exponential growth of the American wine industry over the last ten years has led to thriving industries all over the country,” said Michael Kaiser, DLW Board member and Director of Public Affairs for WineAmerica. “Drink Local Wine is working to put the focus on the lesser known regions not as a competition with the established regions, but as a complement to them. A growing industry benefits consumers as well as winemakers.”

“To me, a large part of the enjoyment of wine is exploration and discovery, the adventure of tasting the vast diversity of wine, from obscure grapes to lesser known wine regions,” said Richard Auffrey, DLW Board member and author of The Passionate Foodie. “Exploring wine from states all across the U.S.., from Massachusetts to Maryland, from Texas to Colorado, is exciting and I've found plenty of worthy wines. More people need to expand their palates and taste wines outside of California, Oregon and Washington.”

“The phrase ‘variety is the spice of life’ is particularly true when it comes to wine,” said Dezel Quillen, DLW Board member and author of My Vine Spot. “Adventurism, exploration, and discovery all things I embrace, are the key to stumbling upon hidden gems from lesser known US wine regions. Trying the wine is the hurdle – high quality, personality-driven wines can be grown in areas of the US that one wouldn’t imagine. Just have an open mind and keep tasting and trying new things!”

Those interested in participating in Drink Local Wine Week 2014 need only write an article or record a broadcast and send a link to drinklocalwine@gmail.com.

The kickoff of Drink Local Wine Week 2014 will be TasteCamp 2014, with which DLW has partnered this year. TasteCamp is an annual event that immerses writers and bloggers in a new-to-them wine region. TasteCamp 2014 will take place in the Hudson River Valley October 10-12, 2014. (And I will be there!)

“We all know that there are great wines being made in California, Oregon and Washington,” said Lenn Thompson, DLW Board member, founder of TasteCamp, and Executive Editor of the New York Cork Report. “Where's the fun in only drinking those wines? I'd rather scour the lesser-known corners of the American wine industry. That's where you'll find distinctive, delicious wines that taste different from wines made anywhere else in the world and wines that not everyone knows about -- yet, anyway. When you drink local wine ---- from wherever local might be for you -- you can get to know the people behind those wines, maybe even befriend them, and come to understand and appreciate their passion and their craftsmanship. That's when wine enjoyment peaks -- when it's about more than just fermented juice in a bottle.”

Please support Drink Local Wine Week, and write something about your local wines.

Rant: Local Wine Needs Local Recognition

How much do you know about the local wineries in your own state? Do you know how many wineries exist in your state? Have you tasted their wines? Or do you presume that the wines aren't worthy of tasting?

As every state now produces wine, you can be assured that wherever you live, there are local wines which you can taste and drink. The quality of such wines has been increasing over the years, and you can find some true gems all across the country. California, Oregon and Washington are not the only states producing worthy wines. Wines from the other 47 states often struggle to attain national recognition, to get mentioned in major wine periodicals. As many of those wines see little, if any distribution, outside of their immediate area, then national recognition may not be as helpful in certain regards.

What is likely more useful is for these wines to achieve better local recognition, to become more well known in their own respective states. In a number of states that I have traveled, I have found many residents who seem largely ignorant of the wineries in their own states. The biggest problem seems to be that many of those people make assumptions that the wines in their states are not that good, so they don't seek out the wines. That hurts local wineries as those residents are potential customers, ignorant of the worthy products in their region.

For example, in Massachusetts there are over 30 wineries, and many locals I have spoken to are unaware of  most of those wineries. And they also didn't know which were some of the best wineries in the state. I have even spoken to local wine store owners who didn't know about some of the best wineries in Massachusetts. Some of those same stores promote all the local foods they carry, yet generally fail to carry a decent selection of local wines. These are people who know about wine, and who should be cognizant of the wines being made in their own state yet they still are ignorant. That is a significant problem as those wine stores won't carry local wine if they know nothing about it.

Local wineries need greater local recognition. They need to spread the word about themselves to the people in their own state, those who will most likely become their customers. Gaining a high score in Wine Spectator won't help much if the people in your state don't know you exist. Such wineries are better off gaining recognition in more local press, educating local residents about the wonders in their own backyard. They can benefit from holding large wine tasting events, gathering together a number of local wineries to show consumers what they can find in their own state. Locals who know about good local wineries can mention them to wine stores and others.

I'm on the Board of Directors of Drink Local Wine, and we try to spread the word about these lesser known wineries, to broaden consumer education about what they can find in their own states. Each year we hold an annual conference in a different state, which includes a large, public wine tasting of their local wines. We help to enlighten local consumers, to shatter their preconceptions about those wines. More effort is needed as well, by local wineries, local media, wine bloggers, and others, to help spread the word.

Local wine needs to start with local recognition.

Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.
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1) Restaurateurs in Portsmouth and the New Hampshire Seacoast are preparing for their next Restaurant Week. Sponsored by the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, this fall’s celebration will take place Thursday, November 7 – Saturday, November 16 and will feature close to 50 restaurants located in Portsmouth and the Seacoast.

Settled in the 1600s, Portsmouth and surrounding towns make up a vibrant, New England coastal destination with unique locally owned shops and restaurants, and world-class arts and culture. The restaurant scene provides every kind of cuisine imaginable – much locally sourced - at establishments ranging from chef-owned restaurants to local breweries.

“Whether you’re a local resident or a traveler, you can find what you are looking for in Portsmouth and the Seacoast, said Valerie Rochon, Tourism Manager for the Chamber. “Want to shop our independent stores or rich gallery scene before dinner? Take in dinner and a show? Stay the night in one of our charming hotels? Portsmouth and the Seacoast have it all. And, if you are new, Restaurant Week is a great way to introduce yourself to this charming, culinary destination.”

Participating restaurants offer special three course prix fixe menus at $16.95 for lunch or $29.95 for dinner. Based on prior years, some restaurants also offer additional specials, including wine/cocktails, to accompany the prix fixe menu. I really like the Portsmouth area, and its culinary scene is definitely up and coming. And one of my favorite spots is Moxy, for tapas.

2) The Local Craft Brewfest, Sustainable Business Network’s major fundraising event for the Boston Local Food Festival, is now scheduled for Friday, November 22, from 6-9:30pm at the John J. Moakley Courthouse in Fort Point. The SBN Local Craft Brewfest is a celebration of local craft brews and is a major fundraiser for the free Annual Boston Local Food Festival. Hundreds of supporters and dozens ofvendors, including brewers, cideries, meaderies, distilled spirits and local food producers are involved in this event.

“This is a critical fundraiser supporting our local food program,” said Laury Hammel, SBN’s Executive Director. “Many of our vendors have already committed to joining us for the new date—they support our mission and want us to have a successful fundraiser. We are a small non-profit trying to build a sustainable economy and we are hopeful that the food community will continue to support us by attending the event.”

The theme for this year’s Brewfest is Eat Local. Drink Local. Be Local. SBN’s Local Craft Brewfest features 50+ craft beer tastings plus 20+ tastings from local distilleries, including Battle Road Brewing, Watch City Brewing, Peak Organic, Moonlight Meadery, Bully Boy Distilleries, Turkey Shore Distilleries, Bantam Cider as well as local bites from the coolest local food producers in town such as Q’s Nuts, Taza Chocolate, 7Ate9, Vermont Smoke and Cure and much more.

Tickets for the Local Craft Brewfest can be purchased at LocalCraftBrew.eventbrite.com.

3) On Tuesday, November 12, at 6:30pm, Legal Harborside will host a wine dinner with Stemmler Wines. In the heart of California’s Sonoma wine country, Stemmler’s vineyards are critically acclaimed for their wines, natural winegrowing techniques and distinctive appeal. Legal Harborside will team up with Wine Grower, Anne Moller-Racke, to host a four-plus course dinner featuring signature cuisine paired with Stemmler’s selections from their vine.

The menu will be presented as follows on Legal Harborside’s scenic second level overlooking the Boston Harbor:

HORS D’OEUVRES
Bay Scallop Skewer, Pancetta, Fuji Apple, Smoked Maple Syrup
Oyster Stew, Vermouth, Fennel
Lobster en Croûte Feuille de Brick, Thai Basil, Curry Essence
Stemmler “Estate” Chardonnay, Carneros, 2009
FIRST COURSE
Aponata Stuffed Squid (Smoked Tomato, Bottarga, Moroccan Dried Olives)
Stemmler “Estate” Pinot Noir, Carneros, 2011
SECOND COURSE
Lightly Smoked Pork Belly (Moxie Luxardo Cherry Gastrique, Braised Tuscan Kale)
Stemmler “Nugent Vineyard” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 2009
THIRD COURSE
Duo of Veal (Slow-roasted Veal Loin, Porcini Dusted Sweet Breads, Turnip, Fig)
Donum “Estate Grown” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 2010
CHEESE COURSE
Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery Bonne Bouche (5-spice Pumpkin Bread, Pecan Brittle, Pomegranate Molasses)
Donum “Estate Grown” Pinot Noir, Russian River Valley, 2007

Cost: $135 per person (excludes tax & gratuity)
Reservation required by calling 617-530-9470

4) Taberna de Haro, an excellent Spanish restaurant in Brookline with the largest & best Spanish wine list in the area, is hosting several upcoming wine seminars. Each themed seminar presents an assortment of wines, paired with tasty tapas. The wine seminars cost $55 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Reservations and prepayment required.

October 30: Expressions of Tempranillo
Collaborating with the Wine Press, this seminar will answer the question: "What is tempranillo really all about?" Five different Tempranillo wines will be presented, including the LZ 2012 Rioja; Gazur 2011 Ribera del Duero; Dehesa Gago 2011 Toro; Terruños de Castilla 2012 Vino de la Tierra de Castilla Leon; and the Vilosell 2011 Costers del Segre.

November 6: Quintessential Examples of Sherry
Five perfect sherries to show the incredible range that the genre has. You'll start with bone-dry mananilla and end with perfectly sweet oloroso, visiting fino, amontillado, and dry oloroso along the way.

November 13: Focus on Finos & Manzanillas - en rama and pasada 
Rare, dry sherries brand new to our shores. En rama refers to sherries barely filtered so they are as pure as possible; and pasada refers to sherries, in this case manzanilla, whose flor has been allowed to die gradually over several years, so the wine is exposed to ever-increasing amounts of oxygen, which lend it the depth and complexity of evolution.

You can reserve a spot for these classes online.

The Locapour Militia Rides: Will They Raid Your Restaurant?

Farm to table. Farm to fork. Seed to table. Ocean to table. Locavores. 

These terms are all the rage and restaurants across the country are touting how they rely on local ingredients. These restaurants support local farms, grow their own herbs, fruits, and vegetables, make their own salt, and more. Seasonality is also important to them. I am supportive of these restaurants, and the chefs and owners deserve kudos for their passion and dedication to the locavore cause. Unfortunately, there is a disconnect at many of these restaurants which disturbs me and others.

Where is the passion for vineyard to table? Where is the support for locapours?

At the recent Drink Local Wine conference in Maryland, while riding on a bus to visit a few wineries, several of us discussed the issue of how many restaurants embrace the locavore cause yet fail to address the locapour cause. Though these restaurants will showcase locally sourced ingredients for their food, they rarely, if ever, showcase local wines. Frankly, this seems like a form of hypocrisy, advocating for the benefits of local sourcing yet failing to follow through with that advocacy for local wines. I mentioned that we needed a Locapour Milita, a passionate group of local wine lovers to confront restaurants about such hypocrisy.

It seems so simple. Vineyards are farms and wine is an agricultural product. In regard to local sourcing, there is no reason it should be treated differently than any other agricultural product. If you are passionate about local sourcing, then you should also be passionate about local wines. Then why does it happen so rarely?

Our bus discussion was continued to a degree during one of the panel discussions at the conference. The panel, entitled Drinking Local, was described as: Does locavore mean locapour? Do Marylanders appreciate their home-grown wine, and if not, how to get the message out. The panelists included Chef Jerry Pellegrino of the Waterfront Kitchen, Jade Ostner, the Director of Events of the Maryland Wineries Association and Al Spoler, co-host of Cellar Notes/Radio Kitchen on WYPR Radio. Unfortunately, the discussion ran only 45 minutes, barely scratching the surface of this topic.

Spoler's comments were directed primarily at the situation within Maryland, though similar concerns exist in many other places around the country. Sopler stated that a wine culture does not currently exist in Maryland. There is an entire generation of people who have a negative image of Maryland wines and he believes that it will take generations to improve that perception. Though many people have met farmers, have patronized local farms and understand the traditions of farming, far fewer people have visited vineyards or wineries. Most people have very limited knowledge of the Maryland wine industry. Misperception and ignorance have hurt Maryland wineries.

This is a similar situation in many other states, where the wine industries are relatively new. Though wine might have a lengthy history in such states, the modern wine industry in such regions is often much newer and still in its relative infancy. As such, many local citizens are ignorant about the status of the wineries in their home state, and their opinions are often negative, based on very limited information and experience. Before people will embrace local wine, they need to understand that locally produced wine can be quality wine, that it can be delicious and worthy of their attention.

Maryland wineries should receive a positive boost from the passing of a new law. As of June 1, wineries will be permitted to sell their products at farmers' markets. This should elevate the visibility of Maryland wines, and give more people the opportunity to taste the wines and learn of their quality. In 2010, Massachusetts passed a similar law and a report was issued in 2012 concerning the effect of this law on local wineries in 2011. Eighteen wineries participated in this program and they saw, in total, a 66% increase in overall sales. In addition, 82% of the wineries reported increased visitors at their winery and 94% reported increased recognition for their wine. More states should consider passing such a law.

Ostner mentioned how the Maryland Wineries Association has supported numerous local wines events, including the annual Maryland Wine Week in June. However, it was interesting that she indicated most people seem to attend these events more for the event itself rather than the local wine. This supports Spoler's comments, indicating that many people still do not have a positive perception of local wines. Hopefully, in time, people will learn more and start attending these events more for the wine.

Some of us were especially interested to hear Chef Pellegrino's comments on this issue. The evening before, we dined at Chef Pellegrino's Waterfront Kitchen, enjoying a four course dinner paired with Maryland wines. At the bottom of our menu was a section mentioning the sources of many of the ingredients used in our dinner. The restaurant is a "seed-to-plate" place, meaning they "purchase ingredients as locally and seasonally as possible."

However, when reviewing the restaurant's website, you will find a two page wine list and none of those wines are from Maryland. You will find wines from all over the world, and many excellent choices, but where is the love for local wines? If the restaurant is so passionate about sourcing local ingredients, then why isn't there a similar passion for showcasing local wines? We looked forward to hearing Chef Pellegrino's thoughts on this issue during the panel discussion.

During the panel, Chef Pellegrino indicated that their small wine program is essentially arranged by producer, about 28 in all, and that they carry approximately 200 wines on their list. Though they are not mentioned on the website, he indicated they carry about 10 Maryland wines. It seems that he too suffers from misconceptions about the Maryland wine industry. He admitted that he hadn't been able to keep up with the Maryland wine industry and that he was lagging behind in knowledge. It was obvious he didn't understand all of the quality wines that were being produced in his own state.

I have encountered such ignorance before in other restaurants and wine shops. The owners often do not study and research their local wines, to discover which wines were worthy of inclusion in their establishments. Far too often they assume the wines are not good enough, but that perception is based on extremely limited knowledge. Yet these same individuals will invest great time and effort in researching local foods and ingredients. Why don't they invest that same passion in researching local wines too? If they are so committed to sourcing as local as possible, then there is absolutely no excuse why they shouldn't extend their efforts to local wine too.

Chef Pellegrino also noted that he generally purchases wines from local wineries at a higher price than the wholesale prices he pays for most other wines. Thus, the local wines are placed on his list at a higher price than other comparable wines. Is that really necessary? High wine mark-ups at restaurants are a pet peeve of mine, and I have said before that restaurants should have low mark-ups on more unique wines in an effort to persuade consumers to take a chance on them. To get more consumers to purchase Maryland wines, a restaurant should not significantly mark up those wines but rather should make them appear to be more of a bargain. With only ten Maryland wines on his list, Chef Pellegrino wouldn't have a significant hit to his bottom line if he lowered the mark up on those wines. In fact, he might make more money through more purchases of those wines.

I was more dismayed when Chef Pellegrino mentioned that he thought you should keep the Maryland name off wines on the list, placing them by the type of the grape instead. He asserted that "ignorance is bliss," that customers would be more likely to order Maryland wines if they did not know their actual origin. That seems contrary to the philosophy of his restaurant, a celebration of local sourcing, where he seems otherwise proud to mention the farms he patronizes. He wouldn't hide the name of a local farm which was the source of his meat or produce, so he shouldn't hide the fact that a wine is locally procured. If the wines are good enough to be on your list, then be honest about their source.

I don't expect a locavore restaurant to only carry local wines but I feel they should carry a representative selection of the quality local wines that are available. Their locavore philosophy should extend to being locapour as well. Adding local wines to their restaurant list would show a true passion for being local in all regards. The local wine industry could use the support as well, creating more advocates who can educate consumers about the advantages of local wine.

Join the Locapour Militia, and encourage your local restaurants to carry local wines.

Rant: Local Sports, Local Wine

Sport fans tend to support their home teams, to have a sense of pride in these local sport teams. In Boston, most local residents support the Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots. Even if you are not a big sports fan, you still tend to have a sense of pride in your local teams. One's pride in your local teams often does not depend upon the greater success of those teams. These sports teams don't even have to win championships to have local fans with great pride in their teams. For example, Red Sox fans fervently supported their team despite the fact it took them 86 years to win another World Series.

Local teams, local pride.

This is a great concept and I wish people would have that same pride in their local wine industries. Every state in the country now makes their own wine, and those wineries need the support of their local residents. They need to be embraced like they were a local sports team.

Over the weekend, I attended the fifth annual Drink Local Wine conference in Maryland. This was a fantastic opportunity to learn about and taste a diverse variety of Maryland wines. Prior to the conference, I had never tasted a Maryland wine and at the conference, I probably got to taste easily over 100 Maryland wines. In addition, I attended several panels where a number of people involved in the Maryland wine industry discussed the past, present and future of their wine scene. The issue of local pride arose during these panels.

Like many states, Maryland wines have an image problem, including among many of its citizens. Though I saw much pride for their wine at the conference, the grand tasting also showed how numerous people still did not fully understand the type of wines that Maryland produces. Some previously believed that Maryland made only sweet wine so the grand tasting was an eye opener for them, giving them additional reasons to have greater pride in their state. Far more residents of Maryland need to have pride in their wine industry, to embrace it as they do their local sport teams.

I think it was especially fitting that the Grand Tasting was held at the Warehouse at Camden Yards, the park where the Baltimore Orioles play baseball. Maryland residents have great pride in the Orioles and they should have a similar pride in their local wine industry. That requires a greater comprehension of the local wine industry, a willingness to explore and taste local wines to learn what they have to offer.

I heard a local chef, whose restaurant emphasizes local ingredients, explain that he was still ignorant of many Maryland wineries, which was part of the reason why his restaurant's wine list had only a tiny amount of local wines. As he has pride in local food ingredients, he should learn more about Maryland wine and obtain a similar pride in those wines. Locally, I have heard from a number of restaurants and wine stores who possessed much ignorance of the Massachusetts wine industry, failing to realize the quality that exists there.

I am using Maryland as an example and my point extends to citizens in every state. You need to have pride in your local wine industry, no matter where it fits on the spectrum of quality. Maybe your state doesn't make "championship" wine yet, but that still does not mean you shouldn't support it. Your support and pride in your local wine industry will give it an added incentive to improve, to raise its quality. Take some time to learn about your local wine industry and you might be surprised at the quality you discover.

Let your pride for your local sport teams extend to your local wineries!