July 7th, 2005 issue #0427

July 7th, 2005

  • COVER SIDEBAR - Wineries list

    To get a true taste of Virginia wine country, save the weekend of October 1 and 2 for the Monticello Wine Trail Festival at the Boar's Head Inn. Sponsored by the Jeffersonian Grape Growers Society, the annual event features the best offerings from 20 of the wineries listed below from the Monticello Viticultural Area. For more information, call Oakencroft Vineyard and Winery at 296-4188.   Vineyards and Wineries

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  • Pick of the liter: Experts name favorites

    So many wines, so little time. With wines from 20 local wineries filling local shelves and menus, choosing just the right one can be a daunting task. To make the chore (!) easier, we asked local experts to name three of their favorites.   Richard Leahy East Coast editor of Vineyard and Winery, a wine industry services company that does trade shows, publications, and seminars.

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  • POP vitiCulture: Albemarle is wine country

    Didja hear? Napa's passé. Bordeaux? Fuhgeddabout it. But Albemarle County? Now you're talking! With 21 vineyards on the Monticello trail, a new wine-tasting bar gearing up to offer hundreds of Virginia wines Downtown, and amateur sommeliers lurking on nearly every street corner, it's clear: Albemarle is wine country. Don't believe it? Pick up the latest issue of Life Magazine, which recently named Charlottesville the "Best New Place to Drink Wine" thanks to our city's "lack of snooty angst."

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  • Shipping news: Supremes weigh in on wine

    To ship or not to ship? That was the question the U.S. Supreme Court considered before ruling 5-4 on May 16 that states must allow wineries to ship wine out of state as well as in-state or allow no direct shipping at all. The ruling is good news, says Dan Ortiz, a UVA law professor who filed suit against the Commonwealth in 1999 claiming that its ban on direct shipping from out-of-state wineries to Virginia retailers was discriminatory.

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  • Sour grapes: Jefferson's vines withered

    As wine connoisseurs know, the American wine industry began in the '70s when a wealthy gentleman with an interest in agriculture decided to turn pasture on his expansive country estate into vineyards. After consulting with European experts, he planted grapes, firm in his belief that America could produce wine as good as any from France or Italy– a dream that still flourishes. The gentleman wasn't Robert Mondavi. We're talking about the 1770s, not the 1970s, and the estate was in Virginia, not California. Thomas Jefferson had the idea first.

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  • VAVino: New Mall mantra: Go wine!

    To anyone who understands Italian, the name of the new Virginia wine bar set to open on the Downtown Mall in July– VAVino– has a secondary meaning. Not only is it a clever way to combine our state's two-letter abbreviation with the no-translation-needed "vino," but it also suggests the confidence this new venture expresses in the Virginia wine industry: "Go wine!" The first-ever wine bar (on this scale, at least) devoted exclusively to Virginia wines, VAvino is the brainchild of winemaker Michael Shaps [See Hot Seat, page XX].

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  • Vini, vidi, vino: Faber vintner makes wine

    In the era of "Freedom fries" it's hard to imagine a politician who would openly admit to an infatuation with France and its culture. But in his day, Thomas Jefferson was an ardent and unabashed francophile who especially enjoyed case after case of fine French wine. Now, in a twist that would make Voltaire proud, some descendants of les français Jefferson so much admired are growing their grapes in his backyard.

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4Better Or Worse

  • The week in review

    Latest UVA cheating scandal: Most of the 35 first-year grad students in economics are under investigation for sharing a homework answer key that was available online. Most ...

Editor's Note

  • Parting 'Words'

    This week the Hook bids adieu to Words editor Susan Tyler Hitchcock as we unveil a new calendar format and she takes time to concentrate on an upcoming year-long sailing ad...

The Dish

Essays

  • Bright idea: A brain spa near you

    At a recent Dana Foundation conference on neuroethics at the Library of Congress, University of Pennsylvania neurologist Anjan Chatterjee declared that we are already well ...

Question of the Week

  • What's your favorite Virginia wine?

    Andrew Scarlatelli: "Barboursville Chardonnay Reserve." Laurel Doss: "I had a Merlot from Jefferson Vineyards. It was really good. But I'm from California, so I'm biased....

Real Estate - $old

  • $old

    ALBEMARLE 4/28  Grayrock LLC to Church Hill Development Co., four lots in Grayrock Orchard, $360,253. Bradley E. Crawford to Autumn Ford Burnette, 0.191 acres at 116...

Real Estate - On the Block

  • Wee-ville: Tiny cottage just right for one

    ADDRESS: 1331 Oxford Place NEIGHBORHOOD: Oxford/ Rugby Road ASKING: $259,000 YEAR BUILT: 1948 SIZE: 819 fin. sq. ft., 484 unfin. (basement) (City estimate is somewhat smal...

Real Estate - Update

  • SOLD!

    What happened to On The Blocks of the Past? Published July 7, 2005 in issue 0427 of the Hook APPEARED IN THE HOOK: April 21, 2005 in issue 0416 ADDRESS: 2515 Plank Road, No...

Real Estate Property auctions

  • Property auctions

    July 8 at 10:30am at the Albemarle County Courthouse Property: 0.188 acres at 1670 Royal Oak Court, Mill Creek Debtor: Patricia Perkins Franklin Amount owing: $133,000 Bid...

DR. HooK

  • Too darn hot: Heed heatstroke's warnings

    When I was a child in New York City, my parents actually belonged to a country club. I remember these ladies with B-52 beehive hairdos in their swimsuits lying on the pool ...

News

  • $24 million: Castle Hill bursts 'bubble' theory

    Mark Swartz has had a bad run of luck lately. Not only does he face up to 30 years in the pokey after being convicted June 16 of swindling millions of dollars from his form...

  • Dump dust-up: Citizens gather; Lynch denies role

    It was a night many Keswick residents had been waiting for. County officials touted the June 29 meeting at Stone Robinson Elementary as a way to clear the air over a long-s...

  • Looking Demward: Gay group risks optimism

    Virginia Democrats are running from the gay civil-rights issue like the radioactive political time bomb that it is in the Red Old Dominion. That's not to say that gays and ...

  • Loop whole: No escape try in this sale

    Stories about Mark Swartz's record-setting purchase of Enniscorthy in 2001 always refer to the "reported $17 million sales price." That's because back then buyers could eng...

  • Reprieve: Appeals court to hear Robinsons

    George and Elisa Robinson got a break in their fight to escape 27-month jail sentences for serving booze to minors. The full Virginia Court of Appeals agreed to hear their ...

  • Utilitarian: City launches CityLink

    Close to 50 people– many of them city employees– spent their Fourth of July weekend making sure Charlottesville's oft-controversial new computer system would be...

On Architecture

Sports Doctor

  • SPORTS WRAP

    Fastest college decision-makers: While many of their classmates are just beginning to think about college, rising seniors Corey Hunt of Monticello High School and Nelson Co...

Strange But True

  • Itchy kissy: Bad breath worse than smelly

    DRAWING BY DEBORAH DERR McCLINTOCK Q. Of all the many things you might be allergic to, what just could be the nuttiest of them all? –Amedo Obici  A. Your lover...

Hotseat

Letters

  • Apply waste carefully

    Corbin Snow has got a decent handle on lawn maintenance. All in all his recommendations are sound. [Gimme Shelter June 21: "Human waste: How the grass gets greener"] Howeve...

Cultural preview

Full Stories List for July 7th, 2005 issue #0427

4Better Or Worse

Cartoons

Cover Stories

Cultural preview

DR. HooK

Editor's Note

Essays

Fearless Consumer

Gimme Shelter

Hotseat

Letters

News

On Architecture

Photophile

Question of the Week

Real Estate - $old

Real Estate - On the Block

Real Estate - Update

Real Estate Property auctions

Sports Doctor

Strange But True

The Dish