27 Feb Virginia is for Wine Lovers

They say you can tell it’s a party when one of two things happen: the smoke/fire alarm goes off or something gets broken. Well, if this is true then the Virginia Wine Expo was DEFINITELY a party!

Day one of the expo, we set up the Popcorn Queens booth not knowing what to expect.  Sales were slow at first but at about 2pm, popcorn began to fly off the table. Right in the midst of this busy time, the fire alarm went off not once but twice. It was a false alarm (thank goodness) but many of the attendees were not affected and we wondered if a little fire would have even stopped this party.

In addition to alarms, we’d hear loud cheers about every 20-30 minutes. We finally asked why people were cheering and someone told us it’s what happens when someone breaks their wine glass. Well, as we inched toward the end of the day, we heard a lot more glasses breaking and ALOT more cheering.

By the end of day one, we were pretty beat and even though we’d sold a lot of popcorn, we were a little sad that we didn’t get to wine taste or shop as much. So that was the plan for day two. Here are some highlights from some of our favorite vendors:

Peaks of Otter Winery table was by far the most fun.  Their tasting involved two young guys pouring unique, fruity wines. This was followed by their spicy wines like the Chili Dawg that involved cheese wiz and then the “Kiss the Devil” Chili Pepper Wine that was so hot that you received a chaser and a sticker if you survived. We took home the Light Pear White Wine and the “Salty Frog” Margarita Cocktail.

Potomac Point Winery was our next door neighbor. Whenever we both had a moment, they shared their goods. In fact, at the end of the day they gave us a beautiful bottle of red for a couple bags of popcorn. Lucky us!

The other bottles that I brought home were from Davis Valley Winery and Vineyard. I got a nice white for Mama Popcorn Queen and their Chambourcin for myself. It has a dark cherry finish which is divine!

Lastly, I knew I couldn’t come home without at least one wine accessory and when I stumbled upon Posh Paint, I knew I’d found the right place. I ended up purchasing beautiful tumblers and wine glasses with a hand painted blue crabs for my house by the Chesapeake Bay. Edie Oswald really does do fantastic work and I know this won’t be the last that I buy from her. She expressed interest in painting the Popcorn Queens’ logo on a glass and I plan to hold her to it!

So that’s all folks! I hope you enjoyed reading about our wine expo experience. It really is true that Virginia is for Wine Lovers (And Popcorn Lovers).  Needless to say, we’ll be back next year!