It did if you believe this article from last week in the RTD — or more precisely, if you interpret the article the same way I did when I first saw it.
The way it reads:
Virginia is one of the top-five new wine travel destinations in the
world, according to the July issue of Travel + Leisure magazine.The other destinations are Italy, Spain, Chile and New Zealand.
When I first read it, I glossed over the word "new" in the first line. As a fellow poster on UrbanPlanet.org pointed out (thanks, maclawsdrive!), the article was focusing on up-and-coming areas (and apparently was specifying particular areas of the above-mentioned countries).
Way to go VA! From what I understand, Napa Valley was small-time until one of the wineries received an international award. After that, it went nuts and developed into what you can see today.
I wonder if this will be the break-through that VA wants, and whether or not VA wants it? I like the smaller vineyards and quaintness that comes along with it, but then again being internationally recognized as a wine region certainly wouldn’t be bad either.
Any thoughts?
Not surprising at all, and the “next big thing” attention is well deserved…mostly. We still have plenty of gag (in both senses of the word) wineries, but with Rockbridge, Horton, Barboursville, and Chateau Morrisette within our state borders it was inevitable that Virginia would become a wine “destination”.
Besides, there’s all that land that ain’t growin’ leaf anymore…what better use can you think of??
Very good point about how the tobacco farms can be used with the inevitable decline of the tobacco industry.