William Pollard Jr | aka: Wild 4 Washington Wine

Christophe Hedges. Part of a series on the Context of Wine,  Inspired by an afternoon conversation with Christophe Hedges. Last Friday I enjoyed lunch with Christophe Hedges and his lovely wife Maggie at their Red Mountain home. Christophe cooked while we talked about our favorite topic, wine. Christophe is responsible for Sales and Marketing for his family owned winery, Hedges Family Estate . A tall man, lean, with an introspective look, he struck me as friendly, focused, intelligent and a fervent individual, proud of his family heritage and his family winery.

It's time to share my impressions of Virginia Wine with you. Plaque of Thomas Jefferson at Barboursville Vineyard. Last night I dreamed about Virginia winemaker Kirsty Harmon. Before bed, I was editing a short video of Kirsty I recorded last month at Monticello; her words and others were tumbling in my mind. When I start dreaming about a subject, I know it's time to start writing about that subject. Kirsty is the winemaker at Blenheim Vineyards; she was among 30+ Virginia wineries sharing their wines last month in Virginia at the fourth annual Wine Bloggers Conference . I had a magnificent time in Virginia, very little sleep, but many captivating conversations.  My palate has been expanded. I've finally experienced Virginia wines. I’m excited about and for Virginia wineries and I discovered that there are some real gems, wines easily recognizable as world class.

Charmed by Les Charmes. It’s another hot day in the desert, which explains why I’m raiding my supply of white wines. Today I opened a bottle of 2009 Les Charmes single vineyard Chardonnay from Macon-Lugny, Lugny, France (Vine de Bourgogne) Estate grown and bottled.