A Look At Virginia Wines

Thoughts of viogniers and sauvignon blancs typically don't conjure up images of Virginia. But Virginia wines are growing in popularity, especially for those who want to pair wine with Southern food and ascribe to the old adage "what grows together goes together."

In the video above we spoke with Annette Boyd from the Virginia Wine Board and Matt Tunstall, the sommelier from Charleston's acclaimed Husk restaurant. They explained what drinkers should expect from Virginia wines. Boyd notes, "I think the biggest thing that differentiates us from other wine regions in the U.S. is our climate and soil... We make a more Old World style of wine, the Old World being places like France and Italy and Spain and I think you find folks that love those wines can find something that they appreciate from Virginia."

Tunstall has become a believer after trying the wines with Husk's food. "It makes a lot of sense for us here at Husk because there's not a lot of traditions with wine pairings and Southern food and the kind of foods that we're known for, so it's a clean slate," he says. "I use Virginia viognier for pimento cheese. Fried green tomatoes, country ham... Even as far as like really smoky ribs... That kind of viscocity and little bit of sugar in viognier does really well with those."

For more watch the video above, and if you're interested in trying Virginia wines yourself you can get a list of purveyors at The Virginia Wine Board.