Published: June 13, 2007 10:47 pm      

Daniel Vineyard Wine Festival this weekend

The ninth annual West Virginia Spring Wine Festival at Daniel Vineyards will be held this Saturday and Sunday featuring six vineyards, musical entertainment, artisans, a variety of food and wine tasting.

Over 1,000 wine aficionados are expected to attend the two-day event which showcases wines from across West Virginia, said Dr. Richard Daniel, who first planted vines at the old Twin Oaks golf course in 1990. Daniel Vineyards is now the home of the state’s largest winery.

Daniel Vineyards, Jones Cabin Run, Tanner; The Forks of Cheat, Morgantown; West-Whitehill, Keyser; Lambert’s Vintage Wines, Weston; and Watt’s Roost Vineyard, Greenbrier County, will be tempting the taste buds of many while selling wine by the glass and bottle both days.

“The first year we became a winery we decided there would be no better place in West Virginia than right here to have a festival,” Daniel said. “We want to showcase our wines as well as everyone else’s.”

As festival-goers learn the finer art of tasting and distinguishing wines, several musical acts will be setting the mood for the state’s largest wine event. Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., The River City Jazz Band of Charleston will play and The Backyard Dixie Jazz Stompers of Huntington, will entertain on Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. An all-stringed group from Beckley, Psaltrio, will play an eclectic style of folk music both days in the tasting room.

“Artisans will also be showcasing their talents in the tasting room,” Daniel said. “Barbara Daniel and Mary Anne Hodson, of Beckley’s The Studio, will feature water color paintings and Cathy Smith will feature dried silk flowers and wreaths.”

No wine festival would be complete without its complement of food and this year’s line up is better than ever, Daniel said. Beckley’s own Pasquale Mira’s Restaurant will serve pepperoni rolls, Italian sausage with peppers, shrimp cocktail, anti-pasta salad and marinated vegetables with sausage and cheese. Greenbrier County’s The Crazy Baker and Jeff’s Breads will also be on hand for the festival.

The event will be held “rain or shine” and pets and ice coolers are prohibited. The $10 admission fee will include a complimentary 11-ounce wine glass that can be used to sample wines. Patrons are asked to bring blankets or lawn chairs.

“There will be about 10 or 11 wines and the wine tasting will be very good,” Daniel said. “Daniel Vineyards just recently won two gold medals, a silver medal and two bronze medals at The West Virginia Winery Competition.

“This is a family-friendly and very unique festival.”

Daniel Vineyards is located three miles south of Beckley on Old Route 54 (Glen View Road.) For more information about the event, call 1-877-378-1990. The festival runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday noon to 6 p.m.

— E-mail:

cgiggenbach@register-herald.com