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Live Passionately! Pursue Happiness! The Inaugural Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival at Poplar Forest on November 21, 2009 -

“Perhaps I may trouble you annually to about the same amount, this being a very favorite wine, and habit having rendered the light and high flavored wines a necessary of life with me,” wrote Thomas Jefferson to his friend Thomas Appleton in 1816. Throughout his life Thomas Jefferson was an advocate of the virtues of wine. His wine advice to merchants and friends opened channels for the importation of wine into the United States from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain.

On November 21, 2009 from noon to 5:00 pm visitors will have the opportunity to attend the inaugural Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival to sip, taste and celebrate the wine-making, crafts and food of Virginia. The first Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival will feature the wineries of the Bedford Wine Trail as well as other regional Virginia wineries. Visitors will enjoy wine tastings, food, drink, live music, Virginia crafters, raffle prizes and much more!

Thomas Jefferson (renowned interpreter Bill Barker, of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation) will be present to talk about his love of wine and life at Poplar Forest, his retreat home. Joined by Gabriele Rausse, often called the “Father of Virginia Wines,” the two Virginia viticulturalists will talk about the trials and tribulations of wine-making in Virginia.

Mr. Rausse has been credited with revolutionizing the Virginia wine industry, having revived Thomas Jefferson's Monticello grapes and lending his expertise in winemaking and the art of blending to local wineries. Mr. Rausse is the Associate Director of Gardens and Grounds at Monticello and runs his own boutique winery, Gabriele Rausse Winery.

Participating wineries include:  

Bedford Wine Trail
   * Hickory Hill Vineyard and Winery
   * LeoGrande Winery 
   * Peaks of Otter Winery 
   * White Rock Vineyards and Winery
   * Savoy-Lee Winery
* DelFosse Vineyards and Winery
* Gabriele Rausse Winery
* Jefferson Vineyards
* Rebec Vineyards
* Sans Soucy Vineyards and Winery 
* Spring Creek Wine Cellar

Visitors must be 21 years of age or older to taste wines. IDs will be checked at the gate.

Participating food vendors include:                                  

* Grape Vine Bistro                            
* Meriwether Godsey
* Daddy Bims
* Old Liberty Station
* Flambe Catering
* Babcock House
* The Muse

Participating crafters include:

* Beeswax Candle Co.
* Just Liz Jewelry
* Taishin Glass Art
* Blue Ridge Boxwood
* Art to Die For
* Historical Woods of America
* Christopher Mize Wine Inspired Artwork
* Let's Wine
* SES Leather
* Studio 43 Pottery
* Author, Nancy Carter Crump
* Author, Laura Cockerville Gianinni

Additionally visitors will be delighted by the musical sounds of local musicians Woody and Marcia McKenzie and Riddle on the Harp. Wood and Marcia McKenzie are musical performers offering a wide variety of traditional, folk, and original music & dance. The McKenzies will be strolling throughout the festival area. Pattie Black and Jean Wibbens of Riddle on the Harp perform with a variety of wind and string instruments such as harp, violin, bowed psaltery, guitar, flute, recorder, hammered dulcimer, and mandolin.

Tickets for the Thomas Jefferson Wine Festival are $15.00 in advance or $20.00 at the gate. For non-tasters or people under 21, the ticket price is $10.00.

Online ticket sales will end on Thursday, November 19th. Advance ticket sales will end at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, November 20.

House tours of Jefferson’s octagonal retreat will be available throughout the day at a reduced rate for those attending the festival. The festival will occur rain or shine and will be held in heated spaces. Admission for those 21 and over includes a complimentary wine glass.

Visit http://www.poplarforest.org/events/wine-festival to view more information or to purchase your tickets online. Other tickets outlets include:

Poplar Forest Museum Shop at (434) 534-8120
Lynchburg Visitors Center, 216 12th Street, Lynchburg, VA
Bedford Welcome Center, 816 Burks Hill Road, Bedford, VA
The Basket Case, 2909 Old Forest Road, Lynchburg, VA

For those wishing to “make it a weekend,” check the Poplar Forest website for available travel packages for this event at http://www.poplarforest.org/visit/travelpkgs.

The Lynchburg Regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Bedford Welcome Center and the Virginia Tourism Corporation serve as promotional partners for this event. Corporate sponsors for this event include the News & Advance, Progress Printing, Recycle Easy, BB&T, Virginia Wine Lover Magazine, and Ferguson Enterprises.

About Poplar Forest
Poplar Forest is Thomas Jefferson's secluded plantation and retreat home. Poplar Forest is a National Historic Landmark that recently was added to the U.S. nomination list to become a World Heritage Site. Exhibiting award-winning restoration and archaeology, Poplar Forest offers tours, special events and school outreach programs. Open April through November, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, except Tuesday and Thanksgiving Day (closed). For more information about Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest and the 200th Anniversary, call (434) 525-1806 or visit www.poplarforest.org. 

Poplar Forest is open to the public seven days a week, March 15 through December 15 (closed Thanksgiving Day). Group tours are available year-round by appointment.