INSIDER'S PICK: 2020 JOY TING WINES 'PLUTOT' PETIT MANSENG VIRGINIA $27.99

Even though we will not be doing the public tasting portion of the Insider's Pick until further notice, we will still be offering the wine for purchase with the usual 10% discount on Thursday and Friday. The wines will still be ones we highly recommend, and the tasting notes will still be our own. We will be returning to doing just the one wine on Thursdays and Fridays until further notice. We hope you are able to come by and get some wines to enjoy.

Petit Manseng is most noted as the most noted variety from Southwest France -particularly Jurancon- for making their famous late harvest wines as well as dry wines. In recent years it has grown in interest for use in many areas of North America, particularly Virginia as we continue to seek out grapes that can thrive in our environment. Fragrant in similar ways to Viognier, Petit Manseng keeps its natural acidity better and has a thicker, stronger skin, which are traits that make it very favorable for making both dessert wines as well as skin contact style dry wines. That's important in Virginia, where it can be very difficult to predict what our season will be month to month (even week to week, it seems sometimes) and it is paramount for winemakers to have flexibility. Joy Ting is the Research Enologist/Extension Coordinator with the Winemakers Research Exchange, which is a collective of winemakers and industry professionals experimenting with all aspects of wine production to create better wine results in Virginia. Under her own label Joy puts the results to the test, with great wines as an end product; 2020 was a trying vintage for many in Virginia, so the quality here is particularly impressive. Definitively dry in style this vintage, the aromas are all stone fruits and tropical white fruits, cooler and less flowery than a Viognier but no less pretty. The palate has great weight and texture for a dry white wine, vibrant natural acidity tempered a bit by aging on the lees for almost a year that brings out loads of pear and mineral notes across they juicy finish. A great pairing with rich buttery/creamy seafood or white meat dishes as it both stands up to and cuts through and stands up to the weighty sauce, as well as complex Asian cuisine.

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