My friend Dan Malcolm called last month. He publishes several trade magazines for agricultural audiences and he explained that his readers might want to know about the grapegrowing scene in Virginia.

American Vineyard magazine had received an invitation to join an April press trip organized by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Would I consider accepting on his behalf?

Dining room at the Red Fox Inn in Virginia's Hunt Country.

The proposed itinerary included only one winery visit in several days’ activities—hardly enough to write a meaningful report for Dan’s audience of vineyard owners and managers. Nor would visiting one more vineyard and winery, no matter where they were located or how fascinating their story, justify my spending most of a week away from the office. However, if I could extend my trip to allow some more winery time it might make sense. Besides, the organizers of the trip indicated the government of Virginia works hard at making their state a desirable place to do business. As a Californian I found that a refreshing attitude.

Ultimately, I did arrange to be in Virginia a bit longer and will be writing about its vineyards and wineries later on for readers of California Wine and Food, as well as American Vineyard. Meanwhile, we thought some of you might want to look over the reporter’s shoulder as he visited Virginia for the first time.

A couple of us writers from out of the West arrive early and are billeted at the handsome Hyatt Regency in Reston, which isn’t too far from Washington’s Dulles Airport. On Tuesday morning we meet our hosts and guides who’ve come up from Richmond; Christie Miller, Suzanne West and Emily Stock. After a trip to the airport to pick up other arriving scribes, we head westward from the Washington area for visits to a pasta making facility and a fruit processing plant.

My colleagues are a diverse lot, all knowledgeable in their own fields, and it is refreshing to learn about perspectives broader than my own. Not one of them mentions Robert Parker, the Wine Spectator or how many points either of them has given any recently-released wine.

We are to have lunch at the Red Fox Inn in Middleburg, a handsome little town about halfway to our first stop in Winchester. All press trips run late, no matter how well organized, and we enter the Red Fox having been advised to look toward sandwiches, rather than foods that might take long preparation. What a shame, I think. The place is handsome and reminds me of some of the British pubs I had visited years earlier. “Old coaching inns” was how my friends described them, I think. Well, the Red Fox was established in 1728 so it certainly qualifies as old, especially to a Californian. I do have sandwich, but squeeze in a bowl of peanut soup, a local specialty, and a glass of Virginia Chardonnay. It is an altogether pleasant experience, however brief (www.redfox.com).

Plant Manager Jeff Schryver explains to visiting writers how dough is extruded into different pasta shapes.

At New World Pasta in Winchester we don white lab coats and hair nets. We are advised to remove all jewelry before our tour, lest something might fall off and enter the production process. The company is owned by Canadian interests and produces dried pasta under several identities, among them two brands I recognize—Creamette and Ronzoni. I know something about the basic idea of pasta making from creating tiny quantities in my own home. I even helped make cavatelli at a table in the kitchen of an Italian agriturismo in Campania. But having a fleeting experience with preparation of pasta for a family dinner only makes for appreciation of a well-run production facility like this plant.

Not too far away we visited the National Fruit Product Company, which specializes in vinegar, apple cider and apple sauce. The company has been packing under the White House brand since 1908. Our tour brings back memories from a couple of darker periods of my life when I took employment making tin cans for the tomato juice industry and, later, when I was a “government certified” inspector for the pear industry. The National Fruit operation recently passed from long-time family ownership into the hands of a consortium of local business people who are keeping tradition alive and bolstering economic vitality in this part of Northern Virginia.

Our first day concludes in Harrisonburg, where we have a first-rate meal at the Joshua Wilton House (www.joshuawilton.com). Our table shares several appetizers accompanied by a sparkling wine from Barboursville. Another Virginia white wine, a Viognier from Albermarle, goes down well, too.

" . . . a great combination of the local and the trendy."

Many main courses seem to have local connections. We are far enough inland that the Oven Roasted Sea Scallops couldn’t have been sourced nearby, but they are served with Wade’s Mill cheese grits and the Basil Crusted King Salmon is accompanied by “roasted beets with local baby arugula.” My palate is tempted by the Grilled Duck Breast, which, I am assured, comes from a local producer. Ultimately, I settle on the Grilled Polyface Farms Pork Chop “with crispy black-eyed pea, corn fritters, chipotle aioli, grilled yellow tomato and sugar snap peas.” It sounds like a great combination of the local and the trendy. And so it is. One of my colleagues who really enjoys Bordeaux reds orders a Graves, the 2003 Chateau Ferrande, which goes nicely with the meat dishes and supports the theory that those French can make good wine, also.

Reflectorized safety vests give us an eerie glow at Coors Elkton.

We depart Harrisonburg early the next morning for our first visit of the day—an 8.30 a.m. tour of a brewery. I’ve spent years training for events such as this and am undaunted. The Coors Brewing Company is so identified with Golden, Colorado that I don’t even know that they have a facility elsewhere. Their presence in Elkton is fairly recent and is providing quite a shot in the arm of the local economy. Once again, we remove jewelry and don white coats. This time we are asked to wear hard hats as there is still some of the detritus of recent construction about. The brewmaster, a South African with some California connections via U.C. Davis, does a good job in explaining technical aspects of the brewing process without leaving those of us with weak chemistry backgrounds in the dust. Also to his credit is that he joins his visitors in a post-tour glass of very fresh beer at a time when most workers haven’t yet had their first coffee break.

Continuing our southward exploration we head for Staunton, the birthplace of President Woodrow Wilson. Can you tell anything about a place from just spending an hour there? Well, maybe not too much, but during my fleeting visit it seems like another place that merits more exploration. It’s a popular Amtrak destination as Staunton’s railroad depot is less than four hours away from Union Station in Washington. Bill Hamilton, who leads a quick tour, touts substantial work done on the rehabilitation and economic revitalization of his city. There’s a vibrant live theater scene, he tells us, and a growing culinary consciousness.

All of us being food writers of one definition or another, we are fortunate to visit with some representatives of Staunton’s food community at the R.R. Smith Center for History and Art. Assembled in the relatively small room are purveyors of some of Staunton’s finest foods. And they have brought samples.

Giancarlo Gnali, a Certified Executive Pastry Chef, provides treats that are as delicious as they are beautiful. His business is good, apparently, with catering and wedding cakes occupying much of his time so that he need only be open for retail business on Fridays and Saturdays (www.europeanpastry.com).

Chef Ian Borden discusses his cuisine with David Feder, Editor of Wellness Foods.

A nearby table held a sign reading “staunton grocery,” which is actually a restaurant and not a retail establishment. Owner Ian Boden is a native Virginian who spent 10 years cooking in New York City before returning home to open his own restaurant in Staunton.

I glance at Staunton Grocery’s wine list. In what seems a small, out-of-the-way city is a savvy wine program that would be a credit to any community. And no wonder. Kyle Boatright, the restaurant’s General Manager and Wine Director is another Virginian who roamed a bit while plying his trade. Kyle worked with Bobby Stuckey at the Little Nell in Aspen and later managed the wines at San Francisco’s Rubicon before returning home.

The chef’s assistant is very thinly slicing something I don’t recognize. Would I like some duck breast prosciutto, he asks? Well, of course, I respond, thinking I don’t get that very often. Come to think of it, I’ve never had duck breast prosciutto. Ian explains that he takes pride in cultivating vendors in the area who can supply his restaurant with high quality ingredients. The duck was local, as was the pig, which provided the lardo that was curing at that moment back at the restaurant. While time doesn’t allow an actual visit the restaurant, these fellows are obviously serious about food and wine. Someday I’ll have a meal there. In the meantime, I think I can still recommend it (www.stauntongrocery.com).

Georgie (center) helps pupils prep chicken breasts.

Jim Young explains minor changes in Wade's Mill operation over the years.

We push on toward Wade’s Mill where we participate in a class in the kitchen of Georgie Young, who brings us all into a hands-on experience of prepping and cooking food. A couple of our group have actually cooked professionally. Another has recently graduated from a culinary school. I suspect most of the rest are not slouches at home in their own kitchens. But everybody pitchs in. No job is too big or too small. This day we are a team with no stars, no fragile egos. For people who really enjoy cooking, such exercises can really be fun. Maybe best of all, we get to sit down and enjoy this meal we’ve prepared under Georgie’s tutelage and learn more about the history of the mill and the life she and her husband, Jim, have enjoyed in this beautiful part of the Shenandoah Valley since acquiring it. Wade’s Mill (www.wadesmill.com) seems the sort of place Norman Rockwell might have painted. Who knows, maybe he did? The mill, over a century old, still functions pretty much the way it always has and continues to grind products of various description. I buy a bag of grits to take home to California where I’ll be incorporating it in a dinner with some Virginia wines.